Leni Lugaw: Gendered Implications of Disinformation Memes in Social Media Towards Women in Philippine Electoral Politics

Marvin Dominic B. Buena

Introduction

In the 2016 US presidential campaign between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, fake news took on a particularly virulent form, marked by a particularly noisy debate on gender (Stabile, Grant, Purohit, & Harris, 2019). Before the 2016 election, fake news article interaction on Facebook surpassed mainstream media story engagement, with 8.7 million shares, responses, or comments regarding fake news compared to 7.3 million for mainstream news (Lee, 2016).

Though it’s unclear to what extent such tales fueled the more common path of campaign character attacks, politicians questioned one another’s competence and criticized character defects. However, there is evidence of a political tilt to the spread of fake news during the election season, with 17 out of 20 fake news pieces supporting Trump, while fact-based mainstream news stories preferred Clinton. Hence, gender discrepancies joined party lines, with false news reports favoring the male candidate 85 percent of the time (Allcott, & Gentzkow, 2017).

Similarly, at the onset of the 2022 Philippine Elections, most fake news is directed against presidential candidates and Vice President Leni Robredo (Hence, VP Leni). Recently, fact-checker Tsek.ph said Robredo is the biggest victim of negative disinformation. At the same time, her opponent in the 2016 vice presidential polls and the upcoming 2022 national elections, former senator Bongbong Marcos, is the beneficiary of positive but misleading messages on social media (Lalu, 2022). Among the many implications of the growing prevalence of fake news is how memes used for disinformation might exacerbate existing gender disparities by promulgating stereotypes and biases against women in politics that influence the electorate’s behavior.

To assess how disinformation reflects gendered characterizations of female candidates, memes featuring VP Leni were used as a subject of this study. The three most shared disinformed memes have been selected from flagged down Facebook accounts. Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), images can impose the specific meaning in the written discourse to generate a generalized movement between them, rather than merely stating reality (Machin, 2004). Weave these ensembles into ideological fabrics in social media, where visual components are generated and consumed. Image and text supplement each other on a medium like the Internet meme to create disinformation. Hence, this study endeavors to illustrate how weaponized disinformation memes, drawing on existing gender biases shown to negatively affect women candidates through mainstream news media, can be operationalized to influence the electorate. Still, this analysis may not aspire to draw generalizable conclusions about the treatment of women in disinformation on social media.

Gendered Disinformation Towards Women in Media

According to the EU Disinfo Labs, Gendered disinformation disseminates inaccurate or misleading information that harms women because of their gender. During the COVID-19 outbreak, researchers revealed that deceptive information was provided to depict women as adversaries or victims to promote a certain agenda (IGF, 2021). Furthermore, because female politicians are increasingly using social media to overcome marginalization and connect with constituents—a 2016 survey of female Parliamentarians from 107 countries found that more than 85 percent of them use social media, particularly Facebook, with younger legislators being the most active—critical it’s to determine whether online platforms are a level playing field for political engagement, or whether they reproduce the same biases (Wagner, Trimble, Sampert, & Gerrits, 2017). However, there is strong evidence that online threats and harassment often target female politicians and activists and that explicit sexual teasing is designed to delegitimize, depersonalize, and ultimately prevent women from engaging in politics. 41.8 percent of females polled indicated they have seen humiliating or sexual photos of themselves spread on social media (Directorate General or Internal Policies, 2013).

Gender-based harassment on the internet, ranging from insults to death threats, has actual implications. Most female politicians and professionals polled (research) voiced considerable worry that this might become a significant barrier for women who desire to enter politics (IGF, 2021).

Robredo As Target of Fake News

Tsek.ph, the fact-checking initiative organization, published that Vice President Leni Robredo and former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were the major targets of misinformation in the Eleksyon 2022 presidential election, with incorrect or misleading information about Marcos favoring him. Robredo was the focus of negative misinformation (Rubio, 2022). According to the fact-checking organization, the sources and agents of statements that were either misinformation or false information meant to cause damage, disinformation, or erroneous information were largely from social media users with political viewpoints (Lalu, 2022).

One is misogynistic attacks on VP Leni, all attacked by social media users as early as 2016 over pregnancy rumors. Online posts concerning Robredo’s apparent change in looks spread, expressing a narrative that the Vice President was pregnant and deliberately tying VP Robredo to a Quezon City lawmaker. During one of his rallies, Duterte even joined the bandwagon, asking Vice President Aquino whether the pregnancy rumors were genuine. To make it more credible, the trolls began spreading a fresh myth that VP Leni had an abortion after months with no indication of pregnancy (Dizon, 2016).

Another is Robredo’s supposed immunization with COVID-19 shots in Marikina was one of the most recent and cringe-worthy false news stories. Social media users mocked the vice president after seeing a photo of a lady getting a vaccination injection while wearing a long-sleeved shirt. The goal is to criticize the Vice President for being “boba,” a popular line of misinformation used by DDS trolls. A basic photograph would be multiplied a hundred times to flood the public with the image of the vice president they want us to see. Later, the VP clarified her Facebook post, claiming she was not the lady in the photograph. Dr. Flordeliza Grana captioned the image,” ‘Bakuna’ blouse gamit ko.” Please report those who are spreading false information. “Thank you very much.” Despite the explanation, the trolls did not remove their post or apologize to Vice President Leni or Dr. Grana (Gonzales, 2022).

Trolls are not just active in harming the Vice President’s reputation but also regard Leni’s children as great targets. The campaign has been shaken by fake news linking sexually explicit content to the daughter of the lone female presidential contender in the Philippines’ forthcoming national election. The fake news uploaded on a porn website is no longer available. Only the title refers to Aika Robredo, Robredo’s 34-year-old daughter (Mccarthy, 2022).

While Vice President Leni Robredo has handled the false narratives with elegance, it cannot be disputed that the uncontrolled dissemination of misleading and false information has divided Filipinos when they should all be together in the face of the country’s crisis (San Juan, 2021). Gendered disinformation on the internet has highly dangerous consequences. Fake news impacts the general population since it stifles critical thinking and people’s capacity to participate in public dialogue actively.

Method

Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis investigates how diverse modalities of a media text interact. Visual strategies and linguistic choices portray people or events in a media text. Word selections and non-linguistic components such as pictures and subtle manifestations where the image is not visible, such as font type, font color, text placement, spacing, and so on, are used to communicate (Machin and Mayr, 2012). Power and ideology are often disguised as objective representation using multimodal text visual components. As a result, visual constructions have a greater ability for implication (Wodak & Meyer, 2016) since they trigger emotional reactions far more quickly and intuitively than spoken discourse. Images may reinforce the meaning in the written discourse to establish a general fluidity between them, rather than merely depicting reality (Machin and Mayr, 2012). These ensembles are formed and consumed by social institutions as ideologically gestalten parts, in which visual components are created and devoured. Image and text supplement each other to provide meaning and story to a platform like the Internet meme, becoming like another (Bateman, 2014). Furthermore, MCDA denaturalizes ideological representations, allowing for a deeper understanding of the texts.

Using Facebook image search, a compiled set of memes containing the word “Lugaw” was whittled down to three. The subjects for analysis include most shared weaponized memes used for disinformation from flagged down Facebook fake news outlets. “Leni Lugaw,” a moniker given to her in the three select weaponized memes circulated on Facebook during the onset of the 2022 Philippine national elections.

Result and Discussion

Leni Lugaw Branding

Trolls have long been calling Robredo “Lugaw Queen” or “Leni Lugaw” since pictures of her campaign team selling rice porridge were spread online during the 2016 elections. The belittling of lugaw began when Vice President Leni Robredo served it in her feeding sorties for the hungry. Lugaw is considered poor cuisine. As an extender, more water is utilized. However, due to its light nature, lugaw is often given to convalescents who cannot eat solid meals (Malasig, 2021). Lugaw is eaten by people who are short on rice for their families.

Robredo has been called “Leni Lugaw” by supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte after serving the local rice porridge in an event a few years back. Those who couldn’t think of anything kind to say about the VP’s hard work on a shoestring budget dubbed her Leni Lugaw, implying that she, like the watery rice soup, was of little substance. Robredo’s detractors believed lugaw was an excellent term to denigrate her talents because of its cheap and common character (Malasig, 2021). The following memes were analyzed to serve the purpose of this paper:

Figure 1. Leni Lugaw Batman Meme

On Leni Lugaw Batman Meme (Figure 1). The Leni Lugaw Batman meme features a popular culture visual taken from “The Batman” comic series where Batman is seen slapping Robin hard. Also seen in the meme are the texts, “Wag ka ng attend sa lahat ng cabinet meetings!” and Magluto ka na lang ng lugaw sa Duterte’s Kitchen, total dyan ka naman magaling!

In this meme, you will see President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s (PRRD) face put on Batman’s body while Vice President Leni Robredo’s (VP Leni) head was put on Robin’s body. On the one hand, Batman, a crime-fighting vigilante, is feared by villains and admired by the citizens of Gotham because of his virtuous deed. Robin, on the other, is a gullible young sidekick Batman put on under his wing. Comparing Batman to PRRD has put him in a more powerful position. The comparison implies that PRRD is as righteous as Batman.

Leni’s comparison to Robin puts her in a precarious position as Robin, in the comics, is characterized as childish, foolish, and gullible. Not only did the meme expose the position and power between the two, but the type of personality both personalities embody. Batman’s machismo in slapping Robin reveals how abusive Batman can be toward the youth. Using Leni’s face in Robin’s body unveiled how acceptable it is to harm the youth. Moreover, Leni, the second-highest official in power, is a woman. This puts women in Robin’s place as well.

What is more concerning is that despite the beloved superhero’s abusive characteristics, this seemed to be acceptable. With the stature of Batman, people in Gotham tend to be grateful to him. This is similar to PRRD’s case as he has a lot of fanatics to defend him despite his wickedness.

Moreover, the selection of Batman slapping Robin template does not expose Batman’s wickedness towards women and the youth but how acceptable his deeds are with his stature as the head of the country. The text “Wag ka ng attend sa Lahat ng cabinet meetings!” alludes to the infamous removal of VP Leni to PRRD’s executive cabinet. The incident limited the VP of her role in the cabinet and gave a negative image of her as she was seen as an enemy to the president’s goodwill. Furthermore, “Magluto ka na lang ng lugaw sa Duterte’s Kitchen, total dyan ka naman magaling!” further degrades her as woman. The line implies the sexist role of women as homemakers. Incidentally, women in the Philippines were once not allowed to work because of their role as homemakers. The line further insulates that even if women were elected to serve because of their qualifications, they are only as good as housewives. Likewise, they cannot assume roles in politics.

On Leni Lugaw Boy Pickup Meme (Figure 2). The second meme features a selfie between PRRD and VP Leni as they meet in Malacañang palace as newly inaugurated president and vice-president. The Philippine flag is seen in the background with text bubbles, “Leni, lugaw ka ba [?]” in which VP Leni replied, “bakit?” followed up by PRRD’s answer, “bagay ka kasi sa itlog ko.”

Figure 2. Leni Lugaw Boy Pickup Meme

The meme is taken out of context. This is a genuine selfie shared by both PRRD and VP Leni. The Philippine flag in the background denotes that they are in Malacañang, the usual residence of the head of the country. Hence, the case implies that VP Leni is visiting PRRD. Based on customary Philippine practices, women are not allowed to go to or visit a man’s house, or they will be labeled as flirty. Hence, the notion sets up VP Leni as immoral, even going as far as the pop culture reference cited in this meme.

Based on the texts in the meme, PRRD is seen trying to woo VP Leni with pickup lines thrown by Boy Pickup. Boy Pickup is a skit in the comedy episodic series Bubble Gang played by Michael V. Boy pickup is known to be legendary, enigmatic, and hypnotic, which appeals to most who don’t get what his pickup lines are all about. Still, his words penetrate their hearts just the same. Also, pickup lines are conversation openers designed to engage women in romance. The line usually starts with a question followed by a witty answer that appeals to women. This positions VP Leni in an alleged romantic relationship with PRRD. However, instead of using wholesome lines, PRRD in the meme made fun of VP Leni’s sexuality as he asks, “Leni, lugaw ka ba [?]” about Leni’s lugaw projects, further empowering the notion made in Figure 1 about the sexist role of women as homemakers instead of politicians. VP Leni is positioned to be flirty as she asks, “Bakit?” as implied by the Boy Pickup predicament, followed by the sexist “bagay ka kasi sa itlog ko,” which denotes a man’s penis. In turn, lugaw becomes a sexual reference for a vagina. Although lugaw (a rice porridge) is often paired with a piece of egg, the metaphoric use of itlog says otherwise. Itlog has been widely used in the Philippines to refer to a penis and penis as a phallic symbol to denote sex. The entire Boy Pickup predicament made the romantic angle plausible. Sadly, the misogyny displayed in this meme appears to be acceptable by many since the pop culture template of Boy Pickup is also loved by many viewers.

Another angle is how “lugaw” has been trampled by PRRD’s “itlog.” Lugaw denotes how VP Leni rose to the occasion with her pandemic response programs and priceless leadership presence despite the close-to-nothing budget. This is quickly shut down with the misogynist pickup line using Duterte’s itlog. Citing Duterte’s itlog is not short of surprising since the president himself is a proud womanizer and a misogynist.

On The Legend of Leni Lugaw: Ang Babaeng Walang Ginawa Meme (Fig. 3). This meme features an alleged TikTok post with VP Leni holding a press conference with a banner head “The Legend of Leni Lugaw: Ang Babaeng Walang Ginawa.”

Figure 3. The Legend of Leni Lugaw: Ang Babaeng Walang Ginawa

The photo used in this meme highlights VP Leni with a background of the Philippine flag and a cropped seal of the Office of the Vice President. This denotes her position in the country. This appears to be a press conference where she answers questions from the media. Also, the photo was taken out of context and was reused to disinform its audiences. The banner in the photo, which says “The Legend of Leni Lugaw: Ang Babaeng Walang Ginawa,” is an obvious misleading headline for the meme. The meme banner appears to expose how “Leni Lugaw” began. Similar to the first two memes, this meme refers to “Leni Lugaw” as an insult in addition to her projects. This appears to be an insult because it is followed by the subtitle “Ang Babaeng Walang Ginawa.” This subtitle contains the word “babae,” which refers to a woman, and “Walang ginawa” is directly translated as did nothing. What is troubling with this meme is that dubbed as the most powerful woman (as the vice president) is seen to did nothing. In effect, her stature represents other women in politics as well. The meme implies that women are incompetent in politics. The word “legend” denotes a historic presence where all she has ever done was nothing. The meme discredits everything that VP Leni possesses to reach her stature. Hence, lugaw becomes a reference to the sheer qualification of women engaged in politics.

The TikTok watermark in the meme denotes this post as a clickbait. TikTok has been proven to be a platform for spreading disinformation. According to NBC (2021), The disinformation propagated on TikTok has deleted several videos. In reaction to “fake news” uploaded on the app in 2020, the platform deleted approximately 350,000 videos with disinformation concerning the US 2020 presidential election and more than 50,000 films with incorrect COVID-19 material. However, TikTok content has been accessible in the Philippines, with over 33 million subscribers (Datareportal, 2022). To many Gen Zs, it is more desirable to subscribe to information on TikTok compared to books.

Conclusion

Most of the “Lugaw Leni” memes examined in this paper present various sexist tendencies in the allusion to “Lugaw.” In these memes, lugaw has been denoted as the 1) sexist role of women limited to being homemakers, 2) sexual reference for a woman’s vagina, and 3) sheer qualification of women engaged in politics. The memes examined could disenfranchise VP Leni as a capable electoral candidate for the presidency. This disproportionate and often strategic targeting of female politicians has direct consequences for the democratic process: it can deter women from running for office, push them out of politics, or cause them to become disengaged from online political discourse in ways that harm their political effectiveness (Eyméoud & Vertier, 2020). Hence, abuse may inflict psychological trauma and waste a lot of time and energy for those women who stick it out, especially if politicians can’t tell whether online threats constitute a real-life threat to their safety. As a result, online harassment of women pursuing political power might be viewed as a gender role enforcement made easier by anonymity.

Online sexist narratives directed against politically engaged women, on the other hand, are not just the result of daily sexism; they are fostered by political actors and used as a political strategy (Ward & Grower, 2020). This is because national media and politicians usually pick up social media trends and extend beyond social media. Thus, if a meme becomes popular enough on social media, it influences national discourse. As a deliberate effort to stifle dissident views and force feminist politicians out of politics, illiberal political players frequently advocate online harassment against female political leaders.

Gendered disinformation on the internet has highly dangerous consequences. Fake news impacts the general population since it stifles critical thinking and people’s capacity to participate in public dialogue actively. As more people use the internet as a primary source of political and governance information, it’s critical to examine the role those social media news outlets play, consciously or unconsciously, in promoting more gender-inclusive and public participation democracies – yet the intersection of sexual identity, representative government, disinformation, and information technology remains understudied.

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