Posted by bisayanqueen in The Filipina | 35 Comments
Reasons why Filipinos believe “The whiter you are, the prettier you are…”
This blog is in response to Zonah’s blog (read her entry)and her question: “am really wondering bakit sa kultura natin ang maputi, straight ang hair ay siyang tinatawag na maganda? Where do we get this concept?” My answer is way too lengthy to be posted as a reply or comment… so I thought I’d post it as a separate blog.
Here it is…
You are not alone in this sentiment… “That white is beautiful…” or “the whiter you are, the prettier you are…”
Even my husband asks me this same question… “Why do Filipinos and the Filipino women are too busy acting like they are white…? In fact, I think most of them even think they are white! Why is that, huh…?”
Quite frankly, I am offended by this question… But sadly, it is true… I have to admit… my husband is right in thinking that, we as Filipino people are guilty of acting like we are white. This attitude is very apparent, especially among Filipino elite… and even the not so elite ones.
I am guilty of this, which I vehemently deny. No, I don’t have white skin. I only have a hint of Spanish blood, and I grew up in a leaky nipa hut… So I most definitely do not belong to the privy, selected few… The part that I am guilty of acting like I am white, according to my husband, is the fact that I do not know my place. I do not carry myself according to my stereotype. I think my ego gets in the way. I consider myself just as good as everyone else, regardless of race or color. But maybe my husband is right, on the point that I forget that being a female and a Filipino are already two strikes against me… and I do not know my place…
In the workforce, I was highly ambitious and went after jobs that I was not supposed to get. (But back then I did not know any better…) I got the job anyway… But I think Mr. Luck was on my side. … Or maybe, I was just at the right place, at the right time… and in some cases… knowing the right people… But in the end, it always went back to the issue of me being Filipina and not knowing my place… Or maybe, as much as I do not want to admit, I still have a lot of growing up to do…
For a week or so now… I have been reading our history… the Philippine history… I am doing this to re-educate myself about my roots, my upbringing, my values, and my beliefs… including the bullshit ones that I based my life on. The values and brainwashing that’s been ingrained in my subconscious, way before I had the power to recognize them as such…
If you recall… the Philippines have been ruled by the Spaniards for over 300 years… And YES, the Spaniards are white people from Europe!!! During this reign… they have transformed the Filipino people. Back then, we were not even called Filipinos. We were just a collection of different tribes, from different islands, speaking different languages. We were described to possess these physical attributes: “medium height, although tall men are to be found among them; especially in the mountain districts. Skins are of a brownish colour, with black eyes, prominent cheek bones, the nose flat rather than arched or straight, nostrils wide and full mouth inclined to be large, lips full, good teeth, and round chin.” (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12010a.htm)
The Spaniards called us derogatory names such as brown monkeys, Indio, wild people, etc…
The Spaniards gave us our culture, our values and our religion. They even gave us our Christian names or Spanish names and last names. Today, almost 500 years later… we still have this same culture, the same values and religion… and the Spanish influences are still alive and well.
Did you know that the name Filipino was originally given to the white Spanish colonists born in the Philippines? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criollo_%28people%29) I certainly was shocked to find this out! I have never ever questioned the origin of our race… I mean why we are called Filipinos?
However, the name Filipino has drastically changed, especially during the Philippine Revolution, by which the nationalist movements have adopted Filipino to mean the entire population of the Philippines, including the indigenous Malay people. Today, the name Filipino is the exact opposite of its original meaning.
When the Spaniards established the Philippines as one of their colonies, they stationed Spanish men consisted of the ruling class and clergy men in different areas within the Philippine archipelago. While the clergy men busied themselves converting the people into law abiding and God fearing Christians; and the ruling class establishing government, they also started mixing with our race. To be blunt… they started impregnating the Filipino women. I’m not saying they impregnated all childbearing Filipino women that they could get their hands on… Let’s just say that because of this union, voluntary and involuntary, the Filipino race started to evolve. With Spanish genes mixed in our blood lines, our skin color has changed from brown to tan, and then tan to fair skin, depending on the amount of Spanish genes the person has in his bloodlines…
Given this… of course! The Spanish people are going to preach and inculcate in our ancestors brains, in our brains, that those Filipino people whose skin color are similar to theirs are indeed beautiful! Thus, the widely spread of Filipino beliefs that the whiter you are, the prettier you are… And let us not forget the many Chinese people who now inhabit the Philippines, who also have mixed with our race… they also pride themselves of being white…
… And then the Spaniards sold us to the Americans for $20,100,000.00 in the early 1900s… Another white ruling class… similar ideals and beliefs that made the current ones stronger…
Fast forward to now… in the year 2008…
This belief of being “white and beautiful” is further strengthen by the continuous brainwashing and programming being carried out by corporations, owned by the powerful elite, whose business is to sell beauty products and the likes to the Filipino people.
The fact is… there is plenty of money to be made among unhappy people, people who are discontent about their looks and skin color, people who have low self–esteem… people who are not happy with themselves.
We need to recognize that we have been programmed to think this way… We have been programmed to think that “the whiter you are the prettier you are…” Therefore, if you are dark skinned, you are ugly. A very poor… shallow… and ignorant view… But this, my friend, is just one of the ways that the elite and powerful corporations control us… It is on purpose that we feel inferior… and unhappy about ourselves…
I don’t understand what you mean by “your place”. Could you explain this? What stereotype are you talking about?
“I am guilty of this, which I vehemently deny. No, I don’t have white skin. I only have a hint of Spanish blood, and I grew up in a leaky nipa hut… So I most definitely do not belong to the privy, selected few… The part that I am guilty of acting like I am white, according to my husband, is the fact that I do not know my place. I do not carry myself according to my stereotype. I think my ego gets in the way. I consider myself just as good as everyone else, regardless of race or color. But maybe my husband is right, on the point that I forget that being a female and a Filipino are already two strikes against me… and I do not know my place…”
@Mixxy…
You mean not “knowing my place”…
When he (my husband) says “knowing my place”, he simply meant that when I am out there in the real world, here in America, people expect me to act, behave, and speak like Filipino. Filipinos are expected to be timid, shy and meek. We speak broken English, especially if we are not born and raised here in U.S. We are submissive, obedient and compliant.
I am none of these… I have accent, but I do not speak broken English. I am not submissive, nor obedient or compliant.
That’s why I do not know my place.
It is a bit of a conundrum that Filipino women would feel this way about themselves.
I am American of English and German descent, so I am as white as can be – painfully white, I often say. The love of my life and my soul mate is a Filipina I have been with for the past 3 years (here in America). Her skin tone is a beautiful, creamy “medium brown,” but in her less secure moments she has said things indicating dissatisfaction with her color and darkness. I of course assure her that she is beautiful, and that I would not want her to look any differently.
I did chuckle as I read your description of the “typical” Filipina – it read like a checklist of my sweetheart’s features. Don’t get me wrong – I love her physical appearance. To me, her long black hair, pretty brown eyes, full lips (l-o-v-e those lips …), skin color, and perfectly proportioned frame are superior to other women. Yes, she is much shorter than me, but I have always had a weakness for petite women.
But what Filipino women may not know is that a man of quality is far less concerned about the color of her skin than he is about her qualities as a woman – meaning her character, integrity, caring ways, respect for her man, faith and faithfulness, and sensuality. All of the Filipinas I know are hardworking, kind, have very pleasant personalities, and a unique ability to make a man feel special. That is something American women would do well to learn, because they have bought into a cultural lie that turns men away.
So it occurs to me that perhaps some of the influences to which you object have actually shaped the culture of the Filipino people favorably – in some ways at least. Yet I do completely agree with you that those who judge a person based on color are shallow and ignorant. In this man’s mind, would a whiter Filipina be prettier? Absolutely not.
I’m also frustrated by this obsession with whiteness. My grandmother was of Spanish origin and she married my grandfather, a native Filipino. Her children had very fair skin–except for my mom who looked more like her father. Hence, she was ridiculed by her siblings. Where I live, many people prize my skin color as being beautifully tanned, even during the coldest winter months. I guess its that allure of “exoticism” in the great white north. In the Philippines, I was APPALLED to see the rows and rows of skin whitening products which encourage us to become self-conscious of our skin color. It’s imperative that we rid ourselves of this colonized mentality. White is not prettier. How can Filipinos rise up if they idealize and aspire to be what they are not? It’s time to embrace being beautiful women of colour.
i guess it all boils down to sheer discontent.
those with fair skin wants to get a tan…
those with tanned skin wants to be fairer…
or probably, people just want to “stand out”. throw in someone that’s fair in a multitude of brown-skinned people chances are, he/she gets all those unwanted attention. likewise, throw in a brown-skinned person amidst a white crowd and the person stands out. maybe it’s the attention we’re craving for at the bottom of it all.
Hi,
Stop this. You look gwapa like you are…Right ?
Yes Why ? I have Filipina wife and all see wish for is White white white
reg, Thor
This kind of mentality is not only existing in the Philippines but in any other Asian countries as well. I’ve seen blogs from other sites that has a similar topic like this one. A respondent from Thailand said that people from their country were also stereotyping with the dark skinned people. She said that being dark means that you work under the sun. Nothing but just a worker, a laborer, or any employer whose job is related to the lower class. If you have a whiter skin, they’ll think that you’re rich because you stay in the house and count income that you’ve earned from a business.
This is kinda sad because I used to think that if you have a whiter skin, you look neat, clean, hygienic and more acceptable in the society which I realized was a big bullshit. Now I understand why my Filipino-American cousin in the US think that most of our kababayans in the Philippines were unaware that they are racists. It’s because she noticed their stupid perception of the dark skinned people and even some of the black people who were born or visiting the Philippines, which they tend to think that their skin is ugly and sometimes, they make fun of them.
When I first came to the US, I saw different kinds of people with different skin colors, races, faces, cultures, languages and values. Where the presence of dark skinned or black people is not shocking and present in the American society. I didn’t even see a single whitening soap, whitening cream, whitening lotion or any whitening products. That’s the time I realized that having a white skin is not really important at all. Every race with different skin color has a positive unique quality which is pretty evident to some actors/actresses and models.
We’re already in the 21st century. I know its hard or even impossible to make a change regarding this type of mentality but I wish that we should be moving on and feel happy for the type of skin color we have. The influence by the Spaniards, Chinese, and the Americans may have brainwashed us and it’s still existing, but I think we should only embrace the positive influences but disregard the negative mentality that has been killing us even in the present day.
I agree with mnel’s statement. i guess its our human nature that we want to be different & stand-out from the rest. i have european friends who work hard basking hours in the sun and apply tanning lotion to get that perfect tan look. on the other side of the fence, most asians particularly women would spend big bucks for a whitening product or a trip to the dermatologist for some whitening treatments.
Moreover, not only having fair skin is considered beautiful to all asians but also having western features such as long arched or pointed nose, rounder eyes, lighter-hair color & eye color are definitely a PLUS factor.
I also don’t understand this perception why majority of asians want to look western. I came from Filipino-Spanish descent (my great-grandmother from both parents side are Spaniards) and I don’t possess the typical malay or asian features as I inherit most of my physical features from our Spanish side. Modesty aside, I got tons of praises from Filipinos with regards to my Hispanic features and since I was a kid, i get comments from my classmates and teachers all saying to me “You know, you don’t look Filipino or asian” and up to this date, I still hear the same remarks from my Filipino & foreign friends.
I know others would consider it as music to their ears, however I don’t really find it a big deal and its not that flattering either. As a matter of fact, I feel secluded & confused because of my physical differences.
Also always remember that God did not create ugly things and He only made all very good. So there is no such thing as ugly people and that WE ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL IN OUR OWN UNIQUENESS NO MATTER WHAT OUR SKIN COLOR OR RACE IS.
But you see, it’s all part of a maniacal illusion that men have created since ancient times. This is what is meant by “the world is an illusion” by the spiritual adepts and the ancient philosophers.
When I was a teenager in the Philippines, I and my classmates liked to get tan. I enjoyed the glow. But my Lola hated it. I would come home from a beach trip and she would exclaim in disgust “ay! sa pagkalaw-ay sa imo!!” (ahh! you got so ugly!). And in such a truly horrified manner that I had to laugh. And I didn’t believe her. I tried to explain to her why it was okay. When I went out with my friends or on dates my mother would have a similar reaction when I wore jeans. She would say, “daw sa mga tao sa kampo!”(it’s what the people in the field wear!).
See it now—”People Who Work in the Fields”? My family matriarchs didn’t want me to dress or become dark because it was associated with the people who worked in the fields. The so-called lower class.
Being whiter is a form of universal social elitism and racial elitism.
Take a look at this Indian Pond’s commercial about the dark beauty vs the white beauty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJhSogkI284
It’s outrageous. Whitening products are making many companies, from local beauty product businesses to big multi-nationals, rich.
Beauty is fun. But at the same time it’s all an Illusion.
The young woman who commented earlier that we are all beautiful on the inside… She can see under this illusion and is closer to Truth than we all could say.
omg! they have an asian version too. this one could even be a bunch of filipinos… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lulohxxscps&nr=1
if that link doesn’t work for you look up these keywords at youtube.com: Ponds “Flawless White Drama (Full)”
I”m filipino and I’m proud to be of that descent. I know my features are not the typical because of my eurasian mixture. It’s been generation after generations of recessive genes being passed down from my family but I have green eyes and curly/wavy hair. My skin tone is pinkish. I often get mistaken for white/greek/italian. But I’m always proud to say that I’m filipino. I figured, if both my parents are from Pinas then you are filipino. My family has never been into that whole whiteness thing but instead we would love to go to the beach and get a tan!
Also, just to let you know, wikipedia is not a good source to reference because people can always edit it. It is true, most filipinos in the urban/city areas have different mixtures and we do vary in skin tone. My grandma is filipina even though she has a caucasoid phenotype with gray eyes. My grandpa is also filipino with hazel eyes and very mediterranean looking but we’re all filipinos. Ask any mestizo/spanish filipino families living in Pinas, they’re proud to be filipinos!
And yes, there are more spanish mixtures in Pinas they just don’t look it. Whose to say they don’t have the blood just because they don’t have the features! My cousin, who is like us (same features) married a dark looking pinoy with less prominent nose bridge and guess what, the kid looks malay/indonesian looking. So there’s that.
So to all those people saying and accusing us, filipinos, that we don’t have spanish bloodlines, you’re all wrong. Recessive genes comes out every time. Like black people, because of the whites raping their past ancestor, some of them have blue and hazel eyes. It’s recessive genes.
In regards to the whitening thing, don’t generalize that we all do that, because we don’t! Thailand, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Korea, and Singapore all use whitening products too! In Pinas, don’t say colonial mentality because the significance is the lighter you are the richer you are! Like in China, if you have light skin you are percieved as rich. While laborers work hard all day in the sun. That’s why it’s called Kutis Mayaman!
Hello kababayan!
This comment is for the lady who posted something abt.not knowing her place and always go after the job that is bigger than what she can handle or not suitable for her because it is outside her stereotype..?
I’m not sure if I put my words together right I hope I won’t offend her.
It’s just that she gave me an impression that don’t go after the job that only other race is suitable to fill the position.
It is true what she said that filipinos are submissive in nature , obedient and compliant. That is why people who were born in the USA often take advantage of our good nature.
It is very obvious in work places that people taking advantage of filipino’s good nature by telling them what to do and keep using them to do extra work and there is not a damn word that come of their mouth. Why?
I believe that being obedient , compliant and submissive is not a bad thing but if you are in a foreign land like the USA where people are very vocal and always execise their freedom of speech no matter what.. it seems that always someone will try to challenge you if you post a threat. That Filipino nature will not work and you will find yourself at the bottom of the food chain . Progress will be slow for you my friend.
My fellow Flips, you gotta speak up once in a while. What if you have an accent? or can’t speak english fluently? I know I have a heavy accent and can sometimes loose words when I speak.
I used to be so shy and always suck it up in the inside if people offended me. I thought that it is not a big deal because they probably right that I might not be capable of being smart or be a leader or whatever it is that the are thinking abt.asian people.
You know what..in the long run it will buit up inside you and one day you will explode and find yourself screaming in a perfect english only none of them is pleasant to hear.
Everybody will think that you got issues and still think that you are a moron.
I guess what I’m trying to say is if you think you are the best person for the job , go for it!
If you think they are using you too much at work..don’t be afraid to show disapproval or say something nice like F off. It is their stereotype in this country anyways to be vocal. Trust me , they will get over it and you will be friends again by the end of the day.
My fellow countrymen. Please stop spreading famous negative saying abt. filipinos. For example “filipino time” . It means that when the party will start at 4 p.m you all show up at 6 p.m
That seldom happen anymore. It is “Filipino on time” now.
Another example,”manana habbit”. WHAT manana what? what the F..
Doesn’t exist anymore! Pls. quit sharing that to other culture.
Or why often times when you see another filipino inside a grocery store ..either you walk the other way to avoid them or go near them to encourage friendship.
A simple hello is fine . It doesn’t mean you have to invite them over for a merienda.
i haven’t seen obedient pinoy here, from my experience. most of the pinoys here stand tall.
but… when i was in the philippines, it’s either i obey my father or get a smacking from him. so from my experience, it’s the opposite.
issais last blog post..Warhammer Online coming tomorrow September 18!
i agree to that ma’am!?There are many things we can be proud of but what’s beheading us is that we’re mesmerized to white people. What will make Philippines as a nation if countrymen will love it as their own. I recommend to you the book “The First Filipino” It’s not only about Rizal. It’s also knowing our roots.
Quote from the article:
they also started mixing with our race. To be blunt… they started impregnating the Filipino women.
End of Quote.
Oh my God! Do you know how much this sound like the voice of a racist? “impregnating”, do you see these women are cattle? Do you see all non-Philippine people as inferior?
This article is written by a racist! Why? Because it full of hate.
Did anyone ever read on http://www.gov.ph/forum the tread called “HATE ALL FIL-AMS”?
Do you want to stop racism? Start at home before you call other races racists. We are a mixed couple and according to SOME Philippine women have sinned against their rules. We have children TOGETHER. For these women who see themselves as pure and of a superior race, mixed children are inferior to pure Philippine made children.
When “newfilipina” says:
See it now—”People Who Work in the Fields”? My family matriarchs didn’t want me to dress or become dark because it was associated with the people who worked in the fields. The so-called lower class. End of quote.
She is SO RIGHT. The true reason that people want to be light skinned is to show that they are rich, to show that they can sit indoors on their high-minded fat lazy bottoms and don’t have to work in the fields.
This WAS also the idea in Western countries until tourism became popular and one could show off ones richness by going to foreign places and do nothing but lay on the beach and GET A TAN.
Notice this sentence by Xeron: “so I am as white as can be – painfully white, I often say.”
This is probably one of the best if not THE BEST comment on this post/blog. Women are subjected to look a certain way and if they may deter even in the most miniscule way they are deemed unattractive and this psychological implementing done by informercials and the environment that worships lighter skin transcends further to the succeeded generations falsifying what should be perceived as beautiful and ugly.
I agree that a man of quality would look beyond what is generally misleading people of what is beautiful and not and appreciate the true beauty of women despite their heritage or the color of their skin. Men who grew up in countries that worship such fallacies and connotations pursue the fairer females and leaving those with ethnically brown/darker skin in the “dark” so to speak and feeling unappreciated by the opposite sex.
Filipinos are sometimes funny. Based of what I have observed that most Filipinos like white skins and even married with white (Caucasian) men because they think that they’re the most handsome men in the world because of their white skins. When I got here in the U.S 5 months ago and I was roaming around the place where the Filipino stores are and I saw a store advertising their product to make your skin white (something they just inject to your skin). I don’t wonder why Filipinos are selling this thing because some of them think that white skins are beautiful. But for me it does not matter. No matter what color you are, you might be black, brown or white, you’re always be beautiful. You don’t need to change the color of your skin. Each person has his/her own beauty and it’s not only physical beauty but also the beauty of inner personality. Some people only consider the physical as beauty but they don’t consider the inner personality (attitude, characteristics) but they don’t know that inner beauty it matter most. I don’t have a white skin because I felt that I am a true Filipina because I don’t have a mixture of a foreign blood. I am not shy of skin in fact most western people like the tan skin and not the white skin. I had a co-teacher in Thailand (a Caucasian Canadian) and she asked me why some of my friends worried of their brown skin and wanted to be white? He also told me, that they (Caucasian) like the color of our skin that’s why when they go for swimming at the beach they use to do sun bathing because they wanted their skin to become tan. Some Filipinos are opposite to the other Caucasian people. There are some Filipinos are scared to expose their skin to the sun because they’re scared to become brown or have a darker skin. Don’t you know that our skin needs sunlight? It gives us Vitamin D. So don’t be scared with the sunlight. Some people just use the alibi that they don’t want to expose to the sun because they’re scared of the skin cancer but the truth is they don’t want to have a tan skin. For me I only look more the beauty of a person on his/her inner personality. People who think their white skin are the best among the other skins and they’re boasting themselves and try to discriminate other people, I’ll tell you guys, you are racist, boastful, dull and ignorant. Your white skin can not help you to make you a better person on this earth.
Yes, I agree with other posters. Commercially vunerable filipinos are led to believe that white skin is of greater value in beauty and business and you will find many American/Filipino children as broadcasters, presenters and singers. I also agree that this may be because of 300 years of Spanish colonization. White skin was power and protection and many filipino families adopted Spanish surnames to help them elevate there social status in a community. How to I know………well, I have a wonderful Filipino fiancee. A Basiyan lady from a traditional simple upbringing. She is petite, pretty, sexy and so very soulful with her thoughts and her love. I have knever come across any English women who are so expressive and caring towards me (altho I am sure there are some UK women like this). She hates blazing sunshine and will often hide in my shadow to avoid her skin darkening. Another little clue to how filipina women think. A filipina woman is unique in her loving ways. I would say the core values of a traditional Filipina lady are faithfulness, family, kindness, religion and honesty. If you show your lady those qualities you have a very beautiful companion to walk through life with.
Filipinos for the most part are full blooded Malays not mixed race.
The only thing Spanish about the Filipinos are the Spanish surnames and religion.
You guys are not mixed race but Asian, only 2% of the Filipino’s can claim mixed or Spanish blood.
Stop trying to be Spanish or mixed just be proud you are Asians but not mixed race.
This is such an interesting topic to respond or reply to. Who cares if filipina girls are whiter and more prettier. It doesn’t even really related to being filipina or perhaps asian. It just simply means~If ur light skin regardless or ur race and ur pretty then good for you. Light skin,whiter skin or darker skin all fits in one category. If YOu are pretty and beautiful then regardless of your color then ur considered pretty. It has nothing to do with skin color or race to how you look. Cause in everyones eyes~People perceive things differently. What might be good and beautiful in ones person point of view might not be good looking from another point of a person. Really this topic is so lame. There’s more thing to worry about than people being pretty cause they are whiter than everyone else. Maybe people should just bleach themself for better attraction cause I heard people use all these products to lighting their body..hahaha Oh well that’s just what I’ve heard but like I said~Who give a sh*t. People should worry about other individuals who are homeless, hungry, abused and so forth….~goodluck to all and if u feel like being white. Then get a bleaching product…hahaha
Many of the comments posted here reveal an ignorance of Philippine and Asian history. For starters, far more than 2% of the Filipino population “can claim mixed or Spanish blood”.
The “Malay blood” that some people like to speak proudly of — as if it makes them more AUTHENTICALLY FILIPINO than others — is an import. Unless you belong to one of the few indigenous tribes like the Aetas, you almost certainly have some mix of Malay, Arab, European or Chinese ancestry, and guess what? THEY ALL CAME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Rather than just embrace our dark-skinned heritage, we should recognize and celebrate our uniquely multi-racial ethnicity, and strive to eliminate the harmful racist thinking that continues to cripple our social and economic advancement.
A disturbingly large number of Filipinos, for example, both in the Philippines and overseas were suspicious of U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama, deriding him openly for being “Bumbay”.
Ignorance extends to supposedly well-educated Filipino-Americans who, in filling out those many U.S. government forms that ask us to identify our ethnicity, tick the box for “Pacific Islander.” Yes, the Philippines are a set of islands in the Pacific but that does NOT mean we are descended from native Hawaiians, Guamanians or Samoans or have anything in common with them other than a warm, sunny climate.
I suspect that the true reason for selecting this box is our subconscious (or conscious) resistance to being lumped in the same category as those other Asians to whom we feel naturally superior — the Chinese (note how derogatorily we tend to say the word Intsik) and Indian (again, how distastefully we say the word Bumbay) — or the Japanese, for whom we still harbor a deep fear and hatred, notwithstanding the amount of time that has passed since the atrocities of WWII, notwithstanding the war repatriations, notwithstanding the fact that most of the Hirohito generation is either dead or bedridden, notwithstanding that modern Japan is an entirely different nation.
It is puzzling how, on the one hand, Filipinos can cling stubbornly to such ancient and irrelevant fears and prejudices, and on the other hand, seem to have forgotten the more recent atrocities committed by our very own Marcos family, who continue to command great wealth, political power and respect.
But I digress…
65 years of independence should be long enough for us to stop blaming colonial masters for instilling a “white is better” mentality in our people, and start looking to our own modern failings as a nation and a people. We are no longer subservient, uneducated indios; with our unique blend of racial and cultural traits, we should be taking leadership roles among Asians in international forums. Many of the more positive stereotypes of Filipinos are actually true: we tend to be (for the most part) well-educated, adaptable, we assimilate well, we understand the points of view of others, we are easy-going, we are problem-solvers not confrontational warmongers.
Further, realize that the superiority of white skin in modern-day Asia is not simply a relic of Western European and American colonial mentality. The Chinese, Singaporeans, Malaysians all prize “white skin”: the pale skin of the northern Chinese race, NOT the pastiness of Caucasians. Look at the rigid caste system in India, which some scholars argue originated centuries ago when the lighter-skinned Aryans drove the darker-skinned Dravidians out of northern India and enslaved the ones who remained. Asian history is not simply the story of the struggle of “native” peoples against The White Man. The greatest power struggles, the most horrible massacres, the greatest injustices have often been perpetrated by one tribe against its neighbor.
So, until Filipinos discard our outdated racial prejudices, until Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Pampanguenos et al put aside their petty and divisive regional animosities, until Filipino-Americans unite with their Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese brothers, we will never have a meaningful political voice, we will never be able to influence the direction of local and international politics or reshape our societies into more equitable, more progressive communities.
This is factually incorrect. Please go back to your history and anthropology texts. The vast majority of Filipinos are NOT “full-blooded Malays.” Far more than 2% of the Filipino population do in fact have mixed blood.
The “Malay blood” that some people like to speak proudly of — as if it makes them more authentically Filipino than others — is an import. Unless you belong to one of the few indigenous tribes like the Aetas, you almost certainly have some mix of Malay, Arab, European or Chinese ancestry, and guess what? THEY ALL CAME FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Rather than just embrace our dark-skinned heritage, we should recognize and celebrate our uniquely multi-racial ethnicity, and strive to eliminate the racist thinking that continues to cripple our social and economic advancement.
A disturbingly large number of Filipinos, for example, both in the Philippines and overseas were suspicious of U.S. Presidential candidate Barack Obama, deriding him openly for being “Bumbay”.
Ignorance extends to supposedly well-educated Filipino-Americans who, in filling out those many U.S. government forms that ask us to identify our ethnicity, tick the box for “Pacific Islander.” Yes, the Philippines are a set of islands in the Pacific but that does NOT mean we are descended from native Hawaiians, Guamanians or Samoans or have anything in common with them other than a warm, sunny climate.
I suspect that the true reason for selecting the “Pacific Islander” box is our subconscious (or conscious) resistance to being lumped in the same category as those other Asians to whom we feel naturally superior — the Chinese (note how derogatorily we tend to say the word Intsik) and Indian (again, how distastefully we pronounce the word Bumbay) — or the Japanese, for whom we still harbor a deep fear and hatred, notwithstanding the amount of time that has passed since World War II, notwithstanding the war repatriations, notwithstanding the fact that most of the Hirohito generation is either dead or bedridden, notwithstanding that modern Japan is an entirely different nation.
It is puzzling how, on the one hand, Filipinos can cling stubbornly to such ancient and irrelevant fears and prejudices, and on the other hand, seem to have forgotten the much more recent atrocities committed by our very own Marcos family, who continue to command great wealth, political power and respect.
But I digress…
65 years of independence should be long enough for us to stop blaming colonial masters for instilling a “white is better” mentality in our people, and start looking to our own modern failings as a nation and a people. We are no longer subservient, uneducated indios; with our unique blend of racial and cultural traits, we should be taking leadership roles among Asians in international forums. The more positive stereotypes of Filipinos serve us well as leaders and peace-makers: we tend to be (for the most part) well-educated, adaptable, we assimilate well, we understand the points of view of others, we are easy-going, we are problem-solvers not confrontational warmongers.
One final point: the superiority of white skin in modern-day Asia is not simply a product of Western European and American colonial mentality. The Chinese, Singaporeans, Malaysians all prize “white skin”: the pale skin of the northern Chinese races, NOT the pastiness of Caucasians. Look at the rigid caste system in India, which some scholars argue originated centuries ago when the lighter-skinned Aryans drove the darker-skinned Dravidians out of northern India and enslaved the ones who remained. Asian history is not simply the story of the struggle of “native” peoples against The White Man. The greatest power struggles, the most horrible massacres, the greatest injustices have often been perpetrated by one tribe against its neighbor.
So, until Filipinos discard our outdated racial prejudices, until Cebuanos, Ilocanos, Pampanguenos et al put aside their petty and divisive regional animosities, until Filipino-Americans unite with their Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese brothers, we will never have a meaningful political voice, we will never be able to influence the direction of local or international politics, or reshape our societies into more equitable, more progressive communities.
“Yes, the Philippines are a set of islands in the Pacific but that does NOT mean we are descended from native Hawaiians, Guamanians or Samoans or have anything in common with them other than a warm, sunny climate.”
I may be out of topic but I have to comment about this. We do not descend from Pacific Islanders but look up “Austronesian peoples” and we have a lot in common. Most notably with our languages.
Btw @ bisayangueen, nice blog. This type of mentality is very damaging mentally, emotionally, and physically (skin whitening dangers)
Oh Dear yes I am sick of all the crap and bullshit of some Filipino like they say I have a spanish blood or whatever bullshit…
I am Filipino and I am proud when I am asked where I come from I always proudly says from the Phils. I think those who are trying to be white are just those who have low self esteem.
I dont believe the whiter you are the prettier you are. It doesnt matter what color you have if you feel good about yourself it will show.
hmmmn, the royal datu households (except the datu) were light skinned, so are every asian nobles, even before the arrival of the pesky european conquerors, their lighter complexion distinguishes them from the commoners so there you have it, i read that somewhere in Barangay by william henry scott… and o yeah its true with the other asians. get over your colonial hung-up, and get real pinoys! be proud of what you are (southeast asian), research precolonial philippine culture and not that cursed kastila “culture“ the spaniards enforced upon us, learn another filipino language or something, contribute something.
P.S.
we don`t look white, nor do we have to promote our white heritage( if we have any) so don`t say any of that it`s embarrassing, its like you enjoy being subdued by a foreign power…
i like how this is a masked attempt at perpetuating the IMSCF syndrome. a filipino with a more fair complexion doesn’t necessarily come from european stock.
and for the commenter who urged another to go back and do research, PLEASE cite some of your sources that proves that “far more than 2% of the Filipino population do in fact have mixed blood.” everyone is making claims about being spanish or chinese or go back and do your research and yet no one is able to produce tangible proof of their ancestry or academic literature that asserts their argument.
you can claim you’re european or chinese as much as you want but to the rest of the world, you’re still filipino. stop it. you’re giving the rest of us a bad name.
Total bullshit. Stop trying to find a historical way of calling yourself white or mixed. The mass majority of you people are not even mixed. YOU ARE ASIAN. Don’t be ashamed. You all have asian eyes and FLAT NOSES. The flatest actually in Asia. YOU ARE NOT WHITE, get it in your head! A few of you guys are only “fairskinned” because the outdoors is treated like the plague or you people bleach your skin!
Wow, thats pretty harsh to say. Your not racist by chance? Because that’s exactly what a racist would say. You should probably look at yourself and within yourself to find out why you are such a hate monger. To say such things about a type of people is very ugly. My wife, who is Filipina, does not have a flat nose and her eyes are not Asian looking eyes. In fact they resemble Spanish or Latin looking eyes. My wife love’s the outdoors as well. Her skin is golden brown like caramel and she is proud of it. But, its people like you that drive the citizens of the Philippines to think this way and to act this way. I feel sorry for you. Have a good life hateing all who are more beautiful than yourself.
Hello, if you check our history, Filipinos are a mixture of different races, and not just Malays. You can distinguish this feature if you visit the different provinces. There are Filipinos who were born from pure Spanish or half Spanish called mestizos. It is ignorant to say that the only thing Spanish about Filipinos are the Spanish surnames and the religion. My great grandfather is a pure Spanish who got a child to a native Filipina. If you check the lineage of certain families in the South and in Visayas, there are lots of mestizos because as history says Magellan first went to Mactan Island in Cebu.
In my own dialect, more than 5,000 words were Spanish. We are not trying to be Spanish but it is a fact. It is in our history and in our culture, being colonized by the Spaniards for three hundred years.
Try reading Philippine history before making a comment.
Hi BisayanQueen, as an American and having worked in advertising, I feel doubly guilty about this issue. When we came here ten months ago, I quickly noticed all these strange whitening products, which of course are the exact opposite of what we want in the states. (Which is to look tan like Pinoys! There’s a tanning bed in every American town but in 34 years I’ve never seen a skin lightener.) My wife and I take public transportation everywhere, and some of the most beautiful people we see are the really poor ones who are outside more. Many times I’ve stopped by cosmetics counters and (in my halting Tagalog) tried to explain to the girls that they’re beautiful the way they are, but they can’t believe it since you can’t fight a lifetime of conditioning in one conversation.
I had an idea for a Pinoy pride campaign using the slogan “Maganda ang Kayumanggi,” with proceeds to be donated to a few NGO’s here, but I only have two months left. If you’d like to see this happen, stop by our blog (freeisaverb.org) and let me know! It’ll take mga kasama to make it happen. Thanks.
i dont think only 2 percent has spanish blood lines…i think it is about 6o percent…cmon..300 years spanish are here..and bec most of the people i know or in our neighboorhood look like somewhat euro asian with light brown skin..even my relatives have lighter skin complexion and some are so white..i mean it’s natural…when i go on direct sunlight especially during summer i become brown but after few days it will be light again..i i get really dark brown..it takes month to be white again..with no whitening treatment…im pure filipino but my grandfather told us we had spanish blood that’s why he had light brown eyes and his father was bluish light brown..and his great great great great blah blah blah..i think it was about 10 generations…was a 2nd wife of a wealthy spanish..and now look at us..we are all scattered everywhere..my sister is dark brown skin with big round eyes..maybe because of our father..and now her daughter has japanese eyes because of my bro in law’s eyes but he is not japanese..or chinese..and he dont have any idea why their family has chinese or japanese eyes..although my bro in law has dark brown skin..my niece has white skin ang brown reddish hair like me..isn’t genetics amazing? and i dont even look like my mother…i look like my aunt (my mother’s sister)OMg im getting lost with the thread’s subject . . .okay..i admit i prefer to have light skin because it is kinda look clean..and it is easier to pick clothes that match light color skin.and the manikins are usually white aha..so it’s easier to visualize the outfit on my mind.and i get acne when i have too much sun…and the sun in phil is so hot ..,,i always use umbrella.rain or shine..ahaha,i dont want the burning feeling..btw i have a friend who have dark brown skin..she look like half rochelle, the lead sex bomb dancer and half beyonce..she has a pretty face and sexy fit body and black silky hair and she’s not into that whitening craze..i really like to hang out with her..we are complimentary..and i have another friend..she has dark brown skin too..but i think her facial features are ugly and has big belly fat..she spends all her income on whitening and glutathione injections..then she became lighter..and in my opinion she look better than when she’s dark skinned.. i think it depends on the person..
I am a Filipino student and I was just searching for some articles to support my research project about this topic and i was able to read some of the comments here. I once questioned myself why do most of Filipino women (not all) are buying some whitening supplements and even expensive soaps, creams,etc. just to get fairer skin to look beautiful as they say. They have set a thought that the standard pretty woman should be like Snow White, skin as white as snow. At first I’ve been only thinking that it was just because of insecurity or some sort of just wanting to be a standout in the crowd, but it went even worst, the issue involved is also on racism! I found out that some (not all) reasons why these present practices are existing. They also have roots from the past.But I think what’s more important is despite of these negatives, we also have to look more on our positive cultures and try to realize our attitudes towards our own culture then change for the better.
Erica says:
October 6, 2011 at 5:20 am
“I dont think only 2 percent has spanish blood lines…i think it is about 60 percent…cmon.. 300 years spanish are here…”
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Erica, you are correct. Every person is genetically descended from more people than they realise.
At one generation back (your parents), you are obviously descended from 2 people. Looking another generation back, and you can see that you are descended from 4 people (your grandparents).
Looking another generation back, and you’re descended from 8 people.
8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc, etc.
If every generation turned over every 20 years on average, going back just 400 years, you are genetically descended from over 1,000,000 different people.
Yes, 1 million individuals. So, yes, most people in the Philippines would have some European genetic ancestry, even if they cannot visibly see it.
I mean come on, I’m White, and we Europeans have been found to have up to 4% Neanderthal DNA in their genetic mix, and we can’t see that now… can we? Right? OK? Well maybe… haha!
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I would also like to say something that most other European/Caucasian people are too polite, or Leftwing/dishonest to express openly.
This is of direct relevance to the structure of Filipino society.
Superficial, nonsense matters of skin colour and beauty aside, Race is more than skin deep.
A person’s genetics (your racial mix) has a direct impact upon your physical and psychological makeup.
Race is not just how you look.
It is highly likely that Race also influences a person’s behaviour.
This is quite taboo: Race is a significant reason why there are often people with varying degrees of European genetic descent amongst the societal elite in many non-European populations.
Race is also the reason why people of Chinese descent are economic elites (but not political elites) in several South East Asian societies, such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
And no, not ‘racism’, but Race itself.
On a broad average, individuals not withstanding, Race conveys physical traits, AND psychological/behavioural traits.
Africans do NOT behave the same as, say, Japanese people. And so on.
This is not to say that any racially based behavioural traits are “better” than any others. Some people think that value-judgements must arise as a result. This is a philosophical matter, and need not lead to discrimination or bigotry.
Background:
Where I live, in the Western world, genetic evidence, coupled with new (old?) social/political theories are challenging increasingly discredited Neo-Marxist theories about race and behaviour.
Western Marxist theory (Neo-Marxism) denies the significance, and sometimes, the very existence, of race.
Neo-Marxist theory ascribes differences in racial outcomes and behaviour to people’s ‘circumstances’. The Left cannot accept that perhaps people are different, (and that there is nothing wrong with that).
Marxist theory in the West has lost the vigour that it had in past decades. In the USA in particular, the failure of expensive, decades-long Leftwing social programs to fully integrate Black Americans have caused the political Left to run out of answers. Non-Marxist ideas are filling up the intellectual vacuum.
Sorry for deviating…. !