Vlogger couple Alodia Giosengfiao and Will Dasovich publicly apologized on YouTube yesterday after drawing flak for a TikTok video which Twitteratis have accused of perpetuating “toxic masculinity.”
The controversial 15-second video in question was uploaded on several social media streams including Twitter on Wednesday. It featured Gosiengfiao’s take on a so-called “My Heart Went Oops” challenge. The dare features women in plain clothes dancing to a song, then after a beat drop and some video editing magic, the women transform into sexy, club-ready versions of themselves.
Gosiengfiao’s take on the dare involved her dancing while wearing an unzipped jacket with a tank top underneath. Instead of shedding off her jacket in the next scene, however, the 32-year-old appeared with her jacket fully zipped, while a shirtless Dasovich, 28, appeared next to her wagging a finger at the audience as if to say, “Not today.”
The video generated thousands of tweets, and was called out for supposedly normalizing toxic masculinity.
“Please stop romanticizing men who dictate how you should dress in the guise of love,” one tweet by user @maantok read. “The patriarchy is strong in this one.”
https://twitter.com/maantok/status/1250459212318007301
The couple then took to YouTube to defend what they said was a “fun video” that was simply “taken out of context.”
Dasovich said the video was made out of pure entertainment, and that “the joke is not about me controlling what she [Gosengfiao] wears…the joke is because they’re waiting to see her skin, but I’m the one who [appears] shirtless.”
“The twist is you’re expecting her to have no clothes, but she isn’t [taking it off]. I’m the one with no shirt on instead of her. That’s the twist. I’m the one saying no, that’s what you thought. That’s basically it,” he said.
Naturally, Giosengfiao supported her boyfriend and said, “[N]owhere in the video does it show Will zipping me up, I’m the one who zipped [my own jacket] up. He never said anything about it [in the video].”
Dasovich, who said that he’s never had to apologize for any of the videos that he had created until now, said, “[O]ur followers understand us from our years of videos that we made and who we are as people. We talk about values, our morals, and our fanbase completely understand that I am not degrading or controlling, or guiding [Gosiengfiao] in any way, or dictating what she’s gonna wear.”
“She can wear whatever she wants…If anything in this relationship, she’s the boss,” he added
Some fans supported the couple, such as @james_tedrick who tweeted, “All of the political correctness emanating from this video‘s reactions is honestly so much more toxic than the ‘toxic masculinity’ people are trying so hard to point out from this video. Both Alodia and Wil consented to this little 4fun TikTok. What’s the fuss?”
All of the political correctness emanating from this video’s reactions is honestly so much more toxic than the “toxic masculinity” people are trying so hard to point out from this video. Both Alodia and Wil consented to this little 4fun TikTok. What’s the fuss? https://t.co/YWjiAaeMUA
— Tedrick James (@james_tedrick) April 16, 2020
Prior to becoming a YouTube Vlogger full-time, Dasovich became famous for appearing on the reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother. The Fil-Am entertainment personality hails from Pampanga and California.
Giosengfiao meanwhile, is arguably the single most popular Filipina cosplayer in the country. She’s won awards and has judged cosplay competitions here and abroad.
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