In the Philippines, every high school student has to read two novels by our national hero, Jose Rizal: Noli Me Tángere and El filibusterismo. One of Rizal’s most famous characters is María Clara, the mestiza heroine and love interest of Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra y Magsalin, Noli Me Tángere's protagonist. Ask a Filipina about María Clara, and they’ll tell you about being compared to her as a traditional, feminine ideal. Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, a prolific Filipina writer of the early 20th…