If you’re an active social media user from the Philippines, chances are your newsfeeds and timelines have been “blessed” by photos and videos containing all comments and arguments you can probably think of about this year’s “FHM Sexiest Woman Alive”.

Although it is commendable that the title now belongs to a curvy woman, Jessy Mendiola has been receiving loads of flak about her body. Yes, her appearance. Her curves. Her “no-thigh-gap” legs or “pata” as the judgmental online community calls it.

Don’t get me wrong, Jessy is now a hot topic because of alleged links to the Luis Manzano-Angel Locsin breakup, her comment about being better than Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach, and her message to bashers after the FHM awarding ceremony. I won’t be surprised if “bashers” are hating on her for the first reason because that’s another story, but it just so happened that some are ganging up on her because of being “over-confident” about her apperance.

Yes, she sounds somewhat arrogant and her sarcastic jokes were not welcomed with open arms given that she compared herself to the reigning Miss Universe, but save her from the “mataba ka naman” comments. Lecture her on the proper way of speaking or on humility if you think that will make the world a better place but keep in mind that body-shaming comments are not only affecting her but the entire female population!

As a millennial who is prone to be conscious about everything — including her thighs, it only makes me question the criteria of being dubbed a socially acceptable sexy woman. It’s not really an encouraging thing to see and it’s something I would like to save the future generation from (but can’t do on my own).

Some have been crying foul at Calvin Klein for classifying size-10 Myla Dalbesio a “plus sized model” just a month ago and now, the same people are ganging up on Jessy, telling the entire world that she is F-A-T. Then there are also posts (which irks me A LOT) containing a photo of Jessy vis-a-vis a random skinny underwear model to further blur society’s standards. In the example above, it’s runway model Alessandra Ambrosio on the left side.

Again, some have been rooting for women empowerment and hating on Taylor Swift’s “fake feminism” yet the same people are calling Jessy a bitch, a whore, a trying-hard, or what have you just because she proudly told reporters that she doesn’t care about haters and that she’s mighty proud of her achievement. Women shaming other women. Oh, what a time to be alive.

Some have been complaining about the existence of a “misogynistic”contest but they’re also the ones openly criticizing the physical appearance of women hailed as sexiest in the country.

I’m also angry at these keyboard warriors who are ready to put up a fight with anyone who lectures women on how to dress properly but are blatantly calling Jessy a slut for posting bikini photos during the voting period for the said contest.

Because the word “biased” has been widely used during the election period, let’s put it back on the pedestal and connect it to this so-called women empowerment. For sanity’s sake, I would like to believe that these people spreading hate are just biased because their favorite celebrity didn’t make it to the top. I’d like to believe that they are being biased on who to empower because they don’t like the person. I’d like to believe that they are biased because their image of sexy is being construed and they are just as confused as I am on what the acceptable standards are.

More so, I would just like to believe (and hope) that the common Pinoy perception of “sexy” — skinny, fair-skinned, long-haired, and foreign-looking – will soon welcome plus-sized images to their roster of socially acceptable. As far as I’m concerned, there is something sexy in everyone. It’s not all about the physical appearance; you can be sexy in the way you think, speak, act, and the list goes on. Society can just be so imposing to the point that you don’t know where to put yourself anymore. Seriously.  It can drive anyone crazy.

---

P.S. I am not a fan of Jessy Mendiola. It’s just really annoying that her physical apperance is ridiculed just so people can say something bad about her. There are also hardcore Jessy fans who tell people not to give negative comments if they’re not prettier or sexier than her – which is also annoying. Everyone has thoughts about everything and everyone is free to say what they want. It’s a matter of being mindful of what you post and sharing your comments in a polite manner. I don’t know anymore.

P.P.S. The comment box of related posts are currently a war zone. It can give you a headache.

(Featured image from Jessy Mendiola’s Facebook fan page)