The Obsession of Filipinos with White Skin

One whiteness can cover three kinds of ugliness.

Image source

This phrase I heard from one of my Chinese students when I asked her about her insights with fairer skin. She said that in China , white skin is preferable by the society than the brown skin. In the ancient times, white skin is associated with wealth, elegance and beauty while darker skin implies the laborers who worked hard under the heat of the sun for the whole day. These discrimination is still prevalent nowadays in Asia. In a recent survey conducted, it says that 4 out of 10 women in South Korea, Hongkong, Malaysia and of course in the Philippines used whitening products. I think it doesn't have to do with racism or being a "colored" person but it is actually a trend that our ancestors bequeathed to us 200 years ago.

In the Philippines, more and more people not just the women but also the men who have become obsessed with whiter skin complexion. During the Spanish colonial tyranny, many Filipino slaves, workers, farmers had dark brown skin because they had to work under the scorching sun to serve the "white headed" Spanish with their white rosy cheeks. The Spanish people were powerful over the Filipinos, they had all the money, the power and the control over everyone else in our own country. As time passed, these colonizers had developed romantic relationship with the natives and had children who are called mestizos and mestizas.

Mestizos and mestizas are traditionally used in Spain and the Philippines to mean a person mixed of European or Asian descent.

Wealth has been passed down to their mestizo offspring including their lighter skin and they were called the "Dons and the Donas" at that time until now. If we call someone "Don or Dona" it automatically registers in our head that they are in power, they have a lot of money and they are beautiful. Sadly, until this day the skin color remains the status basis in the Philippines. If you have a dark skin, it means you probably work in the sun for the whole day as a construction worker, fisherman, farmer, porter in the Pier, vegetable vendor in Carbon or a "kargador" or a banana cue peddler around the neighborhood even if you are the son of a lawyer or a doctor living in a mansion. But if you have a white skin even if you are a peasant, people never bully you for living in the mountain area far from civilization.

China's face Bikini

I was a country girl living in the Southern part of Cebu. When I was on my 3rd grade in elementary, my parents decided to live in the city because of my dad's work. I was 9 years old when I transferred school. On my first day, of course you have this long introduction in front of the beasts in the classroom. The students looked at me intently and one person asked, "Where did you come from?" then I answered, "I came from Boljoon - in the South" and everybody was like, "aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh" - in chorus! Looking at their faces I can sense that they were saying that, "okay, now we know why you have a dark skin because you lived in the countryside". It might be a misjudgment but you know we have this instinct that we can tell if we are bullied non-verbally.

When I started working as a call center agent, I had no time to get outside because of the work schedule. I sleep in the morning then get up in the evening to get to the "airconditioned" office which means I get a fairer skin this time. Now I am working at home as an ESL teacher and as a Steemian recently so I am not exposed to the sun either in a daily basis unless if I go out and buy something or go jogging in the morning. Every time I meet my friends especially those I haven't met for a year or so, they usually say,

Hala! Honeyleeet! nadato naman ka oy. Puti na kaayo ka zaaaii! (panglibre bi!) NYAHHAHAHAAHAH! - o diba? (magpalibre gyud diay basta muputi... hahaha!) ang gamhanan nga Honeylet! abi nila di na ko mukaon og buwad bes. HAHAHA. (I am laughing when writing this right now.)

You see how "white skin" is superior in our society? It's funny how the Filipinos still have this mindset even after 200 years. I admit that I also have this mind conditioning about having a fairer skin. In the Philippine television, about 90% of the endearing and famous stars were born mestizos and mestizas. For example Marian Rivera, Anne Curtis, Bea Alonzo, Jessy Mendiola, Julia Montes, Kim Chiu, Solenn Heusaff, and hundreds of them and they all have white complexion and have been endorsers of whitening products. Our society dictates our actions and has been shaping us of how and who to be in this lifetime. I have to admit that I am guilty of such things. I use a whitening soap and a whitening lotion on a daily basis. I have this feeling of being content when I see myself fair-skinned.

_{Here is a proof :D}

If you happen to visit the Philippines, try to go to the malls, grocery stores, or even in the pharmacies, you can see hundreds of whitening products around. You can also check some online shops in the Philippines and witness how Filipinos are obsessed with white skin. Or ask a random person on the street if he/she prefers a white skin or a nut-brown skin.

Always bear in mind that no matter what color of your skin is, you're only as beautiful on the outside as you are the inside.

XoXo,

@honeyletsgo