On Filipino Beauty Queens
Superficial smiles, race and colorism, and colonized beauty standards.
I once heard that the Philippines is known for the “three Bs”: Balut, Basketball, and Beauty Pageants. Balut is the infamous Filipino street food that’s continuously named one of the top ten weirdest foods in the world. Basketball is one of the most popular sports played in the Philippines, a sport that was introduced during the American colonial period by YMCA. And then beauty pageants are a contest Filipinos are devoted in, often having seasoned and one of the highest ranking beauty queens to grace the international stage.
I had loved beauty pageants - watching the grace and confidence of Venus Raj as she glides across the stage, the gorgeous gowns they would wear, and finally, if you won, getting to hold the bouquet of flowers and wear the extravagant crown encrusted with pearls and diamonds and sapphires. Growing up, I had wanted to become these women: confident and beautiful. I looked up to them. Dreamed that I’ll look like them one day. But as I grew up, I learned that the beauty I always longed for isn’t real, but a carefully constructed illusion that stems from wanting to be white.
One thing I began to notice with all the beauty pageant winners in international contests is that almost all of them are usually half-American/German/Australian/half-white. The women are, no doubt, gorgeous and beautiful and successful and embody ‘the woman’ - but one thing they lack is the representation of the true beauty of Filipina women: Indigenous, morena.
What beauty looks like in the Philippines
Beauty standards are forever changing and evolving. In the Philippines, and like so many other countries in Asia who have had a history of colonization, white skin is particularly favored for its association with “wealth”, “civilization”, and “beauty” - an ideology imposed by the West who colonized these countries. Even in Filipino TV and entertainment today, mixed people with more Eurocentric features are favored more than the dark skinned.
“Morena” beauty
What is morena and what does it mean? Morena typically refers to the indigenous beauty of Filipinas - think Maria Clara with the brown skin and thick, black, curly hair. In the Philippines, morena beauty was not seen as “beauty”. Growing up watching teleserye, I would rarely see an actress who is dark skinned and saw men and women who are a glowing European-pale with dyed brown or auburn hair. In talk shows and reality TV, sometimes they would wear colored contacts in blue or green or grey. Filipinos are erasing their roots.
There are many anti-Black sentiments in the Filipino culture, all of which stems from colonialism. I wrote last year about how anti-Blackness is a form of assimilation, that being ashamed of dark skin and pursuing a lighter skin was a way to fit in society. Not only did Filipinos adopt the food, the names, and the language from Spain when they colonized the Philippines, but they adopted the beauty standards too.
As much as I adore and find Filipino beauty queens drop dead gorgeous, I also don’t believe that they represent the true beauty of the Philippines - rather, they represent a colonized version that’s very Eurocentric. There is a correlation between colorism and class, where dark skin is often associated with the working class - those who work in the fields under the sun. Whilst paler skin is associated with wealth and comfort.
When Catriona Gray became the latest Miss Universe in 2018, there were screams and shouts of pride and support. She is a beautiful woman who represented our country, and became the forth win for the Philippines after all. However, there were also murmurs and tsimosas because she is half-Australian, where others have criticized that “she simply wasn’t Filipino enough”. Gray was born and raised in Australia, before moving to the Philippines to become a model. Although it’s a well-deserved win, with her iconic ‘lava walk’ and slow turn, many criticized that her win also perpetuates the stereotype of Filipina beauty queens and the westernized beauty standards.
“This Miss Philippines looks to me like a beautiful Caucasian with a pleasant tan,”
— a tweet by Friar Stephanos Pedrano on Miss Universe 2018
What beauty will look like in the future
The effects of colonialism in the Philippines has been so embedded in our culture that it’s difficult to reverse these effects - it’s like trying to scrub black mold from the walls of an old building or church. Modern day TV and Filipino soap shows have become so westernized, not only do they whiten their skin and lighten their hair and eyes, they mix English and Tagalog in their speech. And in the entertainment and cosmetics businesses, paler skin will always be favored.
However, there are others who are uplifting the conversation on race and color, speaking out their pride for their natural beauty. H.E.R, a half-Filipina musician, became the first Filipino and Black Belle in NBC’s live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast”. Sam Santamaria, Miss Universe 2021’s representative, shared her personal insights on her morena beauty. And many celebrities in the Philippines are opening up about their skins and expressing their love for natural beauty.
We still have a long way to go, where my Titas still tell me from time to time to stay in the shade to prevent getting darker. But with representation becoming more prominent and the discussions on the decolonization of our culture, we as a community and the next generation are further exploring the nuances and evolution of beauty standards in the Philippines and breaking the intergenerational chain.
I’m a new subscriber and this is the first article I read and I knew this is the place I needed to be. Thank you for writing this. I visited the Philippines from California in 2010 with my mom and I hadn’t been there since the early 90s when I was very young. I was saddened by the skin whitening ads everywhere. At that point in my life I had done a lot of work in loving my brown skin and it was such a sad feeling witnessing that sort of beauty standard there.
Salamat for writing about these facts! It’s disheartening for me when I visit the PI and people constantly tell me I don’t look Filipino, even tho both of my parents are. I’ve gotten comments about my “pointy” nose my whole life and people ask me where I got it (my answer is always my ancestors). However, I do have faith in our younger generations who want to embrace our brownness, despite the deeeep colonial structures that plague our people.