St.

Paul College of Ilocos Sur

(Member, St. Paul University System)
St. Paul Avenue 2727, Bantay, Ilocos Sur

Name: MACARAIG, MARIE KELSEY A. Score: ___________________

Course/Year: BSN 4A Date: November 21, 2022

UNFILTERED FILTERED

1. Are you happy with how you look in your unfiltered self? Explain.
Honestly, I am not happy seeing my unfiltered self because all I can see are my
insecurities and flaws in one image. Skin discoloration, dark pigments and tone, dark eye
circles, pimples, bumps, black heads, thin face, and yellow teeth, all of these characteristics are
defined as ugly in this word. These are the things I hate and feel sad about because I feel like I
am not beautiful and accepted in any beauty standards.

2. Are you happy with how you look in your filtered photo? Explain
Honestly, it’s a 50 -50, 50% happy and 50% sad. Happy because although it is filtered, I
feel beautiful “na kahit sa filter lang ako maganda ayos na.” Sad because this picture is fake,
and it is not the real me. The real me is with skin discoloration, dark pigments and tone, dark
eye circles, pimples, bumps, black heads, thin face, and yellow teeth. With this filtered photo, I
feel more accepted.

3. What do you think your answers say about your self-esteem and confidence?
My answers says that I have poor self- esteem and confidence because I liked more of
my filtered self than my unfiltered self. I loved more of my filtered self because I fear criticisms
and judgement. But then I realized I think I should change how I feel about myself most
especially my looks. Today I will forget the way my body looks in a mirror, through a camera
lens, or on a palm-sized screen. I won’t be measured by the light in the background, the
contrast, the tint, or the shade. My self-love will not be determined by the caption of my
photographs, by the clicks of buttons, or by fingers pressed to a keyboard. Today I will not rely
on what I see plastered to a billboard to tell me I’m beautiful. I will not compare the contours of
my face to those in a magazine, or brush my fingers over each of my blemishes, as if to wipe
them away. I will no longer hide behind a layer of red lipstick, a smile, a shadowed curtain of
hair. Today I will not try to be anything other than imperfect, nothing less than a mess of skin
and cuts and bruises and tired lines under my eyes. I won’t lie about my feelings, but let them
rest openly on my face, bold and unafraid. I will acknowledge the parts of me that aren’t
flawless, that aren’t lovely, that aren’t put together, that aren’t toeing the line. Today I will be
myself.