The darker the berry the sweeter its juice?

You're Voluptuous
Sweet caramel brown honeydew
Satin skin smooth to the touch, what a niggah do
-Nujabes ft Cise Starr, "Lady Brown"

Yo girl, what're you doing trying to bleach your skin? This is an open love letter to all those dark-skinned Pinoy girls, you hear me?

*ahem*

The prevalent notion of beauty amongst women in Asian cultures is that having a white skin complexion ensures health, wealth, and success. White skin is the mark of an aristocrat; tan skin is associated with those that slave in the sun, particularly farmers. Also, a fairer complexion is associated with youth and vitality. When asked which skin tone is more attractive, most of the time a Filipino would prefer a lighter-skinned partner than a darker-skinned one.

This notion of beauty is further reinforced by the media. Let's take a look at Filipino television. When you watch soap operas, all of the pretty girls involved with men are white, and the maids that are aiding them? Tan. Go to commercial, there's an advertisement for skin creams that bleach your skin. Wowowee, one of the most popular game shows nationally, comes on and you're greeted by a dance team of pretty Pinoy girls, all with translucent skin. The hosts are pale, while the participants playing for pesos are usually not. Then comes Adobo nation, and the newscasters are white. Confronted with an incessant stream of beautifully pale people, it's only natural that the viewer's mind would be inundated with the concept that bleach is beautiful.

That's where an emerging skin-whitening industry comes in. Beauty creams are marketed to women, advertising "luscious white skin." Unfortunately, this beauty comes at a heavy cost. There are skin-whitening creams sold that contain steroids, mercury, and hydroquinone, which act as the components for whitening skin. However, these chemicals have a detrimental effect when in contact with skin. Exposure to mercury can lead to the deterioration of the nervous system, along with a faster heartbeat, damaged kidneys, irrationality, and other debilitating effects. Hydroquinone can cause deadly diseases such as thyroid disorder, leukemia and liver damage. Lastly, these creams are known to mar the skin, despite advertising otherwise; effects to the skin include pale blotches intermixed with dark ones, acne, stretch marks, and other irreparable physical deformities.

But yo, I'm not here to expound on the usage of skin creams. The saddest part of this is that the usage of harmful products will still continue on. The main objective of a corporation is to make money, regardless of what happens. An executive for a skin cream company in China has been quoted as saying, "What is wrong with a little mercury in the cream, as long as it can make ladies beautiful." And despite a wide-spread report of its effects, consumers are still going to continue buying them, due to a cultural perception that has been ingrained in their mindsets.

So what do we do? We attempt to change our perception of beauty. Yo, I know it's hard for you. All of these light-skinned girls are constantly vaulted by society while you're getting passed up, and it just seems that the media validates this particular notion. It's hard. But you can't compromise yourself to a societal norm if you want to change it.

Is it really worth it at the end of the day to sequester yourself inside simply because you don't want to get tanner? To make the effort to wear layers of clothing to cover yourself up, carry around an umbrella simply to block out the sun? Especially in Southeast Asia, on an island country, the sun is constantly shining; our natural skin tone isn't white, it's brown.

Physical beauty is nice because it allows us to surmise a person's personality before we encounter them. Someone dresses well, and you think that guy is concerned with taking care of himself, and he could take care of you. You see someone with a pretty smile and you think that she'll be really nice, and be mindful to your problems. And most of the time you'd be right. But there are instances in which you can be wrong. The problem with physical beauty is that it's a double-edged sword: what can be used to accentuate one's positive features can also be used to mask one's demonic qualities. A pretty face can mask a horrible demeanor; a sharp dresser can whisper tinges of vanity.

Another problem with physical beauty is its fragility. I don't know, it seems to me that we appreciate physical beauty so much because it is held by the grasp of time. One day that fist will clench, age will catch up with you, and suddenly your features are marred by stretch marks, sags, and wrinkles. Beauty is fleeting, sure. So it makes since that people would attempt to try to extend that beauty for all it's worth.

But rather than combat the nature of our physical self, we must accept it. Our bodies change with time. We lose the luster of youth. However, the beauty of our personalities, of our souls, is something that doesn't falter with age. Brown-skinned lady, please stop concerning yourself with what you perceive as idealized forms of beauty. The nature of our faces is constantly shifting. We cannot smile or frown forever; likewise, we cannot retain a certain look forever.

So what I'm trying to get at is that you're beautiful already, tan or not. Come on, learn to accept yourself. At the end of the day, wouldn't you rather be outside and soak in the sun of this world, instead of sitting in a bathtub of bleach staring at the ceiling? Your personality is so bright, others would naturally bask in it, dark-skinned or not.