Redefining X: Colorism in the Philippines | Ayn Bernos | Ayn Bernos | TEDxADMU
Summary
TLDRThe speaker shares a personal journey of grappling with colorism, recounting childhood experiences of being labeled due to her skin tone. She explores the historical roots of colorism in Filipino culture, the pervasive influence of skin-whitening industries, and the impact of societal beauty standards on self-esteem. Through her college thesis, she analyzes advertisements to expose the discriminatory language and imagery. The speaker advocates for change, encouraging individuals to challenge colorist ideologies and to embrace diversity in skin tones. She highlights the power of language and the importance of self-acceptance, aiming for a future where skin color does not dictate potential or success.
Takeaways
- 🏊♀️ The speaker spent much of their childhood swimming, leading to darker skin and exposure to colorism-related teasing.
- 🌞 The desire to avoid further darkening led to the speaker quitting swimming and seeking skin whitening products.
- 🎓 In college, the speaker discovered the term 'colorism' and began to understand the deep-rooted issue of discrimination against darker skin.
- 📚 The speaker's thesis research revealed the prevalence of colorism in advertising, with a focus on promoting 'whiteness' as the ideal.
- 💡 Colorism is historically linked to colonial times, where lighter skin was associated with wealth and status, and this bias persists.
- 💰 The skin whitening industry is a multi-billion dollar business, reflecting the internalized preference for lighter skin.
- 🗣️ Language plays a significant role in perpetuating colorist ideologies, and changing this language is a step towards change.
- 🌐 Social media is empowering individuals to challenge colorism and advocate for a more inclusive and diverse representation of beauty.
- 💪 The speaker calls for individuals in positions of power to be mindful of their influence and to promote change from within.
- 🌟 The ultimate goal is to create a society where skin color does not determine one's potential, opportunities, or self-worth.
Q & A
What was the speaker's childhood activity that led to her darker skin tone?
-The speaker spent most of her childhood as a swimmer, which involved spending three to four hours under the sun during the summer.
What derogatory names did the speaker experience from her classmates due to her skin tone?
-The speaker was called names such as 'uling', 'charcoal', 'negra', which were not compliments.
Why did the speaker decide to quit swimming at the age of 13?
-The speaker decided to quit swimming because her skin was getting darker and darker, and her self-esteem dropped due to the negative names she was called by her classmates.
What did the speaker do in her first year of university to counteract the effects of sun exposure on her skin?
-The speaker ran to the drugstore to find a fast-acting whitening lotion after playing beach volleyball for two hours under the sun.
What term does the speaker use to describe the discrimination against darker-skinned people?
-The speaker uses the term 'colorism' to describe the discrimination against darker-skinned people, especially within the same ethnic group.
What was the main focus of the speaker's thesis during her fourth year in college?
-The main focus of the speaker's thesis was to study and understand colorism and its impact on society.
How did the speaker analyze the representation of skin color in advertisements for her thesis?
-The speaker analyzed 40 advertisements between 2012 to 2014, noting the frequency and connotations of words associated with white and dark skin, such as 'white', 'whiter', 'whitening', 'flawless', 'perfect', 'rosy glowy', 'oily', and 'dull'.
What is the current status of the skin whitening industry as mentioned in the script?
-The skin whitening industry is described as a billion-dollar industry, indicating its significant presence and influence.
What are some of the real-life experiences of discrimination shared in the script?
-The script shares experiences such as being rejected for a job as a flight attendant due to skin color, being profiled and barred from entering a mall, and being called 'exotic' by people from outside the country.
How is social media helping to change perceptions about colorism according to the speaker?
-Social media is helping by providing a platform for people to voice their opinions against colorism, with millennials and Gen Z fighting back against problematic messaging and promoting self-acceptance and confidence in their skin color.
What is the speaker's hope for the future regarding skin color and potential?
-The speaker hopes for a future where skin color does not determine one's potential or success, and where people are not judged or limited by their skin color.
Outlines
🏊♀️ Childhood Swimming and Colorism
The speaker reflects on their childhood as a swimmer, spending long hours under the sun, which resulted in a darker skin tone. Initially, they didn't mind their darker complexion, but as they grew older, they faced derogatory nicknames from classmates, which affected their self-esteem. At 13, they decided to quit swimming to avoid getting darker. Even in university, the fear of darkening led them to seek out whitening lotions. Despite these efforts, they embrace their identity as a proud 'morena' (a term used in the Philippines for someone with darker skin), and their journey to self-acceptance began with writing a thesis on colorism during their college years.
📚 The Impact of Colorism in Society
The speaker delves into the historical roots of colorism in Filipino culture, tracing it back to the Spanish colonial period where dark skin was associated with lower social status. They discuss the present-day implications, highlighting the billion-dollar skin whitening industry and its perpetuation of harmful beauty standards. Through their thesis research, they analyzed advertisements that reinforced colorism by using terms like 'white' and 'whitening' in a positive context, while dark skin was often linked to negative connotations. They emphasize the need to challenge these norms and how colorism affects individuals in various aspects of life, from childhood teasing to adult experiences in the workplace and public spaces.
🌐 Challenging Colorism and Embracing Diversity
The speaker advocates for change in perceptions of skin color, drawing attention to the power of language in shaping societal attitudes. They discuss the double standards in how dark skin is viewed both internally and externally, with beauty pageants and foreign perspectives often romanticizing darker skin tones. They question the need for external validation and call for self-acceptance and celebration of one's natural skin color. The speaker highlights the positive shift in social media, where people are increasingly vocal against colorism, and the importance of individuals using their platforms and influence to challenge and change harmful beauty standards. They conclude by emphasizing the role of each person in creating a more inclusive and accepting society, where skin color does not dictate potential or success.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Colorism
💡Self-esteem
💡Skin whitening industry
💡Discrimination
💡Morena
💡Spanish colonial times
💡Advertisements
💡Language
💡Social media
💡Exotic beauty
💡Agents of change
Highlights
The speaker spent childhood as a swimmer, resulting in darker skin and facing racial slurs.
At 13, the speaker decided to quit swimming due to the negative impact on self-esteem from skin color discrimination.
In college, the speaker's beach volleyball class triggered childhood fears of darkening skin.
The speaker's journey to self-acceptance began with writing a thesis on colorism in the fourth year of college.
Colorism has been a part of Filipino culture since Spanish colonial times, associating dark skin with lower status.
The skin whitening industry is a billion-dollar business, reflecting deep-rooted colorist beliefs.
The speaker analyzed 40 advertisements and found the word 'white' used 25 times, often linked to positive attributes.
Dark skin in ads was associated with negative terms like 'oily' and 'dull', and often framed in fear and avoidance.
Colorism affects daily life, from childhood teasing to adult insecurities and professional discrimination.
Content creator Patrice Avarilia was told to whiten her skin to qualify for a flight attendant job.
A Facebook user was racially profiled in a mall, illustrating the real-world impact of colorism.
In beauty pageants, dark skin is celebrated, but externally, it's often seen as something that needs validation from others.
The speaker questions the need for external validation to embrace one's skin color and calls for self-acceptance.
Social media is helping to change perceptions of colorism, with more people speaking out against it.
Language is a powerful tool in the fight against colorism, and the speaker encourages mindful communication.
The speaker calls for individuals in positions of power to be agents of change, influencing perceptions of beauty and potential.
Change starts with self-reflection and challenging our own assumptions about skin color.
The speaker envisions a future where skin color does not determine potential or success.
The speaker concludes with a call to action for collective change, starting with individual attitudes towards skin color.
Transcripts
[Music]
i had spent most of my childhood as a
swimmer
and that meant that during the summer i
would spend three to four hours under
the sun
i had a fun childhood but at the same
time
it meant that i was the darkest i had
ever been and probably will ever be
now at first that didn't really bother
me until i realized that some of the
names my classmates would call me
were not exactly compliments
i've been called uling or charcoal
negra
and while yes they're not really insults
the way that they were said to me
kind of felt like there were
now when i was 13 i decided that i would
quit swimming i remember begging my
parents to just let me stop because it
was not worth it
i got darker and darker and
along with the darkness of my skin
self-esteem also dropped
when i was in my first year
in university i remembered taking beach
volleyball for my pe class
and after two hours under the sun the
first thing that i did was to run to the
drugstore
just so i can find the fast acting
whitening lotion that will
hopefully reverse the effects of the sun
on me
and while it has been years since i quit
swimming
just
one class under the sun
had brought back all of the fears from
childhood and once again
i was so afraid of getting dark
obviously none of my attempts at
whitening worked because i'm here in
front of you a very very proud morena
it all started
my journey to being a proud marenna
started when i was writing my thesis in
my fourth year in college
in my fourth year in college i finally
discovered
what it was the issue that i was
struggling with my whole life and that
was colorism
aka the discrimination against darker
skinned people especially within the
same ethnic group
now when i was starting to write this i
was met with a lot of skepticism because
some people didn't really understand
what it was was it racism was it
something else is it just skin color
aren't there bigger problems
i had a lot of those comments but this
was deeply personal to me and i knew
that it wasn't something that i
experienced just by myself
and true enough
i was right
you see colorism has been
present in filipino culture for
centuries
back in
the spanish colonial times
dark skin was always associated with
poor laborers and fair skin was
associated with
wealth and status and even today to the
present day the skin whitening industry
is a billion dollar industry
it was felt then it's felt now
and
for some reason we have accepted these
beauty standards as normal
and acceptable
so when i wrote my thesis i studied 40
advertisements between 2012 to 2014.
i know it's been quite some time since i
wrote that paper but
the things that i learned really
influenced the way that i saw colorism
and what we can do to change it
so between those 40 ads the word white
appeared 25 times and that excludes all
the other variations of it that's
widens whiter whitening all of those
and
more than just the use of white
we would also
see how white was attached to positive
words such as flawless perfect
rosy glowy
now we compare the use of white to
dark skin
now dark skin would often be attached to
words like oily and dull
and more than that when we talk about
dark skin and these advertisements
it would always be
out of fear and avoidance
but see
that mentality those beauty ideologies
don't just stop in our tv screens
we bring them to our daily lives
from childhood kids would
throw around might them or dark skin as
an insult and in adulthood
we would often
feel insecure when we look like this
when we get a little bit darker
we see it in commercials
how
morena skin is often
the before
not the after before and after
commercials
we would often see darker skinned actors
as sidekicks instead of leads
and when we
look for jobs one of the especially
customer-facing jobs we would have
presentable as a requirement but
that poses a difficulty especially when
people's notion of presentable means
fair skinned
what about everybody else right
what about everybody else who's a little
bit on the darker side
you see
a lot of people experience this and it's
not just
teasing it's not it doesn't end in
teasing it doesn't end in bullying
would have been simple if we could just
end things by telling people to to stop
talking about
dark skin as if it's a it's an insult
but
the problem doesn't end there
for example
content creator patrice avarilia shared
in one of her videos that when she
applied for a flight attendant job she
was rejected and asked to come back once
she has undergone skin whitening
what does her skin color what does our
skin color have to do with our ability
to perform
tasks for that job
there was another member of the gaiu
monkey club on facebook
where
he mentioned that he was entering a mall
with his laptop and he was barred by the
security officer because
he
didn't seem like the kind of guy who
would
be able to afford a laptop he looked
suspicious was what he said and
this is often an experience of somebody
who looks like us
profiling based on skin color
now on the other hand
when we look at
dark skin from an external point of view
things tend to be a little different
in beauty pageants we pride ourselves
with our natural tan we like to talk
about our dark skin
from the perspective of foreigners like
foreigners want to get tan
we have the tan therefore we are
beautiful and great
and then when we talk about filipinas
who have foreign partners we often call
them
an exotic beauty which is kind of
confusing to me honestly i've been at
the receiving end of that compliment a
lot of the time
and i keep wondering how am i exotic how
is anyone here exotic when we're
everywhere
so many filipinos share my skin color
and yet we're exotic
why is that
why do we need
validation from people outside our
country
in order to give ourselves permission to
embrace and celebrate dark skin can't we
just
be beautiful
on our own
now luckily things are changing
with social media people are becoming
more and more and more vocal about
colorism and it's it's beautiful to see
language used to be used to maintain
colorist ideologies
we used to maintain those harmful
beauty standards by using
[Music]
language
now
today we are using language to change
that and that is a powerful tool to have
for example a few years ago there was a
glutathione ad that mistakenly pit
dark-skinned women against bare-skinned
women and
twitter was just not having it
millennials and gen z are fighting back
and consumers finally have a voice
we get to tell brands that
no we don't like this
this messaging is problematic
and then we have our
families
at home
young kids are starting to have a little
bit more
confidence
when they're told that they need to
change something about their skin or
their body
it's getting more and more common
and
encouraged to just say
hey
i do like myself i don't want to change
that part of myself
and it's so awesome to see i see it
everywhere on social media
twitter tick tock oh my gosh
it inspires me right back
you see
language is power the way we use words
to talk about skin color is power
and when we find ourselves in positions
of power
hopefully we can keep this in mind
if you're an educator and you control
the narrative in class
when you talk about skin color or beauty
or potential
how do you communicate to your students
if you're
a hiring manager and
you're asked to look for somebody
presentable from for the job
how do you define presentable how do you
define beautiful
if you're a media professional and
you're tasked to execute one of these
ads
how would you execute it what choices
are you gonna make
if you're an influencer and you have a
platform
what kind of browns are you going to
work with
how are you going to talk about skin
color and beauty
when we are in positions of power
sometimes we don't realize that our
little choices affect us all
in a bigger scale and hopefully
when we make those decisions we realize
that we need to be agents of change
the change
the kind of change that will allow
generations of
brown-skinned filipinos to just believe
that they're good enough by default
where they see themselves as equals
the equals of their fair-skinned
counterparts
language is powerful
and if we're mindful about this
maybe
the grander scheme of things and the
grander scheme of things
it might take some time
but
we shouldn't forget that the most impact
that we have
will really
happen when we start within ourselves
and so
before going out there and trying to
change things
here's step one
let's bring us all back to step one
let's ask yourselves
when we see a dark-skinned person
across the street what is it that we we
assume about them
when people joke about skin color and
our social circles within our own friend
group and our families
how do we react do we laugh
do we let them be or do we speak up and
ask what's so funny about that
how do we talk about skin color what do
we
see in skin color
now
i ask you this because
this change really does start with us it
starts with how we look at ourselves how
we see each other
and how we
decide to move forward because
i really do have the hopes that one day
because of this collective
change slowly but surely
when we
speak with conviction when we speak
carefully mindfully
hopefully one day we'll be able to craft
a world where
little brown kids won't have to quit
their favorite sport just because they
didn't feel like they were beautiful
enough and
brown skinned people won't have to
think if their skin color is going to
cost them their job or the next
opportunity
maybe we'll be able to craft a future
where our skin color does not determine
our potential
and our success
and maybe
hopefully
one day
we get to a point in filipino culture
we're a skin color
that used to be a symbol of status and
wealth and
what we're gonna be
who we can be
skin color
one day
can just be
skin color
[Music]
you
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