Unpacking Donnalyn’s baby-themed photoshoot
The vlogger immediately deleted the post and apologized for her actions. (Image from Rappler)
Donnalyn Bartolome celebrated her 28th birthday on July 9 with a photoshoot, posing seductively while dressed in baby clothes and using items typically associated with infancy as props. According to the caption in her now-deleted post, this was her first risqué shoot and she wanted to try “something new.”
The Kakaibabe singer further shared that she was aware of the contradiction between the shoot concept and portraying a baby, but tried it anyway because “maybe it’s time [to].”
Disgusting or debatable?
This generated mixed reactions from people on social media immediately. While some appreciated the unique concept, others were disturbed to see her portraying a baby in a sexual manner. "Sexualizing clothes that are made for toddlers? Really? Ms. Donnalyn Bartolome, you’re feeding p3d0’s s3xual fantasies," Twitter user @chrsmtcullen wrote.
More people shared similar sentiments about enabling pedophilia, with some even exposing comments that made inappropriate remarks about Bartolome and babies.
Other social media users, including Facebook user Paolo Dumlao, compared the shoot to other examples of media that adopted similar aesthetics but were more thoughtful in straying away from sexual content.
Following the controversy, Bartolome posted an apology, where she explained that it was not her intention to enable “one of the most horrifying acts here on Earth.” While initial reactions she received saw the shoot as “light and funny,” she changed her mind once she was made aware of the criticism.
She also added that she had her photos copyrighted to prevent further spread, and ended with a call to donate to Nayon ng Kabataan, a care facility she confessed to being admitted in as a minor.
A fine line
Because the distinction between “daring” and “disturbing” isn’t always clear-cut, similar issues have surfaced in the past. Recall “Cuties,” the Netflix film on the sexualization of children that was accused of sexualizing children, or lolicon, an anime and manga genre that features underage girls in sexual or romantic contexts.
On one hand, consenting adults should be free to express their sexuality however they want, provided that they aren’t harming anybody. People could argue that Bartolome was simply being confident in her body; that other people were sexualizing her, which puts the malice on the viewer’s gaze. But it’s equally possible that the shoot itself was created to fulfill the traditional male fantasy by sexualizing childlike features.
Either way, the question of whether or not it was appropriate to use the aesthetics of infancy for a risqué photoshoot remains, especially given the prevalence of child sexual abuse and victim-blaming today.
Should she be held accountable for the reaction of other people, including pedophiles, to the shoot? Was the act of posting it a normalization of predatory behavior?
With more than 15 million followers on her Facebook page and 9 million subscribers on her YouTube channel, the stakes were definitely high for Bartolome depicting such controversial themes with an artistic project posted on a public platform. What started as a birthday shoot unexpectedly reflected the harrowing realities of women and children today, bordering complicity.
