hehe

In a sky  full of stars, I am the moon that searches for you. 

Article written by the former director of University of the Philippines Center for Women’s Studies, Dr. Sylvia Claudio, in reaction to the rape joke of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a violent man and an aggressive misogynist who is currently running for Philippine Presidency. And it scares me to admit this, but he rates high on election polls.

“(They raped all the women. One of them that Australian lay minister. The Australian (inaudible) had been making repeated calls. They took out the body and wrapped it. I looked at her face. Son of a bitch, she was like..more like..like an American movie star. Son of a bitch, what a pity. [Boisterous laughter.] It came to mind that they raped her, they queued up to rape her. I got mad. Because, rape, yes, that’s one issue. But she was so pretty. The mayor should have gone first.” –Mayor Rodrigo Duterte

Rape culture and denigration of women

What we are dealing with here is a man who believes what all rapists, sexual harassers, peeping toms and male chauvinist malcontents believe: that women are less than human. Women are placed on earth primarily for men’s entertainment. Women are judged mainly on the basis of whether we are sexually appealing to men.

In Duterte’s misshapen world view, women are judged as to whether we are pleasing to him and his gang of slobbering, leering perverts. I mean, of course, the ones guffawing and catcalling all over his videos. He calls the death of the Australian lay minister a waste, not because a decent human being has lost a future where she could bring hope and joy to others, but because her death has closed his sexual access to someone he finds attractive. And they laugh at this. THEY LAUGH AT IT! THEY THINK IT IS A JOKE! …

What kind of honesty?

His supporters claim that when he makes these coarse remarks that he is at least honest and transparent. They have mistaken the virtue of honesty for the process of transparency. They have mistaken openness for decency. We want transparency so we may find out what a candidate is like. What his values are, his platforms, whether his mistakes are understandable and forgivable. Many times indeed, evil hides in the dark and silent places. But just because a man is open about his crimes and his lewdness does not make him worthy.

Thank you for the transparency, Mayor Duterte, now we know you are a shameless satyr. …

I call on all women whose husbands and lovers continue to support this man to stop caring for them until they change their vote. Stop cleaning their rooms, ironing their clothes, cooking their meals. Most of all, bar them from your beds. I call on all sex workers to refuse sex to men who support Duterte.