SMART SHAMING. IS IT FUNNY OR IS IT OFFENSIVE?

By: Ailene Ponio

Filipinos are known for being hospitable, creative and funny. As they say, we are the perfect
combination of being resilient and compassionate. However, those Cadena of positive traits always
come with a negative knot. Filipinos are also known for lack of discipline, always coming late (hence,
Filipino time) and our peculiar trait on smart shaming.

What is smart-shaming?

Smart shaming is defined as an act of mocking someone who expresses his or her opinion in an
intellectual way. If I have one legit question to ask anybody, it would be this.

If knowledge is power, then why are people so proud of being dumb and shame those who are more
intellectual than usual?

We, the Filipinos, will not admit it but in one way or the other, we have done some smart shaming in the
past. The most common example for this is saying “Nosebleed” every time someone speaks in fluent
English or saying “eh di wow” in the middle of a conversation just because someone stated an accurate
fact. Feeling guilty yet?

Don’t worry, the feeling is mutual. While writing this article, it is very tempting to stick to the idea of
being a hypocrite and point fingers on each and every one of you while keeping my hands clean of any
fault. I figured, if I will admit to being a smart shamer, no one will be interested in reading this article.
However, coming out clean is not the entire point of this write-up. When I started this article, my
intentions were clear. Once and for all, let us all figure out why do we have this habit of smart-shaming.

Let us trace back to our roots, shall we?

As stated in our history, we are colonized for a long time by the Spaniards who treated us like dirt and
thereby calling us Indios which downgrades our status in the society as those with the lowest of the low.
The educational attainment of the Filipinos at that time are often limited to those what they can learn at
home. Since then, there is that sense of aloofness against those who are well learned because they
consider them as threat as they might trick them into something disadvantageous.

Is it possible that we acquired this somewhat negative trait from our ancestors and it just heightened
over the years?

Maybe we did. Maybe we didn’t. Maybe we are just simple-minded individual who thrives with the idea
of anti-intellectualism. Who knows?

All I know is that smart-shaming should not brand us Filipinos. Because if it will, the works of some of
our great heroes like Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo which showcases their love for individualism
and knowledge will just be put to waste.

Let us stand up against this habit and promote the love for learning. Only then will we be able to express
and show our true qualities as Filipinos.