Bianca Gonzalez-Intal leads Filipinas in finding themselves and encourages others to help fellow women to do the same.
Women don’t have it easy. Living in a society centered around the egos of men, many have learned to keep themselves silent to avoid unwanted attention. But in this digital age, a majority of women have also learned how to earn and gain a seat in power and help others to follow through. The hardship, however, does not exempt those who braved the challenge, and Bianca is the perfect example of a self-spoken woman who has learned to fight the right battles.
“I started TV in 2004 and wala pang social media. At that time kasi, ang judgement and feedback sayo nasa tabloid,” Bianca muses when asked how she thinks technology has changed societal expectations, “At the end of the show, your producer will tell you. It was in person. It was tangible feedback, so I think by the time nauso yung social media I had already known how to filter what I hear. It still hurts when I hear judgement, but way before social media I developed the right—at least right for me—outlook on how to see what people say about me.”
And that kind of outlook became one of the reasons for Bianca Gonzalez to be one of MEGA’s Most Iconic back in 2017 among a roster of other luminous and empowered women.
While her career is underway, Bianca took her corner of the Internet and started a blog back in the 2000s. This eventually led to publishing her first and best-selling book, “Paano ba to?: How to Survive Growing Up,” which she wrote from her own life experiences to help young girls deal with life’s challenges. Ultimately, it led her to start her three-year-old vlog series, “Paano ba to,” on YouTube, which tackles the same issues, but with cameos from Bianca’s close showbiz friends.
These days, Bianca doubles her efforts to promote self-love amongst young women, especially here in the Philippines where most women have grown to dislike dark skin tones. This urged Bianca to launch the all-female collective She Talks Asia that aims to empower women around the country with a series of seminars.
Bianca started out as a speaker but eventually became a full-fledged member of the collective. Having just given birth to her second daughter Carmen at that time, Bianca felt it was the right time and place to share her experiences as a woman.
“In terms of feedback from women who get to be a part of it, they just want to feel like they belong, they want to feel seen,” she shares as she talks about the significance of dedicated communities for women that will make them feel empowered and heard.
As a doting mother of two young girls, Bianca wants them to grow up understanding the value of hard work and personal identity. Most of the time it will be a challenge to balance these two. But her ultimate goal for every woman listening is for them to know they matter and there is space for them to thrive while supporting other women to follow through. That is what makes Bianca Gonzalez an icon, and she’s only just beginning.
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