Last week, the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, arguably the biggest show in music, was the talk of everyone online as it gave us some much-deserved wins, a few snubs, a whole lot of outfits, and a lineup of captivating performances. Whether you’re a music fan or not, content regarding the Grammys was just too difficult to avoid on show day.

Of course, what’s also difficult to avoid is everybody sharing their opinions on everything that happened on the show, and for Filipinos, that includes Richard Poon slamming Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” performance, and the heated arguments that followed.

On the Filipino singer’s public page on Facebook, he shared a post talking about what he described as “a so-called ’empowering’ performance” by the two female rappers, adding in photos of the pair dancing in stage leotards and posing in various positions. The post also queried: “This must be our music-industry standard, I guess?”

In the comments section, many condemned Poon’s words as misogynistic, emphasizing that his singing behind a mic stand doesn’t make him any better than the female artists expressing themselves artistically. To which he replied with a hint of sarcasm: “Crooner songs are WAY BORING TO THE well-respected empowering STRIPPERS PRODUCTION NUMBER. Yep got it.”

He replied to several more comments after that, but the thought remains the same. Poon believes that it’s false empowerment for women to go on stage and dance in leotards, especially if certain moves end up in “too-sexual” positions.

On Twitter, “Richard Poon” trended as soon as the post went viral, with many people growing frustrated with women’s constant and on-going fight against discrimination, prejudice, and men telling them what they can and cannot do. The biggest issue raised is the fact that people won’t bat an eye if a male performer went on stage topless to do the same dance routine, but women can’t seem to ever have the same luxury.

if this is really richard poon (kasi for all we know baka may nagrurun lang ng page na to,,, just because) then sobrang nakakahiya for him na ganito pa ideologies niya, just say na you're a misogynist that prefers women a certain way and take the train back to 1963 https://t.co/XeKi8X2myI

— kent #DuqueResign (@kentyuh_) March 17, 2021

Women, never let a man like Richard Poon tell you how to be a woman. You owe nothing to a man. Disgusting. https://t.co/mCu0lGcqEo

— ᴮᴱASHLEY⁷ (@AlyssaAshleyC) March 17, 2021

Again, when a man goes shirtless on-stage, he is praised. When women like Megan and Cardi B have autonomy on their sexuality on-stage, they're slut-shamed.

Richard Poon is desperate for relevancy huh

— enzo. ???? (@itsenzobishes) March 16, 2021

not richard poon in women's business… they are not doing it for you, they are doing it for themselves so why bother? the misogyny is showing. pic.twitter.com/2s7brK86tP

— ppprince john (@ppprincejohn) March 16, 2021

 

Moreover, why is it always men who have something to say about women? As if a woman’s choices are at the jurisdiction of her male counterpart.

And that’s the important part in this situation: two grown women made a creative choice to dance and dress a certain way, and that’s their choice. As long as it’s not harming anyone, no man and woman should ever take that away from them.

At the end of the day, we all have our own opinions, and we have the freedom to express them. However, if certain beliefs perpetuate harmful ideologies of misogyny regarding things that are just simply none of our business, perhaps it’s best we leave the post on draft.