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Fair Skin: The Pursuit for Beauty, Social Status, and Economic Advantage

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Fair Skin: The Pursuit for Beauty, Social Status, and Economic Advantage

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The Philippines is a country with high influence of western countries due to being colonized by Spain and the United States of America and also one Asian country which is Japan and one thing is common with all of which, which is they all have white or fair skin and it has caused many effects on how Filipinos live today. Fair or white skin is being sought after by many Filipinos due to being a sign of beauty, higher social status and has economic advantages like the perception of not having to work and stay at home or working at the office with a higher position and they would achieve this by skin bleaching from cheap whitening creams, lotions and soaps to expensive pills and intravenous glutathione drips. In contrast many associate darker skin tones to being inferior in the society and associate it to being low class, ugly, and lower economic advantages due to societal standards that were set like dark skin is associated with working under the sun like that of a construction worker or farmer. This cycle of perception or stereotyping results to discrimination like to the race of the Afro-Americans of the United States in 1960s where they are socially segregated from the whites due to being seen as inferior while here in the Philippines, Aetas (a local ethnic group) are either perceived or depicted as poor, and sex in which many women may be affected by this due to beauty standards that Filipino women should have fairer skin in the country all according to skin color which is called Colorism (T. Tasker, 2018, p.1). An interview conducted by J.L Rondilla (2012 p.25) believes that color of the skin has affected as for centuries due to being colonized by the Spaniards, then the Americans and then the Japanese. All of them were lighter skinned than the common Filipino. It guesses it has made us think that you know, “Oh you must be ashamed of your color because if you’re indio or you’re kayumanggi, it means you’re stupid. You’re not like us insulares or peninsulares who were learned and all those things.” The ideology has been carried over throughout the generations. The preference would be fairer skin goes with Caucasian features, girls and guys, with Caucasian features or Chinese features, but still fairer skinned. The quotation shows the history and effects of colonialism in the country to far extent of shaming and bullying just because of skin color and a great example of this would be the Aetas wherein they are usually shown in the media as poor and uncivilized and usually the actors who portray them are either has fair or white skin topped with heavy make-up receiving heavy backlash in social media or in parent in which some would not allow their children not to play outside in fear of their skin to become darker. And fair skin can be a measurement of intelligence or educational attainment and social status to some.

Beauty is a very important aspect due to first impressions created by it that can affect how you are being treated as an individual and having a fair skin as a Filipino can be important and is quite influential and an example would this would be the world-famous Miss Universe Pageants wherein Filipina contestants and winners such as Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of 2015 and Catriona Gray of 2018 respectively, among many others are either mixed with foreign blood and are embodying the western beauty standards which is affecting the country. These influences is being seen in media with many of the celebrities and influencers opting for fairer skin as it is associated with being more beautiful and many are taking in risks by using products like injectable, pills, lotions and creams in order to appear to have fairer skin. And the Philippines along with other countries in Asia and Africa are being plagued with this influence that means white is beautiful. Being influenced by the Western and Asian countries such as has taken a heavy toll on what Filipinos should look physically especially on the outside like that of the Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and the American in order to be on the same level as them as based on an interview conducted by J.L Rondilla (2012 p.19) wherein in the country where most people prefer light skin, mestiza (mixed) or Chinese because for the most part, we have been colonized. The Philippines has been colonized for a long, long time. Like, the Spanish colonized us for three hundred years. Then afterwards the Japanese during World War II, then the Americans. So, we have some sort of identity crisis. So that’s the perception that the white skin is better. And you can see it actually even in TV, in the commercials. They have all this whitening stuff. Down from the lotion and of course other clinics. Beauty clinics are making a killing just to keep white, stuff like that. Beauty in the country has become an industry to become “whiter” as possible to satisfy our vanity to say we are beautiful. However, this trend may cause repercussion because some may associate us from having brown skin, but we have a set of beauty standards that can cause confusion. We follow what we see on the television with actors (which the most have foreign blood), commercials like whitening trends which promises quick results and say different ingredients like glutathione or papaya extract and might visit derma clinics in order to hear what they may say about our skin. Beauty through skin bleaching has many side effects with many poor women being attracted to it may buy mercury laced cheap creams that can be bought in the market which many counterfeit, mislabeled or smuggled products run rampant if used may result to “kidney damage, skin discoloration, rashes, and psychosocial issues such as anxiety, depression and psychosis” according to an interview with Annie Chiu, MD by Refinery29 Reporter Lexy Lesback (May 2019). Although it is expensive, many women would take any risk in order to become fairer or whiter and become beautiful due to the mindset that beauty is associated with the skin which means endangering the lives of many.

Social Status comes also in mind when speaking about the color of the skin with many associating it with wealth and power. Many Filipinos might think that having a white skin is seen as being able to stay at home and not work under the sun and having a high-class status which can be traced back from the pre-colonization where the Chinese trade with the Filipinos, then came the Spanish and American where we were seen as uncivilized thus making a mindset that the lighter the skin the more civilized we can be and more like them and an example would be the 1904 World Fair where the Igorots were portrayed as savage because the women were bare-breasted and wore only loin cloths plus they eat dog meat (J.L Rondilla 2012 p.19-26). The example of Igorots being an example on how Filipinos mindset has been affected and is still prevalent until this day due to the fact that many tourists who visits the parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) or in Baguio City might still think that they are uncivilized or worse they have tails or even mistook them from Aetas thinking they have dark skin and curly hair. Many Filipinos also associate the color of the skin to wealth and power like the wealthy of the past centuries wherein there are many who are sporting porcelain skin and other characteristics due to mixed blood being called “mestizo” or “mestiza” which is taken as a sign being rich. And one example of being discriminated due to the ideology of colorism would be Ms. Nancy Binay-Angeles and her father former Vice President Jejomar Binay, even though coming from a rich and powerful family she became an infamous example of colorism due to having a darker tone of skin and was being ridiculed and criticized in social media as Nog-Nog which means black person or equal to the word “Nigger” which is really unfair on their part (Coconuts Manila, 2015). And another would be a controversial product brand called Glutamax (Coconuts Manila, 2019) whose advertisement earlier this year which has caused backlash over the content in which they say that 3 out of 5 Filipinos believe that women who are whiter are being treated better than women with darker tones which caused uproars and threats to boycott the said products but since apologized and removed the advertisements in billboards and the internet. There are many factors that is being affected by the issue of skin color like how they treat others as individuals, but it is all about how they perceive them based only on skin color.

Economical Advantage due to skin color can be another thing wherein whiter skin is seen as superior and many take this seriously to become successful and reach their dreams like many Filipino treat this kind of ideology as an investment. Many use whitening to find foreign mates or love interests to satisfy economic need or to be perceived as coming from a well-off background or family or win in beauty contest to earn which reflects many aspects on why many try to fit on this fad. (J.L Rondilla 2012 p.72-74). Skin whitening or bleaching also brings the perception of the society that people with fair or white skin is pretty wealthy compared to dark skinned people, and it also amplifies the ideology that having white skin is more superior and intelligent than other skin tones which many of our countrymen copy in order to get a job or achieve their goals in their career. Many also associate white skin with success due to people perceiving that people with dark skin tones are on the bottom of the economic ladder. And lastly many perceive white or fair skin as desirable to impress others or a potential partner because it improves her economic standing.

In summary Fair Skin or Colorism is a mentality that Filipinos had since we have traded and had been colonized by foreign powers that we perceive white as a symbol of superiority. We perceive that Fair Skin is the key to success in life in order to achieve beauty by the use of many products with whitening properties or by risking oneself on buying cheap mercury laced products with many health side effects, or to uplift ones’ social status in order to be seen as high class individual living in luxury, and lastly to take advantage of this perception to gain economic leverage and to be seen as well-off. The white skin perception has affected many lives due to discrimination they have faced in many aspects due to the color of their skin like bullying or having some issues in finding a job that is majorly in service and hospitality industry which values appearance. Colorism also ran deep in our culture and history which all ran in our perception according to skin color which the society favors the fairer skinned individuals which we can see all around us from billboards, television, and all sorts of media in which Filipinos are depicted to be with Caucasian features. However, there is still hope for change in the society to break this cycle of perception due to many standing up against colorism such example would be Asia Jackson, a Filipino-American Actress who has started a hashtag is social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter #magandangmorenx – or “beautiful brown skin” due to her experience being bullied due to her skin color (C. Tai & T. Sukumaran, 2019). And the backlash against colorism also has created some organizations such as the Manila-based movement called Moreno Morena which aims to promote darker skin tones via the social media. Filipinos can either let this practice of colorism that is being used by corporations to generate income through peoples’ insecurity and let the discrimination of skin reign and be passed to the next generation or put an end to it.

References:
Colorism. (n.d) Retrieved from https://nccj.org/colorism-0
C. Tai & T. Sukumaran (2019) Asia’s addiction to whiter skin runs deep – but the backlash has begun. Retrieved from: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2184747/asias-addiction-whiter-skin-runs-deep-backlash-has-begun
Rondilla, J.L.(2012). Colonial Faces: Beauty and Skin Color Hierarchy in the Philippines and the U.S. https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/etd/ucb/text/Rondilla_berkeley_0028E_12807.pdf
Lesback, L. (MAY 28, 2019). Skin Bleaching Is Poisoning Women — But Business Is Booming. https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/etd/ucb/text/Rondilla_berkeley_0028E_12807.pdf
Updated: Controversial ad encourages women to use whitening cream to gain ‘fair advantage’ (Apr 15, 2019). Retrieved from: https://coconuts.co/manila/news/controversial-ad-encourages-women-use-whitening-cream-gain-fair-advantage/
Vp Binay hurt by “nognog” joke, says his haters are ‘racists’., (May 2015) Retrieved from: https://coconuts.co/manila/news/vp-binay-hurt-nognog-jokes-says-his-haters-are-racist/

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Based on Sherry Turkle's 2012 TED Talk entitled " Connected but alone?"

Today, we enjoy technological advancements that had affected our lives in big ways, ways that are negative. From the time we wake up and check the messages on the phone, video calls that we make, and to the amazing things that we make with our gadgets where the possibilities are endless. We find things that we cannot do a century ago like connecting with anyone in any place in the world. We use technology to connect with each other and interact virtually.

A century ago people where interacting personally and sending letter then came the telephone and the computer and web and lastly the cellular phone which is very valuable in our age.

One time I was hanging out with my friends and I noticed that everybody is just sitting with less talk and with eyes on their phones, yet I know that I'm guilty of such thing and I know that every strong relationships are built by interactions. We are more comfortable with texting and calling due to the fact that we would filter what we say unlike in chatting personally wherein we can say what we want. We want to be more sociable where we put up selfies and brag about ourselves in the internet but in contrast we want to be more private is our personal lives not showing who we really are. We want to be always on trend on what is new and hot to be "in" in the social circle, not caring about a single thing. We connect with people but no one would care on the internet. We want to be with anyone who we can understand and share our emotions with, and people are vulnerable in creating illusions that we connect with each other on the internet and technology.

Some people wants to share who they seem to be with the world but deep inside is we only wants someone to hear what we want to say in order to be relevant with others thought. People wants to feel that they too experience what everybody else, to satisfy their vanity like in the use of social media where we like to click, chat, and post to create life that we wish we have from it like many of the people I know wants to impress other people by faking it.

Interacting with others has stopped due to the use of web avatars and characters that we have made has taken over to represent us like a hollow copycat. Some of us need to think twice and be responsible in using technology as a way of communicating or at least limit it.

My conclusion is that we need to stop the cycle of connecting via the internet/technology that is taking over our lives and to build relationships that could last a lifetime by interacting with other people personally. We should make a better version of ourselves by making meaningful conversations and sharing ideas with others. What are your thoughts on the effects of technology in our daily lives?

Photo: https://www.google.com.ph/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi-uY6uiInlAhUHQd4KHfEmAnMQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigitalculturist.com%2Fstop-saying-technology-is-causing-social-isolation-1e004de63a5e&psig=AOvVaw3E7LOyTtj61JtVXLV6LkEM&ust=1570500482532397