The alleged cheating scandal involving Julia Barretto and Gerald Anderson has taken a dramatic turn—one that nobody (or maybe some) expected.
Last night, Julia finally broke her silence to address the controversies hounding her for the past few weeks. She denied all the cheating allegations, noting that she and Joshua Garcia broke up four months ago. She also disassociated herself from Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo’s relationship issues.
What surprised fans the most was Julia calling out Bea for bullying and for allegedly asking people to charge after her. “You have encouraged a culture of hate by purposely liking harmless photos, putting malice into the minds of many, which resulted in the outrage of insults against me,” she said in an Instagram statement.
This was met with mixed reactions. On one side, we have Julia’s friends and fans expressing their support and applauding her for standing up for herself. While others are criticizing her for going after Bea, resulting in a flurry of “#TeamBea” tweets—even Julia’s aunt, Gretchen Barretto, declared her alliance.
The #TeamBea responses mostly accused Julia of attacking the wrong person, especially one who didn’t directly call her out. Based on the statement, it’s obvious that Julia was talking about Bea’s “ENOUGH” post, among her other online activities.
Several pointed out that Bea was calling out her ex-boyfriend and not Julia. Bea herself claimed there was no formal split and Gerald stopped talking to her. The non-communication was confirmed by Gerald, who told ABS-CBN News they had a big fight a month ago and weren’t in speaking terms. And TBH, we don’t blame Bea for being upset over her own relationship.
Which brings us to the next point: Why is one woman calling out another woman, but not the man who’s in the middle of it? And why are there sides being taken between the women?
Woman vs woman
When the whole controversy started, people were quick to pit the blame solely on Julia Barretto. The comments ranged from her losing her career because she ruined her relationship and love team, and also tagging her as unfaithful.
While others also brought up Gerald Anderson’s alleged cheating in his past relationships, they were mostly memes for people to make fun of. So he got the laughs—albeit for negative reasons—and Julia was ruthlessly shamed.
This played into the sexist notion that the “other woman” should be blamed when a man cheats. According to Everyday Feminism, this plays into the “temptress stereotype” wherein women are seen as seductresses who can control men’s urges. When in reality, men have the agency to make their own decisions, and if they choose to be unfaithful to their partners, that’s their doing. (This also applies to women if you are in a lesbian or bisexual relationship.)
Now that Julia has spoken up, the public discussion has turned into “Which team are you on?”
The issue now isn’t the alleged cheating, which should’ve been settled privately regardless of what’s going on in the internet. It’s reinforcing the patriarchal structures where women fight over cheating and unworthy men.
Take the Khloé Kardashian-Jordyn Woods controversy, for example. The former and her sisters directly attacked Jordyn for what Tristan Thompson did. This created a divide among fans who wanted to side with one woman or the other, totally missing the point that Tristan should also be held accountable, and both women are victims to his actions and society’s sexist notions.
While you’re off tweeting “#TeamBea” or “#TeamJulia,” you’re supporting the square-off between two women, which is a lose-lose situation. Why? Because their reputations will be tarnished and they will be constantly maligned.
Ultimately, whoever’s responsible for this mess, including Gerald Anderson, should own up to their mistakes and not let this feud brew even more. Both women are victims of the circumstances at hand and they deserve to be free, not pit them against each other until someone folds.
Photo courtesy of Bea Alonzo’s Instagram account
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