The Stigma: Freelancers

In Filipino culture, it is natural that you'll be judge according to your chosen career. You can be either a role model or a bad example of comparison stories by relatives. You're a role model if you finished college and have a high paying job or they thought so. You are an inadequate example if you didn't have a college degree or you are working at home.

Engineers, Architects, Doctors, Nurses, Lawyers, Accountants, or the likes are the job categories you should have to be the role model. Beyond these categories, you'll be somewhat out of the cool kids' league. This reality is sad but true.

There are times that people would look down on freelancers. They are mostly belittled. That's the thing with our culture, freelancers are taken for granted.

Being an Artist – Animator, Painter, Photographer, Videographer

If you're an artist, you will be underpaid. You’ll have to work more with little or no benefits at all. In animation, graphic, or even painting industries, artists often get less or minimal pay with their craft. "Only rich people can afford to be an artist", most of the Filipino parents would say to persuade children to get a 'better' profession. The only artists that get to be paid enough are those in the showbusiness, nothing against them.

Being an artist is more of a hobby than a profession, that's what people here believed. Artists are usually abused by their friends and relatives. Some would say, "Give me a big discount" or "Can you do it for free since we are relatives" or "A coffee would be fine, right?” Their passion is being neglected and they usually end up burned out.

Being a Call Center Agent

If you are a call center agent, they will assume you are an undergraduate. This profession is one of the most deprecated jobs. What they don't know is that they are the backbone of the biggest sales corporations in the world. Without them, those companies will fail to support clients.

Being a Work at Home Employee

If your neighbors don't often see you outside going to work, they'll assume you're a lazy person. Or they might mistake you for doing illegal activities. This belief is one of the worst misconceptions here in our country.

Being an Online Seller

"Aren't you ashamed of selling stuff online?" Someone told this to my friend several times. They mocked him and the perpetrators are not satisfied, they reported his account and shut it down. I felt sorry for my friend and sad that people would think like this. There is absolutely nothing wrong about selling as long as the items are legal.

Hoping for a Change in Perspective

With the current situation - global pandemic, people are somewhat shifting their views on these professions. In the upcoming days, it more practical to go virtual. We will be forced to stay at home and hone our crafts into bigger things. And as things turn for the worse during these times, people will see that those professions that they have belittled would greatly help them survive.