My thoughts on Filipino beauty are slightly complicated. I’ll explain.
Growing up in the Philippines, it was obvious that our country follows Western beauty standards. I see it in newspapers and television shows and even in billboard advertisements. Beautiful for most Filipinos is light skin and a sharp nose. Sometimes, “chinita” or Chinese-looking eyes and delicate features are also beautiful.
(I’ll share photos here of me and some of the women I work with. This is with 100% consent, by the way.)
The one on the left is Emely and the one on the right is Labnes, both from Cebu.
They’re fellow Bisayas, and I think they’re both very beautiful.
But their most prominent features aren’t exactly what you would call traditionally “Filipino” features. I don’t have those features.
So it took a very long time for me to accept that my Filipino nose and Filipino skin can also be beautiful. It took years of work for me to not be influenced by skin-whitening products that are sold all over the country. Or to stop dreaming about having blonde hair like a Barbie doll.
But now that I am older and wiser, and I want to be a good example to my daughter, I have a different view of Filipino beauty.
Even if our Filipino features don’t look like the beauty standards being advertised in movies or fashion magazines, I am proud to look like and be a Filipino.
Because I think Filipinos are beautiful.
