The scene of actress Rio Locsin telling off a chauvinist male worker in an ’80s movie earned online buzz as the country celebrates International Women’s Day.
A Twitter account, dedicated to archiving 20th century Philippine cinema, on March 8 shared a clip from the 1984 movie “Working Girls” which featured Rio’s pregnant character, Isabel, having lunch with coworkers. She passed by a group of men and overheard their conversation.
“Rio Locsin fights back against sexual harassment in her workplace in WORKING GIRLS,” the account “Sine Files” tweeted.
The video featured a man telling his friends that a young woman cannot be pregnant if she is not promiscuous.
They then joke about Isabel sleeping with all of them simultaneously.
Isabel then grabs her food tray and smashes it over the head of the joker.
When the man confronted her about it, she punched him that sent him face-first into the table.
All of the women in the scene stood up and clapped their hands for Isabel.
She then raised her chin and then strutted out of the cafeteria.
The clip has earned more than 66,700 views, over 6,000 likes and nearly 1,500 retweets so far.
📽 Rio Locsin fights back against sexual harassment in her workplace in WORKING GIRLS (1983) pic.twitter.com/ljaSIK6O0a
— SINE FILES 🎞 (@sinefiles) March 8, 2022
It was warmly received by some Filipinos who noted how Rio’s character fought back against her chauvinist colleagues and was cheered on.
“The standing ovation and her power walk afterward. I love women,” a Twitter user said.
“Happy woman’s day, ghorlies. Let’s all fight against misogyny and the stupid patriarchy,” another online user said with a heart emoticon.
“THE WAY EVERY WOMAN STOOD UP. AHH YESSS,” a different Filipino said.
“Working Girls” is directed by Ishmael Bernal and stars Rio, Hilda Koronel, Chanda Romero, Carmi Martin, Maria Isabel Lopez, Baby Delgado, and Gina Pareño.
The movie features seven subplots depicting their stories, particularly how they juggle their work and personal lives.
It can be viewed on YouTube through Cine Mo!, a pay television channel owned by ABS-CBN.
Meanwhile, the clip from the movie was uploaded on March 8, when the global community is celebrating International Women’s Day.
The holiday is meant to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women all over the world.
It also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
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