Everywhere in the Philippines is an advertisement about skin whitening products, not just on television and other forms of mass media but also in the mouths of many.
There had been a wrong impression that beauty is about having a white skin. You could see TV commercials showing a famous actress testifying that this whitening product has turned her even more beautiful. You could also see a miserable brown girl that becomes happy and fulfilled when her skin has turned into white.
Via totalskinandbodywellness.com
Fictional icons have probably played a big role on this like Snow White, Bella of Twilight, and among other white-skinned characters who ended up finding their true love and having happy endings. Who wouldn’t like to have the same destiny like them, right? To add more, even religious images we adore like Santo Niño, Jesus on the Cross, Mama Mary, and some saints look also white.
Because of all this, it is common for Filipinos, especially the women, to say, “Gusto kong maging mas gumanda kaya magpapaputi ako. (I want to look more beautiful. Therefore, I will make my skin white.),” leading to a delusion that the whiter the skin, the prettier a girl is.
This concept is superficial, obscene, and flawed. The harmony between ebony and ivory has turned into a promise of ebony into ivory. Our society has taught us to change our own skin color, damaging the standards of true beauty.
Via magic-potions.com
But this “white is beauty” notion is slowly changing throughout the modern era. In fact, in some countries, white skin is already a symbol of death. It has become inferior to dark skin color. White already means unattractiveness and poor health.
Well, there is evolution in everything, and WHITE SKIN IS NOW BEING REPLACED BY A BRONZE SKIN. Tanned skin is now the new obsession especially in the west. This is due to the thought that wealthy people can afford an escape to exotic and dreamy places like the beautiful islands in the Pacific. The sun is no longer the enemy to be avoided at all costs, but a friend to explore and appreciate the beauty of nature.
Such turning point, however, is still not accepted in some Asian countries particularly in the Philippines.
And the bigger problem in all of this is... this "white is beautiful" thing has turned into a more severe form of societal sickness: racism. It has become "white is superior" which contributed to the country's failure to achieve a truly egalitarian society. White-skinned people are deemed more dominant than the darker ones. It also became the wrong standard of beauty and wealth. Filipinos are naturally born brown. It is who we are, and we must learn to accept it. This white thing is no joke. It is madness, and it needs to be addressed because our society has already taught us not to be proud of our own race.
The skin is just superficial. Beauty is not seen in the shell of a person but in the core.
May we not be fooled by the impressive marketing strategies of skin whitening companies, because white skin is not made popular to empower us? Instead, it is abused for money and deceit.
If we —Filipinos—carry on this madness, we are denying what we really are and what we are made of.
There had been a wrong impression that beauty is about having a white skin. You could see TV commercials showing a famous actress testifying that this whitening product has turned her even more beautiful. You could also see a miserable brown girl that becomes happy and fulfilled when her skin has turned into white.
Via totalskinandbodywellness.com
Fictional icons have probably played a big role on this like Snow White, Bella of Twilight, and among other white-skinned characters who ended up finding their true love and having happy endings. Who wouldn’t like to have the same destiny like them, right? To add more, even religious images we adore like Santo Niño, Jesus on the Cross, Mama Mary, and some saints look also white.
Because of all this, it is common for Filipinos, especially the women, to say, “Gusto kong maging mas gumanda kaya magpapaputi ako. (I want to look more beautiful. Therefore, I will make my skin white.),” leading to a delusion that the whiter the skin, the prettier a girl is.
This concept is superficial, obscene, and flawed. The harmony between ebony and ivory has turned into a promise of ebony into ivory. Our society has taught us to change our own skin color, damaging the standards of true beauty.
Via magic-potions.com
Unfortunately, this has been infecting the Philippine society for centuries. This traces back in the Spanish regime when the Spaniards brought with them the idea of skin color hierarchy. Dark skin was associated with the poor or the ”indios” who had to work under the sun just to cope with the difficulties of life. The elites, however, had bright skin, either because they were mestizos or they were rich that they did not need to work under the burning sun.
The natives back then wanted to look like the Spaniards or the mestizos. No wonder why Dr. Jose Rizal portrayed this in his novel, Noli Me Tangere, through the fictional character of Doña Victorina, who put a massive amount of white powder on her face just to appear like she was from the upper class.
This Spanish influence on white skin was further strengthened when the Americans and other white-skinned invaders came to the country. So thanks to Ferdinand Magellan, President William McKinley, and others! (Laughs!)
Well, to be fair, the Philippines is not the only country that is obsessed with white skin. This is also observed in other Asian nations like Thailand and Korea.
In China, white skin was a symbol of wealth, elegance, and nobility. Ancient Chinese people used white jade as a metaphor to describe fair skin.
In Japan, the Geisha used to paint her face white just to look more attractive and pure.
Even some time in the western culture, the power of white skin was so extensive that some aristocrats applied some powder on their faces just to put distinction on them.
The natives back then wanted to look like the Spaniards or the mestizos. No wonder why Dr. Jose Rizal portrayed this in his novel, Noli Me Tangere, through the fictional character of Doña Victorina, who put a massive amount of white powder on her face just to appear like she was from the upper class.
This Spanish influence on white skin was further strengthened when the Americans and other white-skinned invaders came to the country. So thanks to Ferdinand Magellan, President William McKinley, and others! (Laughs!)
Well, to be fair, the Philippines is not the only country that is obsessed with white skin. This is also observed in other Asian nations like Thailand and Korea.
In China, white skin was a symbol of wealth, elegance, and nobility. Ancient Chinese people used white jade as a metaphor to describe fair skin.
In Japan, the Geisha used to paint her face white just to look more attractive and pure.
Even some time in the western culture, the power of white skin was so extensive that some aristocrats applied some powder on their faces just to put distinction on them.
But this “white is beauty” notion is slowly changing throughout the modern era. In fact, in some countries, white skin is already a symbol of death. It has become inferior to dark skin color. White already means unattractiveness and poor health.
Well, there is evolution in everything, and WHITE SKIN IS NOW BEING REPLACED BY A BRONZE SKIN. Tanned skin is now the new obsession especially in the west. This is due to the thought that wealthy people can afford an escape to exotic and dreamy places like the beautiful islands in the Pacific. The sun is no longer the enemy to be avoided at all costs, but a friend to explore and appreciate the beauty of nature.
Such turning point, however, is still not accepted in some Asian countries particularly in the Philippines.
And the bigger problem in all of this is... this "white is beautiful" thing has turned into a more severe form of societal sickness: racism. It has become "white is superior" which contributed to the country's failure to achieve a truly egalitarian society. White-skinned people are deemed more dominant than the darker ones. It also became the wrong standard of beauty and wealth. Filipinos are naturally born brown. It is who we are, and we must learn to accept it. This white thing is no joke. It is madness, and it needs to be addressed because our society has already taught us not to be proud of our own race.
The skin is just superficial. Beauty is not seen in the shell of a person but in the core.
May we not be fooled by the impressive marketing strategies of skin whitening companies, because white skin is not made popular to empower us? Instead, it is abused for money and deceit.
If we —Filipinos—carry on this madness, we are denying what we really are and what we are made of.
Comments
Post a Comment