The picture above shows an obviously old, blonde-haired Madame Auring dressed in a revealing leopard print one-piece bikini. To those of you who might have forgotten who she is, she was a favourite guest panellist among past talk shows when it comes to reading fortunes and tarot cards and foretelling New Year predictions. She also had an ill-fated love affair that was the subject of tabloid controversy. But just as others who have had their fifteen minutes of fame, she quickly faded into the background along with other has beens.
Now the picture at first glance, I must admit is quite shocking. Not too often do we see an old lady (God knows how old Madame Auring is) in a skin-tight swimwear showing her curves. It’s not something that we normally consider “pleasant” and it doesn’t follow our own brand of social norms, per se. I get that. I too had to fight the urge to cringe away from my monitor when I saw this. But what infuriated me is the way the link was presented not just in Facebook but also on the blog site that hosted it. Now, I don’t want to personally attack my classmate who posted this by calling him out on this and call him names. It wouldn’t solve things and that classmate of mine is a fairly nice guy. But I can’t help but wonder as to what the intention is in showing a link like this on Facebook and on that blog. Clearly, the point of the picture is to ridicule someone. But do we have license and right to even do that?
Posting this might give the impression that I’m a fan of Madame Auring. Let me just say that I’m not. I don’t know her personally but I don’t purposely hate her either. Why should I? Did she steal something? Did she kill anybody? Not that I know of. She is just one of the many Filipinos out there who have had some camera time and just because they’re not normally perceived as “beautiful” according to societal standards, they’re being ridiculed and made fun of. The saddening part is, this is nothing new to our culture. Look at the obviously photoshopped pictures of Mami Dionisia and Manny Pacquaio. I’m not washing my hands clean of this crime. We all have some personal biases and predispositions and notions about other people so all of us are guilty of this at one point. I had ridiculed someone before, I admit that. But being a past subject of baseless ridicule myself, now I realize how wrong it is. Throwing hateful and oftentimes unnecessary and baseless comments towards others doesn’t make you better than they are. More often than not, it doesn’t change them personally. If more, it speaks of your lack of tact and character. How long will we perpetuate this behaviour as a societal norm?
I naturally went to the blog site from the posted link to see the whole picture. I couldn’t help but be disgusted at some of the comments which are hurtful and below the belt if you ask me. Some even went far as to call her a prostitute. They called her a cunt, whore and a fuck doll. Seriously people? It is one thing to think something as funny, it is another to throw ridicule and lambast someone's dignity. You have to draw the line at some point. That line is as clear as daylight. And sharing that for everyone to see in Facebook with an equally uncalled for comment doesn't make things better either.
It is saddening to think that the anonymous posters on that site have the audacity to call a stranger foul names just on the sole basis of what she decided to wear without even showing face by posting their real names or their own pictures. What’s more saddening is, that such unmoderated site exists to perpetuate hateful behaviour. Granted that, it’s not a pretty sight to behold, but what is pretty anyway? Even if this does not follow our very own definition of what is pretty or acceptable, do we have the right to say these sort of things to someone we barely even know? Freedom of expression, you might argue. But we can also say the same for Madame Auring who chose to wear that kind of outfit since she feels like it. Freedom of expression. To each his own. Walang pakialaman. How often should we abuse this? I think she was just exercising her constitutional right to wear what she wants to wear. And to be honest it’s not obscene or that scandalous. Why? It’s all because of the context of the whole situation. If you look at it closely, the picture was taken at what seems like a private swimming resort (as indicated by the water slide and swimming pool in the background). What else should she wear, Baro’t Saya? An evening gown? Isn’t that more “unnatural” and “weird” for us to see that when go swimming?
If this sort of display was done on a public setting like on a highway or a public gathering, then it’s a whole different story. But the fact is, it did not. If this was like what Diana Zubiri pulled off along EDSA, then we might have a problem. Not because of censorship and morality issues from CBCP but because of the possible hazards it will bring to people who will see it on a public light. I believe there is a proper time and place for everything. And in a swimming pool, it’s just proper to wear a bathing suit, even if this is as figure-hugging and cleavage-bearing as how Madame Auring chose to. And we didn’t see any of her private parts we ought not to see. So what is the big deal?
It’s funny how some of us are easily offended when people say nasty things about how we look like or what we wear. But if we look closely enough, do we have the right to be so, when we are guilty of perpetuating such baseless name calling and mudslinging behaviour as normal? When are we going to stop putting double standards among ourselves?
The genocide that killed a million of Jews during the Nazi regime started out when extremists drew awfully misrepresented caricatures of Jewish people showing large noses and wearing funny clothes. They too made fun of how they looked like. They thought they were better than them and so begun their quest to eradicate the people they deemed were not attractive enough and inferior according to their standards. If something like a misrepresented cartoon can spark so much hatred among people, how is this picture of Madame Auring be any different?
Again, how long will we perpetuate a culture like this?
I’m just saying.
[If you like to see the whole thing you can go to this site.]
http://tunaynalalake.blogspot.com/2011/08/kumusta-araw-mo-tol_12.html
[If you like to see the whole thing you can go to this site.]
http://tunaynalalake.blogspot.com/2011/08/kumusta-araw-mo-tol_12.html
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