[OPINION] Body shaming should leave the streets

April 02, 2024 | By Vanya Danyella Barachita

Jamie Casiño calling out Green Soldier's body shaming joke during an act at Session Road on March 10, 2024. Tiktok screenshot/@kikyangx

Green Soldier, whose real name is Jhonwel Reyes, is a mime artist and a busker on Session Road who gained huge popularity for his comedic acts. On March 10, Jamie Casiño posted a Tiktok video narrating her uncomfortable experience with Green Soldier. According to her, she and her friends were walking along Session Road when Green Soldier saw them. He pointed at them, raised his hands in the air, and shaped the figure of their bodies — straight for her friend, curvy for her, and a circle for her other friend.

When the video went viral, many were defending him saying she was being sensitive and that it was simply part of his act. But, body shaming people for the sake of art is not and will never be okay.

As entertainers, their goal is to make people happy. They have to think of creative, sometimes unconventional ways of bringing joy to their audience. To bring something new to the table is hard, especially on Session Road where multiple buskers compete for attention from people passing by. However, if your way of boosting your audience's mood is by making fun of someone's appearance, then maybe it is time to rethink your approach to entertainment.

Women have been guilted to follow rigid and oftentimes contradicting beauty standards since time immemorial. Comedy, in this case, can be used to critique these standards. After all, entertainment should not be limited to light jokes but also commentaries of our society. Notice how Vice Ganda sometimes references government issues when joking on It’s Showtime. That is good comedy, as it uses relevant issues and people as subjects for punch lines, and not minorities and those discriminated against by society.

As street performers, it is their responsibility to be a good example to their audience. Streets are home to people of all ages — from kids to teenagers to adults. You have a wide reach on the street, so every act and every word should be thought of twice, or even thrice before uttering them. When children hear harmful remarks on someone’s body and people laugh at it, they would think it is normal and carry that behavior at home or at school. There is a possibility they will make fun of their sibling’s or classmate’s body. The ones they poke fun at might become insecure of their bodies at a young age. The impact of street performers, especially with those who have a large following like Green Soldier, does not end on the streets. It echoes back to their audience’s homes, schools, and workplaces.

Body shaming puts a great toll on those on the receiving end of it. Aside from a distorted body image, body shaming causes women to worry about every single detail that might affect their body — the size of their clothes, the calories of their food, the shape of their body. Women end up consuming their time and energy on these things in fear of being seen as too big. The comments we say on a woman’s body, no matter how harmless or funny we think they are, affect their everyday lives, causing them to lose focus on things that are also important to them — their relationships, career, and personal life.

Entertainment should never be an excuse to laugh at a woman’s body. As Women’s Month has recently come to a close, we must remind ourselves of how art must be used to uplift and encourage women.

The opinion and views expressed by the writer are their own and do not necessarily reflect the positions of The Companion.