“If your product was any good, you wouldn’t need sexism to sell it.”
We shared that quote on our Instagram and Twitter recently. It’s pretty timely after seeing the online outrage against streetwear brand Kain Pepe Clothing (KNPP). People weren’t mad because the brand had a sexual name (we’re all for sex positivity and the promotion of women’s pleasure) but because they used objectification to sell their shirts.
After being criticized online, the owner tried to defend the brand in a now-deleted Facebook post, saying that their intention is not to objectify women but to teach young people to “eat properly” and be mindful of their nutrition. We don’t understand their logic either, especially since KNPP’s promotional materials show women posing sexually while wearing their shirts.
Sayang yung utak ng gunggong na to. pic.twitter.com/kYU9zd7tWN
— Jobim (@jobimism) January 24, 2020
If the brand wasn’t objectifying women, they wouldn’t have to resort to using hypersexualized female models to sell their clothes. It’s one thing to promote sex positivity and women owning their bodies, but it’s another to have a photo of the male owner with his hand over a model’s exposed crotch. This reduces the woman to a sexual object. That said, one of the models actually trended on social media on Jan. 27 after appearing in News5’s “Ipa-Raffy Tulfo Mo.” She told Raffy Tulfo that a YouTuber made a video bashing her because she endorsed KNPP. She admitted that she regrets doing it and has asked the brand to take down a revealing photo they allegedly posted on their social media without her consent.
When the episode came out, some netizens started slut-shaming the model, saying she shouldn’t be crying about the backlash when she agreed to work with a misogynistic brand.
First of all: Don’t direct your outrage towards any of the KNPP models. As far as anyone knows, none of them defended the brand. They accepted a job to pose for a clothing line—which, unfortunately, happened to be a problematic one—because they probably needed the money.
Second: Some netizens slut-shamed the model, saying that she shouldn’t have worn short shorts if she didn’t want to be disrespected. No, we are not having this conversation again. Clothing should never be used to justify objectification, catcalling, groping or rape. Even if we take KNPP out of the equation, no one deserves to be treated inappropriately because of their clothing choices.
Lastly, KNPP simply shared the Tulfo episode on their Facebook page and didn’t even address the backlash the model got. This just tells us that the brand used her to divert our attention from how misogynistic their brand is.
But don’t let social media reactions to the video sway your attention from the real issue, which is the fact that KNPP is still operating and selling shirts that show a vagina and women in compromising positions. They’re also using their engagement to ask their Facebook followers if they should get MNL48‘s Coleen Trinidad as their endorser. (If MNL48’s manager is reading this, please don’t let any of them do this gig.)
As the Gabriela Women’s Party said, the owners of KNPP need to undergo gender sensitivity training “to heighten their awareness of gender concerns and be willing to respond to gender issues.” They have to understand why their brand can degrade and perpetuate stereotypes against women.
https://www.facebook.com/GabrielaWomensParty/photos/a.244369462439725/1243864385823556/?type=3&theater
If the owners want to sell clothing, fine. But they should learn not to use designs and promotional materials that objectify women, especially their models. Likewise, people should also be careful with their criticisms. You can’t claim to be against the brand’s misogyny and in the same breath slut-shame the model who got cyberbullied.
Let this be a lesson for all brands. If you believe in the product you sell, you don’t have to use “edgy,” problematic themes for the sake of standing out.
Art by Tricia Guevara
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