Dark is dazzling!

Among the aesthetic "must-haves" that I despise the most is the overwhelming obsession to be white. Skin care companies have spent billions of pesos each year to ram the message into our brains that being white makes you more beautiful, superior to others; and guarantees you the man of your dreams. Skin whiteners are abundant in lotion, cream and pill forms – all of which may potentially have harsh ingredients. (Important note: Skin whiteners are different from compounds that aim to even out the skin’s natural tone.)

When did we start despising the kayumanggi or morena hue? Was it when indios were relegated as second class citizens in their own land while the Spaniards and Americans lorded it over the nation? Is it the constant bombardment of Western magazines and movies that send potent, subliminal messages to our already insecure minds that white is the skin color of the gods?

I remember overhearing two writers from a local ladies’ magazine bitterly complaining about a memo they received from their editor. Apparently, models who were dark and who had flat noses would not be used in any of their pages because these features did not conform to the publication’s definition of beauty. If what I was told truly did happen, then we Filipinos do not need the help of Western media to pollute our minds with distorted ideals of aesthetic excellence as we do a good job at injecting these absurd values into our countrywomen ourselves.

I know how it is to have been dark. During my childhood, I was the only kayumanggi in a brood of alabaster-skinned children. Family friends often commented that I must have been adopted because no one in our brood was ever dark skinned. I did not pity myself for being brown. Instead I pitied these ignorant people for having had such prejudiced minds. When I turned 13, my skin quickly turned white – so white in fact that everyone swore that I glowed in the dark. Immediately I noticed the dramatic change in how they regarded me. All of a sudden, I was no longer a monkey (because of my full lips and dark complexion, people concluded that I was a primate!). Literally overnight, I became beautiful in their eyes. In my eyes, however, they were still bigots.

We should cherish whatever skin color we are born with – whether white, black, brown, red or yellow. I believe it is foolish for a Caucasian to risk skin cancer in an attempt to darken as it is for a Pinay to subject her skin to toxic chemicals in order to become white. Being white will NOT get you more friends nor will it make your crush love you (and if it did, I sincerely doubt if he was worth catching!)

There is a new campaign in town that has launched a "Dark or Dazzling" theme in several print ads. It is my hope that the creators of this campaign will not buckle down to pressure from skin whitening companies and pull out (or suppress) this specific project. I have a very high regard for this skin care brand and my expectation of their advertisers’ integrity is equally as high. Having been a dark-complexioned child long ago, I ask my sisters in the skin, women like Anna Bayle, Menchu Menchaca, Tweetie de Leon, Caterina Aboitiz Juan and Margarita Fores, to remind our fellow Pinays just how beautiful the many rich shades of brown can be. In this moment I shall take exception and pray that (in this instance) darkness would indeed reign!