Trigger warning: sexual assault
For tattoo lovers who have gone up north, getting inked by the great Apo Whang-Od is an experience of a lifetime. The 107-year-old woman has established herself on the social media map for her hand-poked tribal tatts, an exquisite art form that got visitors from all around the world vying for a spot on her waitlist.
No wonder, even celebrities travel far and wide and go out of their comfort zones just for an etching of her ink on their bodies. Take, one of the country's biggest leading men Piolo Pascual, who joined Whang-Od's A-list clientele and gamely posed with her for a *remembrance* video. However, the clip didn't seem to age well as it drew flak from netizens, who had mixed reactions over the tattoo artist's gesture of grabbing the actor's crotch.
In the clip, Piolo just laughed the gesture off, and some netizens even brought up that such an act is oft-repeated by Whang-Od with other male clients, regardless of their status.
Well, here's the thing: Apo Whang-Od's gesture, while seemingly immutable that it has lost its shock value to her fans, should not be taken lightly.
Some people even brought up consent, as if Piolo taking things in stride undermines the fact that there are power dynamics at play because he was just participating in a so-called "normal practice."
Whang-Od has been critically acclaimed around the world for her work. She has certainly cultivated a feverish following for keeping an ancient practice alive in an influx of Instagram creatives. But the cultural furor around this issue flattens all the nuances of abuse and does a disservice to those who are suffering it regardless of the gender of their predator. Somehow, Whang-Od's predatory misconduct can be overlooked, just because the "separate the art from the artist" argument is coming into play.
Society has long perpetuated stereotypes that portray men as invulnerable and emotionally stoic, contributing to a culture of silence and discomfort around female-on-male assault. The comments that Whang-Od *scored* points on Piolo make matters even worse, with heinous statements sadly coming from women who find no shame in opening up about these problematic thoughts.
Even if men commit the vast majority of harassment and violence cases, we must take more care to understand that women can be "bad guys," too. And that their male victims may feel this particular kind of shame. In fact, there's evidence showcasing stories of judges dismissing cases against women predators because "women don't do things like this" or male lawyers downplaying such acts and calling a woman's advances "every man's fantasy."
It can all be disorienting—because this Women's Month, we do not want to undermine a movement that has focused on systemic harassment and abuse of women. But we should not offer knee-jerk defenses of the women who do use their power to abuse or harass others in the process.
By maintaining perspective, it's important to call out males who exhibit predatory behavior and also veer away from sweeping under the rug stories of women perpetrating the same crimes. In addressing the full landscape of harassment and assault, and by condemning everyone for their foul actions—we acknowledge that abusers—regardless of their gender, influence, and power—should be held accountable.