Humans evaluate their surroundings for survival. In the realm of romantic relationships, humans evaluate the opposite sex in correspondence to what they perceive as attractive. Swami, Furnham, and Joshi (2008) investigated the role of skin tone, hair color and hair length in perceptions of women’s physical attractiveness, health and fertility. I'll be focusing on the first (i.e., physical attractiveness) since it's the aspect that is most immediate and directly related to what we have discussed so far, which is vision and visual perception.
In the study, 130 men and 112 women rated 12 line drawings that had variations in three levels of skin tone, two levels of hair color, and two levels of hair length. These phenotypes proved to interact with one another, thus having high correlation. Among the categories, again I'll just be focusing on one (i.e., skin tone), since hair color resulted to have a weak effect on attractiveness. As for hair color, well, no Filipino is naturally blonde so delving deeper into such a category would be pointless when applied to the Philippine context. Anyway, going back to skin tone, it was found in the research that light-toned figures were rated the most positively.
In the study, 130 men and 112 women rated 12 line drawings that had variations in three levels of skin tone, two levels of hair color, and two levels of hair length. These phenotypes proved to interact with one another, thus having high correlation. Among the categories, again I'll just be focusing on one (i.e., skin tone), since hair color resulted to have a weak effect on attractiveness. As for hair color, well, no Filipino is naturally blonde so delving deeper into such a category would be pointless when applied to the Philippine context. Anyway, going back to skin tone, it was found in the research that light-toned figures were rated the most positively.
Surprised? Didn't think so.
The researchers did ensure that there was no variance in ethnic backgrounds by sticking to participants of European Caucasian descent. Such a set-up just goes to show that each of us—or each ethnicity, as far as this study is concerned—has a corresponding preference for perceiving what is attractive. If the British residing in Greater London find brunette, fair-skinned women most attractive, what about the Filipinos in Metro Manila? Would those from Palawan or Cebu or Davao make a difference? What do we Asians—or Pacific Islanders, as others have debated—find physically attractive, in general?
Observing the present, more Filipinos are leaning towards the same preference as that of the participants in the study, particularly that of skin tone. In fact, a survey conducted by Synovate last 2010 highlighted the fact that the Philippines had the highest usage of skin whitening products among the countries included in the survey. According to the results, one out of two women claims to use such products, followed by Hong Kong with 45%, Malaysia with 41%, and Taiwan with 37%. Such a study contributes to the reality that visual perception being a big part of attraction exists, and will persist. Each shelf of cosmetic items we pass by in the grocery and department stores strengthens the awareness that what we see outside matters a lot, and right now outside matters a lot, and right now—for the Filipinos at least—what matters is whiter skin.
We have thought of transforming the kayumanggi to utter maputi in every application imaginable; topical, injectables, medication, soaps, lotions, even facial wash. Dove even produces these segment advertisements which I honestly find ridiculous, since it’s about a relationship being torn apart thanks to the third party’s blindingly white complexion, which society subliminally views as beautiful. And it does! The knowledge has been implanted that being fair brings flair, that whiter is better. Our neurons have reorganized themselves into this approach, affecting how we recognize and appreciate what is aesthetically pleasing to the eye. In other words, the market is successful in incorporating new information, to which society has welcomed with oh-so open arms, not to mention our reaction of pleasure. Or could it be pleasure behind six layers of pain?
Beauty over misery!
Advertisements and endorsing celebrities are not to be blamed completely for this phenomenon, though. In my opinion, there’s a much older source of knowledge contributing significantly to this, and that can be no other than Spanish colonization. Indeed the one mestiza cell has been transferred from the invaders to the invaded and stuck there, proliferating for three whole centuries. With a period that long followed by the Americans, it wouldn’t be surprising to notice what now resulted to the present generation’s modified standard of beauty. Heck they are scampering to the beach every spring break to have that to-die-for tan, while we execute strategies to have the opposite. Funny, but that's the way some things go.
In the end, it is a realization that different cultures and ethnicities have their own perception of what looks good, is attractive, and beautiful. It just upsets me how exaggerated the need for becoming lighter has become. Filipinos having complexions darker than the typical brownness are poked fun at. Some sacrifice outdoor activities almost completely because of the restrictions employed by the products. These are sad actualities that need not happen. Sure, it is a free country, and we have the right to modify skin tone, hair color, or hair length. We can change our standards for beauty, just as long as we don't interfere with standards of others. We can change how we look for the sake of attraction, just not the respect we have for our fellowmen. After all, as far as beauty is concerned...
Agree? Of course you do.
Source: Swami, Furnham, & Joshi (2008). The influence of skin tone, hair length, and hair colour on ratings of women’s physical attractiveness, health and fertility. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 49, 429–437.
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