As Women’s Month rolled around, I wondered to myself if all of it was really necessary. I’d grown weary of the “trendification” of awareness months and special events. The majority of these events are centered on selling anything mildly related to the central theme of the month. Women’s Month was one of the first in my recent memory that I began to block out. In the year 2026, was celebrating women in the “girl boss” kind of way wholly necessary? I believed these large-scale celebrations might not be as needed as they once were. Yet somehow, at the beginning of the month, an issue that rocked my social media feed showed me otherwise.
For those unaware, Rep. Bong Suntay made some very lewd remarks about actress, TV host, and icon Anne Curtis. It was an unprompted and rather strange statement, which then led to social media blowing up over it.
For some, the outrage felt unwarranted, with many wondering why his remarks even mattered in the first place. If it’s limited to a man’s imagination, why are we even mad? “It isn’t like he did anything,” many netizens said, while the other side said he was objectifying Anne Curtis, reducing her to nothing more than alluring body parts and an object of desire.
It’s a strange thing to see. Sometimes, in my bubble of like-minded Gen-Z, I find myself getting blindsided by this archaic way of thinking. I would’ve thought that we’ve moved past reducing women to objects and an amalgamation of sexy body parts. That what a woman does with her life never warrants the kind of disrespect shown to us by piggish men.
I asked a few of my friends around my age for their thoughts.
Vy, 24, noted, “Instead of using his position to uplift women, he decides it was more worth it to target them. It’s irritating more than ever to have to deal with men who want women, but who do everything in their power to stomp on them.”
His point made me think about how misogyny and misogynistic thinking are rooted in both a desire and a hatred for women. It’s a funny paradox, how women are desired by men who feel entitled to them, but who turn around and curse them for not being able to essentially “own” them in the same breath. We are made out to be objects that heighten a man’s social capital, and our absence makes them feel “less.”
Geli, 24, said, “The statements made by Rep. Bong Suntay are a reflection of a bigger cultural problem among men and the conversations happening privately among them that eventually spill publicly and out into how they view women. They are socialized to sexualize women, and to vocalize this is encouraged by other men or are hardly corrected by other men, which is why women are the ones to point out how this is inappropriate. Because to other men, this is appropriate and even manly behavior.”
This is another point that I’ve been wary of for a long time. We wonder about the “locker room” talk that men have when there are no women present. How do they talk about us? Our clothes? Our bodies? Are we likened to products that are graded according to our “objective” attractiveness?
And sure, maybe not all men go along with these ideas…But this brings to light this anecdote that challenges the men who choose to do nothing about it.
In a room of 10 men, one makes a misogynistic comment, two laugh because they find it funny, three don’t find it funny but laugh to fit in, and four say nothing. Men would often think, “I’m not the guy who said it, so I’m not bad.” But by staying silent, they’re no better than the man who made that comment.
Men would often think, ‘I’m not the guy who said it, so I’m not bad.’ But by staying silent, they’re no better than the man who made that comment
These “bad men” aren’t likely to listen to women when it comes to women’s issues. Even now, Anne Curtis’ issue brings to light the backward thinking of men. The “good men” need to do the bare minimum by pushing back, if we want meaningful change.
I say bare minimum, too, because it is basic human decency to not reduce or objectify women. Women have, obviously, historically led the charge to push back against millennia of misogyny and female empowerment. Though the nuances of feminism nowadays grow cloudier as conversations progress, it is necessary to keep leading this charge. Though women may have equal rights, the issue surrounding Anne Curtis only goes to show how much work still needs to be done. It cannot just end at equality but equity in all aspects of society.
There are so many things to take into consideration, that women worry about, but which men never have to. When a woman is pregnant, she wonders if she’ll bounce back right away to return to work. Before leaving the house, women have to think about the clothes they wear, often having the burden of carrying extra clothes if they have to commute. When women go out on a Friday night, they remind friends to send them a message indicating that they got home safe. These are only a few of the worries and anxieties that women have. It’s a frustrating existence. Only by the virtue of our birth are we expected to bear the burden of our gender.
The irony is almost too cartoonish when we think about how, of all the months, he had to say that at the beginning of Women’s Month. I came into this month scoffing at the idea of celebrating Women’s Month, but after everything that’s happened, I really had to think twice.
As the hype dies down as the days pass, I truly hope we don’t forget how much female empowerment goes beyond a few posts or attending women-centric events. The true spirit of change comes from the smaller things. The conversations we have with the men around us must include holding those in power and in our daily lives accountable for misogynistic comments.
To the men who might happen to read this, if you truly believe yourself to be a good man, do the work. Stand up for the women who aren’t able to, without us asking. You don’t realize the power your voice has in rooms where women don’t feel safe, or the persuasion you’re capable of when you sit down and talk to other men about women’s issues. Even at the risk of being ridiculed and called a “white knight,” it’s better to be dubbed one than to stand in the sidelines.
I hope that we all come to remember that Women’s Month isn’t just about empowerment in the way that social media and corporate entities have us thinking about it. It’s nothing like Valentine’s Day, a day born from companies wanting to sell more chocolates. The history and roots of Women’s Month are rooted in spotlighting all women’ s issues and propelling meaningful change. That means in every corner of society, we are meant to examine where women are still struggling and oppressed on the basis of their gender, and dismantle that in our own ways—whether that means having conversations with those around us, or voting for the best candidates who have women’s issues in mind to enact the changes we want to see.
Anyway, here’s to hoping this issue will spur positive change. Let this be a lesson to all of us that even if women have achieved some equality and the culture is shifting, there is still plenty of work to be done.
