"Yan ang Pinay" is the de facto name of an informal campaign to change the top search engine results for the word "Filipina." This is being done because the top results do not reflect the many diverse facets of the modern Filipina. Incidentally, this movement is not limited to women. After all, the one who got the ball rolling (Milky Soft), the designer of the first logo (Jonas Diego) and this blogger are men.
Googlebombing is the method being employed because Google is the most visible search engine nowadays. However, it is hoped that if this effort is successful, then it will be easier to replicate with other search engines.
But it must be noted that search engines are not the enemy. These search engines, after all, only reflect the prevailing reality in cyberspace. The Filipina who is a mail-order bride, date seeker, or sex worker is not the enemy, either. They are every bit as worthy of being called Filipinas as other Filipinas.
The enemy, if you could call it that, is complacency. Many Filipinas do not identify themselves as Filipina—perhaps for fear of being told that "Filipina" is a non-word or that it's not a politically correct term. But another reason, I believe, is that the Filipina does not feel it is necessary to identify herself as a Filipina. And that, I think, is how those who "buy" or "sell" the Filipina online came to "own" the word "Filipina" in cyberspace. After all, if the only ones using the term are looking for sex, then we should not be surprised if the word "Filipina" and "sex" show up at the top of search engine results.
If you would like to join this movement, please do one or all of the following:
1. If you are a woman of Filipino descent, identify yourself as a Filipina—not just as a "Filipino" or "Filipino woman"—on your blog or website. Or, if you have neither, urge those with blogs or websites to join this campaign.
2. If you are not a woman or are not of Filipino descent, whenever you refer to female officemates and friends who are Filipino in your blog or website, please identify them as Filipina. Or, again, urge those who have blogs or websites to join this campaign.
3. Link. This is the most important thing you can do. If you have time, turn every mention of the word "Filipina" into a link. If you don't have time, just put a link anywhere on your blog or website, preferably on the sidebar. And it doesn't have to be the word itself. Any image or photo that represents a Filipina may be turned into a link. And no, being a non-techie is not an excuse because if you have a blog or website, then you can cut and paste the following code into your template:
Filipina: Wikipedia<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Wikipedia
Filipina: Merriam-Webster<a href="http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Merriam-Webster
Filipina: American Heritage<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/61/93/F0119350.html" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: American Heritage
Filipina: Filipina Women's Network<a href="http://www.ffwn.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Filipina Women's Network
Filipina: Gabriela Network<a href="http://www.gabnet.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Gabriela Network
Filipina: Bagong Pinay<a href="http://www.newfilipina.com/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Bagong Pinay
Filipina: Purple Rose Campaign<a href="http://www.purplerosecampaign.org/" rel="tag">Filipina</a>: Purple Rose Campaign
4. Tag. We need to know who has joined the campaign so we can link to one another. If you use the code above, then the links will automatically be tagged. But if you would like to tag previous posts, then just copy and paste the following into your blog or website:
Tags: Filipina, FilipinasTags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Filipina" rel="tag">Filipina</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Filipinas" rel="tag">Filipinas</a>
And finally, to understand why we need to do this—instead of just asking or pressuring search engines to ignore websites we don't like (there's a clue right there)—see Google's "An explanation of our search results."
Related posts:Filipina: The Filipina in Cyberspace
Filipina: Images of the Filipina Online
Filipina: Sacha Chua: Filipina
Filipina: Yan ang Pinay
The Filipina and "Yan ang Pinay"
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