Pacific Island Times PIT December 2018 Vol 3 No 12 | Seite 4

FROM THE PUBLISHER’S DESK
I
Transcending Gender
did not pop the champagne nor gather my female
friends to celebrate women’s blast to power in the
2018 local and national elections. Big deal? It was
long time coming. That Americans are still hung up on
“breaking the glass ceiling” – in 2018! —
points to the nation’s sadly antiquated impres-
sion of women’s place in the modern world.
“Are female candidates still unicorns,
magical woodland creatures that rear their
sparkly horns every couple of decades?” Amy
Chozick asks in her opinion piece in the New
York Times, titled “Down With the Year of
the Woman.”
Quoting Democratic pollster Celinda Lake,
Chozick writes, “It’s great to celebrate and
energize people around women running, but
we need to normalize, not exceptionalize it.”
I find this new version of women’s libera-
tion so refreshing. For a female politician to
attribute her success to chromosomal lottery
rather than her own merits is self-condescending.
Nevertheless, women’s triumph in the last elections is
still news, by virtue of historic numbers that will change
the political landscape. Predictably, this will rank No. 1
in every media outlet’s yearend review.
On Guam, however, having the first elected female
governor may be a political novelty but it’s not a cultural
anomaly. Ancient Chamorro women were way ahead
of the western feminists in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Our cover story tackles the history of Guam’s matrilineal
system in which gender roles were balanced equitably so
that men and women shared power and responsibility.
Even today, women in power are not “unicorns” on
Guam. Seeing them at the decision-making seats is a
norm. While Lou Leon Guerrero, president (on leave)
of the Bank of Guam, has become Guam’s first female
elected governor, the judicial branch already has women
donning the black robe and pounding the gavel: Chief
Justice Katherine Maraman, Superior Court judges Anita
Sukola (who both received more than 80 percent reten-
tion votes) and Maria Teresa Cenzon. Seated in the fed-
eral court is Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.
The incumbent attorney general is Elizabeth Bar-
ret-Anderson and the incumbent longtime delegate to
Congress is Madeleine Bordallo. The elections of Leevin
Camacho to the AG’s Office and Mike San Nicolas to the
delegate seat cater to gender equilibrium.
The 34th Guam Legislature has five women senators
— Speaker Therese Terlaje, Sens. Mary Torres, Regine
Biscoe-Lee, Telena Nelson and Luisa Muna. The Nov.
6 elections have added five more to the 35th Legislature
— Tina Muna Barnes, Sabina Perez, Kelly Marsh, Telo
Taitague and Amanda Shelton.
On the military side, the Joint Region Marianas is led
4
by Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, who replaced Rear
Adm. Bette Bolivar last year.
Even the Fourth Branch is the women’s turf. Every
newsroom on Guam is led by a female publisher or edi-
tor. Rindraty Limtiaco (PDN); Mindy Aguon
and Gaynor Dumat-ol Daleno (Guam Daily
Post); Maureen Maratita and Meghan Hickey
(Glimpses Publications); Sabrina Matanane-
Salas (KUAM); Patti Arroyo and Andrea
Pellacani (K57); and Janela Carrera (PNC).
And this publication. A quota for men might
be in order.
“Breaking the glass ceiling” is a cliché
that is as obsolete as the Bureau of Women’s
Affairs, which has outlived its mission. The
early waves of true feminism have since
opened up economic and political opportu-
nities for everyone — for every gender — to
tap. (Remember that being openly gay did
not bar Public Auditor and former Speaker
Benjamin Cruz and Lt. Governor-elect Josh Tenorio
from getting elected.)
The politically victorious female politicians got elected
into offices not because they are women, but because
Guam voters presumably judged them on their creden-
tials and believed they are right people for the jobs they
sought.
Next year, the governor’s office and the legislature’s
session hall will be filled with the beat and rhythm of the
stilettos. But they must remember that they were elected
not to satisfy a womencentric agenda. They were elected
to make sound policies, work on whatever foundation the
outgoing governor, Eddie Calvo, said he has built, cor-
rect his administration’s mistakes and avoid its failures.
Their challenge is to make the island livable for all
people of every gender on Guam.
On Guam, having the first elected
female governor may be a political
novelty but it’s not a cultural
anomaly. Ancient Chamorro women
were away ahead of the waves of
western feminists in the 18th and
19th centuries. Our cover story
tackles the history of Guam’s
matrilineal system in which gender
roles were balanced equitably so
that men and women shared power
and responsibility.