Forgetting the Filipino

The local beauty industry caters to this unrealistic prototype. The availability of skin whitening products today is enought to show the deviance of beauty standards from the natural morena skin of most Filipinos. Skin whiteners are said to be the fuel of the industry, with a 17 percent increase in sales in 2001. 86 percent of the Filipino population, or 66 million Filipinos, are said to be cosmetic buyers. The influx of commercials in the Philippines that promote the concept of westernized beauty are extremely diverse. There are lotions, moisturizers, and soaps that claim to either whiten or improve skin. There are also hair products that promise the silky straight or buhaghag-free hair.
The strong influence of colonial mentality is greatly evident in the beauty standards popularized by media. Colonialism, a forced change in which one culture, society, or nation dominates another, affects the identity development of countries through this indirect act of oppression. Franz Fannon, a French psychiatrist who tackled the effects of colonialism in his book Black Skin White Masks, said that colonialized people's inferiority complex has been created by the death and burial of its local cultural originality. Coming face to face with the culture of the mother country, the colonized is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country's cultural standards. With the influence of the Spaniards, the Americans and the Japanese in the Philippine culture, the standards of beauty have continuously evolved until how it is perceived in presentday scenarios.