Oh yes, the Philippines, home to myself and my family. I have always felt that there is disunity in this country despite occasions like Manny Pacquiao winning his eighth title in different divisions or Charice Pempengco making it to the second season of Glee. The fact to the matter is, the Philippines is a melting pot. I don't mean to sound like a fool who generalizes and jumps to conclusions right away but I believe that the way things work around here have a lot to do with physical appearance. I'm talking mostly about skin color. The people in this country are born to different social classes and different ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Our society is mostly comprised of Mestizos, Chinese, and "pure Filipinos". The latter two have occupied the country and have intermarried with indigenous Filipinos. But to put things back in perspective, what exactly do the two ethnicities have in common? If one had the capacity to reason things out, he or she would point out that they both possess fair skin. And why is it always that the media have used people of these racial descents in their television shows, movies, print ads, and what not? My (somewhat) intelligent guess is that Filipinos as a whole, have passed their thinking to succeeding generations that white is superior to brown. The people of our society up to now have instilled in their minds that fair skinned people are far more superior to the "indigenous" or "native" populations. Everything that is made by white or fair skinned people is perceived to be of high quality and high value. To get the message across, I believe that the media have taken advantage of the fact that we are deeply affected by a colonial mentality. Media have used effective marketing and strategy to get the attention of the masses and to be transformed by them. This leads me to what I will be discussing
I would like to focus on local print ads seen in relatively affordable and accessible Filipino magazines such as the local version of "Cosmopolitan". It can be seen that the girls on the front covers are mostly, if not all the time, fair skinned. It is quite rare to see dark skinned people with exceptions to tanned and bronzed Filipinos with foreign blood such as Brazilian or Mexican, or maybe even Japanese. What I am trying to point out is that one will see a "regular" looking (by regular I mean a common brown Filipina) Filipina only once in a blue moon, or perhaps once in a lifetime to put things dramatically. In print ads seen in magazines popular to boys and girls aged 18-31, the products advertised are portrayed to be commonly "used" by the likes of the people in the ad themselves. This is definitely stereotyping. Matter of fact, I am reminded of my Marketing 101 professor saying that we should display a person who our target market is in the packaging to show consumers who the product is for. Anyway, getting back to print ads. Anne Curtis may not be a Mestiza technically speaking, but she has the beauty, and probably more importantly, the skin color to advertise. Her L'Oreal shampoo and conditioner ads definitely get the attention of magazine and television audience because of her beauty. But, what most people don't realize is that the reason why they are directing their attention to Anne Curtis is because she has really nice and fair skin. The act of stereotyping has made differences in skin color inherently natural to different skin colored people with the white people being favored in terms of perception and treatment. There has been the notion that the "whites" are successful, rich, happy, and beautiful while the dark skinned thought to be downtrodden, poor, less successful and less attractive. Similar to what I mentioned earlier, white people are differentiated and separated from other skin colors such as black and brown with the "white" skinned people being considered far more superior. The act of stereotyping as seen in this particular media text seems to divide what is "normal" and "acceptable" from what is not. The way I see it, advertisements such as these use an underlying and non-obvious techniques to indirectly influence the audiences into buying the product. History speaks for itself. The fair skinned people have long been the center of attention, the source of power and influence, and the superior ones. So, for me, what the L'Oreal advertisement is in avertedly trying to say is that Anne Curtis has the power, the wealth, and the fame therefore you (the consumer) should listen to her by taking it to your minds that using L'Oreal's shampoo and conditioner is a good choice and a practical one at that. I believe that endorsement deals, no matter how pricey they are, are good investments because of future earnings that company signed up for. Other products I took notice of in recent years were the papaya soaps and Glutathione. These have been widely popular as evident in the marketing efforts of companies who make these whitening products. Dark skinned people are now given a chance to make themselves "whiter" in natural ways. There is no more need for expensive cosmetic surgery. Therefore, it is safe to say that these products are the best alternative for dark skinned people who are unhappy with the natural amount of melanin in their bodies. Why are they unhappy and what exacerbates their unhappiness? I believe that the media have definitely something to do with it. If one looks at the recent slogan of Glutamax, he or she would see the tagline "Kutis Mayaman by Glutamax". With this alone, people have received the subliminal message or non-verbal code that "white" people are high in society and therefore must be respected by the common Filipino. The woman in the ad is represented as the confident, beautiful, sexy, and wealthy Filipina. Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be the aforementioned? Of course I am joking. I guess that's just how this society works. The fact is fair skinned people are considered more powerful and more influential. This is where the massive inequality lies. "Brown" skinned people try to bridge the gap by making themselves whiter through commercial products offered. By doing so, they might feel that they are as powerful as white people. In reality, this does not hold true. It is just a historical perception and thinking that created this so called "inequality". The phenomenon of stereotyping has gotten the best of us in terms of how we think and perceive our material and social realities.
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