Philippines’ underground scene continues to distance itself from homophobia and now sexism

A few days ago we put up a phenomenal post by the band Beast Jesus stating their stance towards homophobia/transphobia clearly. You can read the post here: https://uniteasia.org/filipino-genre-defying-band-beast-jesus-release-statement-regarding-homophobia/

Last night the internet was set abuzz yet again but this time to take down blatant sexism found in the music video streaming below of some band who apparently won a competition.

Once again the Philippines punk scene (probably one of the most forward thinking punk rock scenes in Asia right now) responded in spades their utter disgust at the imagery and message behind this music video.

One of the most succinct of posts was by Keith Dador who stated:

“It’s 2017 but for every step we take in making our society more conscious about gender equality and being better human beings, we have shitty sexist bands like this one. To make things worse, winning an alcohol-sponsored rock competition gives them the validation and the sense of entitlement to make this type of content publicly acceptable.”

According to Keith the lyrical content blatantly objectifies women so this is not just the imagery in the video that is being called out but also the lyrical content and thus the band itself.

A member of Beast Jesus also posted the following:

“Sorry, but your band isn’t going to become famous for any other reason than this completely sexist garbage. Bad songwriting, no noticeable ambition, and macho bullshit in spades.

I’ll give anything a good listen, but the promo poster alone was a huge red flag. I knew the music would be bad from the get-go, but not on this level of bad. It’s comical for all the wrong reasons and not even bad enough to be funny.

Apparently, this band won Muziklaban or some shit. Where I’m from, merit isn’t gauged in pity applause.”

The only good thing to come of this is continued conversation. Ethics and morals are a huge part of any punk rock scene. No one above is being overly PC – the reaction above is simply due to the belief of common decency towards your fellow human beings that are being objectified as nothing but something to be gawked and groped at.

Keep talking, keep stating your thoughts regarding, keep standing up against stupidity by calling it what it is: sexist, homophobic, racist, fascist, agist, etc.

Post your thoughts in the comment section – is the same thing happening in scenes where you’re from?