Feminist Critiques of the Heterosexual Romance Genre
Invitation to BTG no. 26 x the 10th Pink Bag Session (De La Salle University)
BTG is pleased to invite you to a hybrid event in celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025 (Saturday). As in BTG no. 25, we are co-facilitating this event with the Department of Philosophy at De La Salle University. We are excited about this for two reasons: (1) It’s our first hybrid event, and (2) for the first time, we are featuring undergraduate philosophy majors as speakers.
Date: March 8, 2025 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
In-person venue: Yuchengco Seminar Rooms 508-509, DLSU Manila campus
Online modality: Via Zoom
Registration link: If you are interested in attending this event, whether in-person or online, please register here.
The Pink Bag Lecture Series, inaugurated in 2015, hopes to bring consideration to the status of women by providing women and men in the DLSU campus avenues to discuss and reflect on our multiple roles as educators and researchers, as well as resources for building caring communities. This session is co-faciliated by the Department of Philosophy and Beyond the Ghetto, an initiative of the Philippines-based national organization Women Doing Philosophy, which aims to mainstream the writing and research of women philosophers.
Please join us in celebrating International Women's Day, by hearing two of our undergraduate philosophy majors critique media representations of women, particularly in romance novels, films, and TV shows. Moira Inocencio will present her paper entitled “When Love is a Lie: A Critique of Rape Culture in Romance Literature,” followed by Patricia Aguas who will present her paper entitled “Against the Trope of the Traumatized Heroine.”
About the speakers:
Moira Ann Therese U. Inocencio is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Major in Philosophy at De La Salle University in Manila. She is currently in the mentorship program, supervised by Dr. Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz. As a Creative Officer from 1SAMBAYAN-Lasalyano (a sub-organization of the democratic coalition SAMBAYAN in Pasig), she contributed to the community prior to the 2022 Presidential Elections. As a result of her marketing and publication experience, she has worked in various creative projects under Department of Philosophy Chair Dr. Mark Anthony Dacela. She was also the Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs in her home organization, Samahan ng mga Lasalyanong Pilosopo, and is currently its Vice President for Academic Affairs. During last term’s World Philosophy Day Symposium on Knowledge, Language, and Postmodernism, she presented her working paper entitled “Epistemic Injustice and Conyo Speak.” This term, she is in the Academics Committee for Pilosopo’s 10th Undergraduate Philosophy Conference. Her research interests include ethics and aesthetics, particularly aesthetic appreciation and criticism. Outside of academics, Moira maintains a personal blog where she publishes articles about her reflections on art, philosophy, and classic literature.
Patricia R. Aguas is an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in Political Science at De La Salle University in Manila. She recently started in the mentorship program of the DLSU Department of Philosophy, supervised by Dr. Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz. Her research interests focus on culture, politics, identity, feminism, and the tiny crevices where these themes intersect. Beyond academia, Patricia is known for her passion for the arts. She takes on small acting gigs, with her first acting debut earning the Best in Cinematography award at a film festival held in July 2024. She also served as the Assistant Vice President for Animo Film Lab, the official film organization of De La Salle University. She believes that success is not reserved for a select few but for those who persist—limitations exist only when we accept them as absolute.
Program:
10:00 am - Opening remarks by Dr. Noelle Leslie dela Cruz
10:05 am - Introduction of the first speaker
10:05 am - “When Love is a Lie: A Critique of Rape Culture in Romance Literature” by Moira Inocencio
10:35 am - Introduction of the second speaker
10:35 am - “Against the Trope of the Traumatized Heroine” by Patricia Aguas
11:05 am - Panel discussion with Dr. Noelle Leslie dela Cruz
11:35 am - Open forum/Q & A
11:55 am - Closing remarks by Dr. Rosallia Domingo
12:00 pm - End of program
Registrants will receive information via email about how to get inside the DLSU campus (for in-person attendees who will need a visitor’s pass) or the Zoom link and passcode (for online attendees). For further inquiries, please email noelle.delacruz@dlsu.edu.ph or christine.calub@dlsu.edu.ph, or call the Department of Philosophy at +6325244611, local number 546.