By Shana Angela S. Cervania
For the International Day of the Girl, various speakers from different sectors of media such as film, books, and advertising gathered to solve the problems of girls and young women facing oppression, sexual harassment, and discrimination.
They said that through proper story-telling in media; responsible news reportage concerning sensitive content; stopping harassment from both political and law enforcement authorities; and educating men and children are some ways to end gender inequality.
“Women are sexualized and objectified in a way that men never are,” said Plan International’s Gender Specialist Desiree Michelle “DM” Barcelon.
A study comissioned by Plan International with Geena Davis Institute shows that the analyzed 56 top-grossing films in 2018 were “perpetuating harmful stereotypes that prevent girls and young women from fulfilling their potential” and that “girls and women, as citizens and certainly as leaders, are still not seen on screen as equal to boys and men.”
Results showed that women leaders were rarely shown but they were portrayed as sex objects even if they have leadership positions.
Female leaders are four times more likely to be wearing revealing clothing or completely nude, and sexually objectified and twice more likely than men to be shown partially nude. Female leaders are also five times more likely to be sexually harassed than male leaders.
According to Film Director Lynn Lim, the film industry uses women for the audience to be sexually aroused to get them “hooked” at the film.
“The directors wanted to, the audience to get aroused, sexually aroused. They’re a lot of naked bodies on the screen,” she said.
Barcelon also said that the cameras lingering on women’s bodies undermine their authority and keep young women subservient as it tells women that “female bodies are commodity and their brains are irrelevant.”
In the research, one interviewee commented that women have to be pretty which stereotypes and gives double standards to girls showing that “we have changed little for decades.”
“Male leaders are the norm… women are valued for their looks,” Barcelon added, as women’s bodies are also used to sell products in advertisments.
The Disruption Agency-Santiago Mangada Puno’s (TBWA-SMP) Executive Creative Director Bryan Supan Siy said that “Advertising really is a reflection of what’s happening in the society.” He said that what they depict in advertisments are results from research done by data scientists to determine what women prefer such as their hair, skin, and men.
“Well, I guess that’s the market really dictating the storyline,” he said.
However, he also stated that he also has a responsiblity as a “progressive creative” to “allow women to be as they are: fat, thin, beautiful, ugly, curly, straight, sexual, not sexual.”
He also said that men are being sexually objectified in advertisments, too.
“I guess It’s not about being woman or being man.. no man, no woman should be sexualized because I think we are more than our sexuality,” he said.
A student from the audience from the University of the Philippines also chimed that representing men more in sharing responsibilities in child-rearing will aid in fixing the gender inequality. She said that while domestic work is not wrong, feeding people with women always doing the housework in advertisments brainwashes audience in stereotyping women.
However, it has also been stressed that there is an essential need for women role models for young girls as the study says that young females “lose confidence and ambition” if they cannot see positive role models for women on-screen. This is especially lacking for women of color.
“They call for action. They believe that to be it, they must see it. Make stories about female leadership visible and normal; stories made to encourage young women’s aspirations and ambitions and not to undermine them,” Barcelon said.
In the research conducted, filmmakers are mostly white and male and no woman directed the 56 top grossing films used in the study.
Barcelon also stressed for the media to support women creating content for women.
“Fund female filmmakers, programme makers, and content producers; women and girls as storytellers while addressing harassment and discrimination in the workplace to encourage girls and women into key positions in the media industry. Switch up these stereotypes of the leadership role,” Barcelon said.
The study emphasizes that the media has a critical role in shaping young girls’ aspirations. It encourages them to make stories about female leadership visible and normal as showing streotypes would only harm the minds and well-being of the children.
Book Author Chloe Reynaldo said that stereotypes shown in media such as women being “beautiful but smart” creates unrealistic expectations and demands double standards from girls which is “a lot to live up to.”
She also slammed the media for showcasing characteristics of women such as being “emotional,” “sentitive,” and “incomprehensible” as cons of women.
“When we see female leaders, they’re often portrayed as, you know, strong, bossy, confrontational and it’s like a (sic) while we’re not askewing the traditional values of femininity; why can’t we have [a] strong female lead din so as to embody those traditional feminine [qualities]? Why do we have to let go of these feminine values in order to be perceived as a good leader?” she said.
“When you grow up, you start to notice these patterns more and moreand you then you start to notice the boundaries that they’re setting for the development and progress of women,” she added.
She also emphasized the need for including more women in a “male-dominated” industry in portraying women to generate more authenticity when representing them.
“It’s time to rewrite the story. It’s time to re-write her story and it’s time that we are the ones to re-write that story,” she said.
“Ensure [media] content doesn’t discriminate or reinforce negative sterotypes and behaviors. It may finally be the time for change and this research provides clear evidence on how essential that is for growth in young women and for society as a whole. Lastly, to create an equal[ity], we need the whole picture, not just half of the story,” Barcelon said, echoing Reynaldo’s statements.
Journalist and co-editor managing partner of Women Wriitng women Diana Mendoza agreed, saying that men should be included more in conversations regarding gender gap.
Meanwhile, Art Director and Illustrator Ara Villena said that industry of children’s book were “progressive” as it also showcases sensitive topics such as sexual harassment and disabilities.
She called on for people to get stories from the “grassroots” such as the daughters of farmers and fishermen. For some living deep within the provinces, with only a television as a source of media, she encourages to atleast get the sides of those who cannot be reached by media as a way to tell their experiences.
Furthermore, Mendoza stated that media is not sensitive enough when covering rape content in news. She lamented that there would always be no standards and provided context on why rape occurs.
“There is always that element of not understanding why these (rape and sexual assaults) things happen and they just report the news,” she said.
She said that details surrounding reports about rape mostly consist of derogating women for wearing sexy clothes and walking outside during the early hours of the night and where men are lounging by.
“For example, it’s been reported as a pretty 21-year-old who was raped, nangyayari pa ‘yon. May gan’on pang reportage, or a woman was molested because she was walking alone on the street at 1am. Anong business niya naglalakad doon sa street ng 1am? ‘Yong gan’on. There are still religious expectations, [a] sexual expectations of women, na bakit ka naglalakad ng 1am sa kalye? So binastos ka tuloy… Ba’t mo dine-scribe na pretty yung rinape?…‘This woman who was raped,’ that’s it. ‘Wag mo na i-describe na pretty o ano itsura niya, or she was wearing shorts,” she said.
“Ideally, may gender lens ka, sensitive ka; you know, you don’t just give a video, a sex scandal of somebody; you know, you have to treat it properly but it’s really a discipline that anyone who wants to be a journalist should learn,” she added.
She also said that women in power in the government are also not exempt from being sexually harassed such as, she recalled, when President Rodrigo Duterte ogled Vice President Leni Robredo’s legs in a 2016 Yolanda Anniversary meeting in Tacloban.
Barcelon reflected Mendoza’s statements regarding the lacking of context from media when covering rape stories.
“Ginahasa kasi maganda. Bakit pumunta sa kuta ng mga kalalakihan? Kaya ginahasa. Rine-reinforce at mas lalong sinasabi na normal lang ang rape, sexual harassment. D’on nagkakaroon ng complication na kung saan itinuturing na mas mababang uri ang kababaihan at pwede gawin ‘yon ng kalalakihan dahil lalaki sila… Ok lang na nabastos kasi gwapo naman [‘yung] lalaki? Kaya niya na-rape kasi masiyadong sexy manamit.” she said.
However, she exclaimed that these sexist opinions can change through conscious effort to check perceptions, creating awareness, and educating family and friends.
People in the audience also agreed that some of the problems lie from those up above in the political and legal spheres, and law enforcement.
Rappler columnist Ana Santos recalled the National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) deploying women police officers for traffic enforcement, because they’re “girlfriend material,” according to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic head Edison Nebrija.
He said that these “head turners” were to ease tension in traffic with EDSA being stressful.
PNP-HPG spokesperson Lt. Col. Ritchie Claraval also said that the “ladies’ strike force” was because of their “striking looks.”
Organized by Plan International Philippines (PH), the event named “#RewriteHerStory: A conversation on Empowering Girls and Young Women through Storytelling” took place at the Loft Coworking PH in Pasig City.
Plan International is a development and humanitarian organization advocating for the rights and equality of children and young women.
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) celebrates the International Day of the Girl Child every October 11 to “eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls” with this year’s theme “GirlForce: Unscripted and unstoppable.”
