Name: SHARMINE PRINCESS Q.

BENDILLIO

Course & Section: BSAB 2-1

Subject: GE ELECT: PHILIPPINE POPULAR CULTURE

ESSAY: BASED FROM OUR DISCUSSION ON THE THEORIES OF CULTURE,

IDEOLOGY AND POPULAR CULTURE. PLEASE FORM YOUR OWN
OPINION/ANALYSIS ON THE FOLLOWING TOPICS.

‘ASIANS DON’T RAISIN’ IS A PHRASE OFTEN USED TO DESCRIBE THE SLOW

AGEING (BECAUSE OF DARK PIGMENTATION) OF ASIANS INCLUDING US
FILIPINOS. WHY DO YOU THINK SKIN WHITENING CREAMS ARE STILL
POPULAR ANYWHERE IN OUR COUNTRY?

In the Philippines, white skin is viewed as attractive. They make fun of persons with dark
skin. People with dark skin are frequently hard workers. Farmers, street sweepers, and other low-
paying vocations that demand long periods of exposure to the sun. To put it another way, it
means "poor" and "a harsher, dirtier, and less attractive living."

People are drawn to things that appeal to them. Some people like darker complexion,
while others prefer lighter skin. Westerners, in particular, are more likely than Filipinos to prefer
darker skin. What is the reason for this? Because it is attractive to them in their culture. We are
socially conditioned to favor and disfavor specific things as we grow up.

This, I guess, is due to the colonial ideology that still exists in the country. Since the 16th
century, the country has been under Western colonial control. However, centuries of colonization
by the Spanish and later the Americans were enough to instill in Filipinos' minds the belief that
their nature is inferior to the Spanish due to their skin color, cementing the idea that they are only
second-class citizens in their own country and making colonization easier.

Aside from skin tone, other physical traits of the average Filipino are seen as inferior for
the same reasons. Many Filipinos prefer prominent noses to less prominent ones, as well as large
eyes and other features that make them appear to be Westerners.

Although new generations are slowly changing this, there is still a long way to go before
this thinking is completely removed from contemporary Filipino culture.