True Beauty in a ast niverse VU

On May 13, Michelle Dee strutted glamorously towards her coronation as Miss Universe Philippines 2023. Carrying both the title and the pride of the Filipinos, Dee will represent the country in Miss Universe 2023 in El Salvador. Regardless of what you believe about the fairness of the show, watching beauty pageants such as these are good opportunities to reflect on an important aspect of Filipino society: our beauty standards and how they heavily lean towards foreign traits.

A trait commonly associated with Filipino beauty is fair skin. Many of the beauty products you see on the shelves of grocery stores and pharmacies advertise their skin-whitening formula. A study by Synovate Philippines found that about 50% of Filipinos use whitening products. In modern times, Filipinos with fair skin are colloquially called “mestizos,” a word that used to refer to Filipinos of mixed ancestry. Fair skin is a foreign trait compared to the darker skin of indigenous Filipinos.

Aside from skin color, some Filipinos also consider other physical traits associated with both European and East Asian nations as more attractive or beautiful. Filipinos with mixed cheekbones and smaller mouths. Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach is of Filipino-German ancestry, while Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray is of Filipino-AustralianScottish descent. from colonial mentality, which has worsened with globalization and our exposure to both local and international media.

The standards are in place within locally-produced media as well, influencing Filipino beauty standards. In telenovelas set in modern times, characters who represent the average Filipino have brown skin, while important, rich, or powerful characters have mixed ancestry and sometimes speak in English more than in Filipino.

Adolescence is a period of self-discovery, and along it is overwhelming self-consciousness. As teenagers, we often point out our physical flaws and iron them out. Yet we cannot blame our Filipino ancestors for these flaws that we have today. In the end, no Filipino is “more” or “less” Filipino than the next, regardless of their traits. As Michelle Dee herself said, “No matter what happens, I will always be proud to call myself Pinoy.”