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- An alumnus of Xavier School expressed his disappointment on the school’s recently held Grand Alumni Homecoming.
- He indicated that the women were treated like objects and the alumni showed “appalling” misogyny at the event.
An alumnus of Xavier School at Greenhills wrote about the misogynistic happenings at their recent Grand Alumni Homecoming.
Steven Sy has posted an article at medium.com exposing things that went down at the event and his disappointment about the way that women were objectified and demeaned by the attendees.
“I truly do believe that the Grand Alumni Homecoming has an important role to play in bringing us Xavier alumni together, and I have great respect for the Alumni Association of Xavier School (AAXS). However, it is because of this respect that I can no longer sit idly by while such appalling misogyny is allowed to persist in the school I still call home.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156844610076564&set=pcb.10156844615356564&type=3&theater
According to Sy, the reunion party’s guests were “sexy” celebrities like Roxanne Barcelo, Petra Mahalimuyan, MMJK Sweeties, and “sexy” usherettes.The issue was not with the women performing or expressing their sexuality, but with the way that they were degraded at the descriptions and presentations.
“My issue is with three things: first, the degrading descriptions of these women, second, the presentation of ‘sexiness’ for only the male gaze, and third, the use of these women as ‘trophies’ or status symbols to be flaunted around.
“First, the way women were described feeds into a deeply misogynistic culture of valuing women only as sexual objects. The women were repeatedly described as “sexy”, their performances as “gamely” and “sultry”, being judged entirely on their ability to “excite” the crowd.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156844611301564&set=pcb.10156844615356564&type=3&theater
He stated that such adjectives urges men to see women as objects of sexual gratification.
The second problem said was the way the performances centered on the satisfaction of the male attendees.
“Consider that such a performance would never have happened in an all-girls’ or co-ed school. The problem is not that they are sexy dancers, but that an all-boys’ school with an all-male alumni association has deemed young women and their bodies appropriate entertainment for a crowd of much older adult men. Sexual empowerment can only exist on a woman’s own terms, not on the terms of men.”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156844611551564&set=pcb.10156844615356564&type=3&theater
The way that the men post around the women were also mentioned as it was described as the guests were like “prizes to be shown off as status symbols.”
Sy added that he was disturbed by the happenings because as it was supposed to be a homecoming, what he witnessed was not something he wanted to come home to.
“It is for this reason that I will no longer attend any further homecomings or events organized by the AAXS. If I were to attend these events, I would be complicit in legitimizing this misogyny. I can no longer do so with a clear conscience, and I urge my fellow alumni to do the same until this sexist practice is wiped completely from our good institution”, the alumnus concluded.
