Filipinos have always had a fixation with everything surrounding celebrities—what they’re wearing, what they’re eating, what’s in their bag, what their houses look like, and the age-old, very intrusive trope, who they’re dating. It’s all fun and games until that strange relationship takes on the form of a malicious predator, latching on scandals, innuendos, and anything that’s remotely “sexual”, especially in the way that perverts see women’s bodies as something akin to sexual objects.
This has been a part of Filipino society for ages, with leaked sex tapes and edited photos of celebrities spreading through the digital grapevine in chat groups and porn sites. But the latest incident victimizes two popular young actresses in this generation, and they have had enough of this ever-persisting manyak culture, and perverts going out of their way to seek sexual pleasure out of their non-consenting bodies.
On January 26, best friends Sue Ramirez and Maris Racal were informed that an old photo from their Instagram accounts was circulating online. The original photo was of the two laughing in their bikini attires, but what was being passed on from one person to another was an edited version that made it look like the two were laughing on the ground, topless.
Ramirez, known for her spunk, wit, and outspoken personality, went on her Instagram to re-share the original photo with a lengthy caption calling out the people who started the malicious trend, and those who believed in this piece of fake news.
“Sumosobra na kayo. Sa mga nakakatanggap ng picture, siguro naman may delikadesa at respeto kayo enough to know na dapat hindi na kumalat pa ang PAMBABABOY na ito,” an excerpt from the caption read.
(“You’ve crossed the line. To those who received the [edited] photo, I hope you have the decency and respect to know that this disgusting edit shouldn’t be spread any further.”)
She then went on to post another photo with a censored version of the edited one, imploring her 8M followers to stop this culture of objectifying women and destroying their images for one’s own entertainment and pleasure. She highlighted, “THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE.”
Racal then went on Twitter to share the same sentiments, emphasizing that women’s bodies are theirs, and its exploitation should come to an immediate halt.
She also threw this open question to all the perverts feasting on this type of content: “2021 na, manyak ka pa rin?” (“It’s already 2021, and you’re still a pervert?”)
And truly, given everything that society has gone through with the #MeToo movement, female celebrities speaking out on abuse and the industry’s misogyny, and a general campaign to end manyak culture—why is this even still a thing?
This is another classic example of society being so fixated on women’s bodies, and then taken to a whole other level because of the subjects’ celebrity status. As if fans look at celebrities as the entertainers that they are, and twist it to mean that they have an ownership over their bodies to do whatever they want for the sake of their own entertainment. As if, being a public figure means selling your soul and body to the public, and giving them the liberty to do with it as they wish.
Hence, people trending and passing on these objects of sexual harassment as if these are not actual human beings victimized by someone’s sick and malicious mind.
This is the same type of mentality that fills the Philippines’ trending topics with scandalous discussions about celebrities’ private lives, and even more so with anything pertaining to sexual and provocative news that involves a celebrity. There was Nadine Lustre’s bikini hiking outfit trending over the advocacy behind her hike, young actress Andrea Brillantes’ leaked videos causing a stir online (note that she was a minor at the time), and so many other stories of celebrity names trending for all the wrong reasons.
And by wrong, we don’t mean that their actions were inappropriate or worthy of being taken apart by the media and the online community—far from it actually. Rather, we mean that society is in the wrong for focusing on these things in the first place, and encouraging openly objectifying celebrities on social media.
Truly, it’s already 2021—and we’re still ogling a woman’s body like a piece of meat?
Needless to say, editing photos of someone in a malicious manner is sexual harassment. And in this case, there will be legal actions taken against the perpetrators behind these edited photos, as ABS-CBN and its talent management arm, Star Magic, shared in a statement addressing the issue.
While we’re at it, spreading leaked sex tapes, scrutinizing someone’s “revealing” attire, throwing rape threats, and the whole notion behind people’s misplaced belief that they have the right to do and say anything with the justification that “these are celebrities, anyway”—that’s also harassment. And it’s genuinely frightening to see the ownership people feel over someone who’s under the public eye. Frightening, and seriously problematic. One that should be amended and stopped as early as now.
With this, we echo one of the actresses in asking, “2021 na, manyak ka pa rin?” (“It’s already 2021, and you’re still a pervert?”)