Web Magazine Online

 Previous | Web Magazine | Next

  By Grace Borrero

Images of Pilipinas on the Internet

I searched the web and I did find sites that dealt with mail-order brides and sex tours. Unfortunately, out of the hundreds that promoted this "business," I could only locate one that actually tried to alleviate the problem. It was the site for the Philippine Women's University. This is their Mission Statement:

"We believe in the education of the Filipina for useful and responsible womanhood in a democratic society that assures her of a true life with God and with others, as encapsulated in our four-fold objectives:

Developement of a good moral character and personality,

Preparation for a vocation or profession,

Training for home and family life, and

Training for community participation and leadership."

I used the Yahoo search engine and looked up "Filipino Women." I was really bothered that the majority of the sites were under the category of "Business and Economy." It just disgusts me to see how my Pilipina sisters, my flesh and blood, are a staple of the economy. It just shows that these women are equal to dollar bills. They are objects. Many sites had exotic titles like, Asian Rose Travel or Filipina Dream Girls. To best summarize my findings, I will describe Red RoosterAdventures. This single website is what a typical sex tour site is like. Upon entrance, I clicked on the Philippine Pleasure Tour. Here, I found pictures of naked pinays, shamelessly flaunting their bodies. I read the introduction and find out that this is the "ultimate in sex-oriented vacations, where all fantasies come to life." According to this, these Asian beauties are willing to satisfy one's never ending search for sexual satisfaction and fulfillment of one's deepest fantasies. It goes on to state that not every lady will leave with you, but for one that won't, there's a hundred that will. It then concludes that "every man will leave with an ear-to-ear grin and a new outlook on life." New outlook on life?!? Puh-leeze!!!!

The sad thing is that I've seen worse sites. This one is actually pretty mild in comparison to some of the other degrating and raunchy ones. Upon seeing this, I feel the urgency to fix this problem and outlaw sites such as these. They are selling people! These women are being objectified, humiliated, and exoticized!!!! This is quite upsetting to me because I can easily be one of those women. So with my friend, my sister, my mother. Something seriously needs to be done about this soon.

(Grace Borrero is a junior majoring in English.)