A Critical Essay on Beauty, Consumerism and Popular Culture.

Many Filipino women have a huge desire to lighten their skin which is why there is a massive
demand for whitening products, and the market for skin whitening is massively growing.
Filipinos were taught to love whiter skin, and the concept of white supremacy strongly
influenced the desire to acquire such is strongly related to how our national psyche was shaped
by colonial powers who relegated dark or tanned-skinned Indios to lower class citizens and
elevated the white-skinned insulares, penisulares, and mestizos to the elite. Although Filipinos
now reclaimed their cultural identity, developed national consciousness, and revolted against
white Western domination during the colonial period, Filipino also developed a mentality that
idealized whiteness.
However, this claim overlooks that not all Filipino women adhere to the idea that white is
beautiful and that many influencers, such as Ayn Bernos and Nadine Lustre, attempt to promote
or influence young minds to accept our natural skin color and stop color-shaming. Another
Filipina who fights against colorism in the Philipines is Erianne Salazar, a Manila-based
makeup artist, model, influencer, and empowerment advocate actively pushing back against
destructive beauty standards inside the industry. Her works presented examples of true
representation. She has modeled in campaigns with Filipinas of diverse skin tones and body
shapes where they were equally represented. She has seen publishing photos of herself in
unedited glory, tanned skin, scars, and all. It also fails to consider other attributes, such as a
person's media exposure level. The Philippine mass media have taken over the former western
colonial experts' role in promoting ideas that valorize a fairer skin tone. The media has
reinforced the association of white skin tone with beauty and nurtured Filipino women's desire
to achieve that complexion through advertisements and television shows. We see many
skincare beauty products in a typical television program and have more than 70% of beauty
product endorsements.
We must recognize the fact that people do evaluate and rate their looks based on our outer
appearances, even though many would claim that beauty is something that is not simply
dependent on physical appearance, specifically on fairer skin and other physical characteristics.
They will inevitably be influenced by how the media portrays beauty. The more they are
frequently, and for longer they are exposed to such images, the more likely they will judge
appearances according to the same criteria of beauty. Indeed, the media greatly influences our
attitudes and predispositions toward this fundamental idea of beauty and other abstract ideas
like love, character, and the like.
Having discussed the obsession of Filipino women with fairer skin, Let us now turn to
Consumerism. One example of it that is related to beauty is hair, especially among women.
Commercials for shampoo and other hair-care products dominated TV advertising according
to data showed from research group Kantar Media, known more for its TV ratings data.
Unilever Sunsilk's Co-Creation shampoo had the most ad placement in June. This indicates
how hair care is essential among consumers and that these ads have influenced the young
generation to imitate their brand models, which has also led to more hair care routines and
practices, such as hair rebound, Brazilian rebound, hair keratin treatment, and hair shampoo.
Long straight hair is viewed as beautiful among young girls and women and has come up into
the colloquial terms "bagsak na bagsak hair" and "Walang Sabit," which describes beautifully
rebounded hair. Because of aesthetic ideals, women undergo a damaging harsh chemical
process of hair rebonding to straighten their naturally wavy and curly hair. It also creates
various memes that December is the month of hair rebonding. However, one question that
needs to be asked is whether there is still a link between hair length, straightness, and perceived
beauty. While tv commercials continue to market the illusion that long, pin-straight hair is the
standard of beauty, a growing group of naturally curly hair Filipinas claim that their naturally
curly hair is beautiful, according to the research Cosmopolitan. We can also see some
celebrities who are nailing their curly hair and are not afraid to flaunt it, such as Kathryn
Bernardo, Yassi Pressman, and Andi Eigenmann. In an interview, Andi spoke about the
pressures of having silky smooth hair as an actress, and she admitted that she regrets constantly
treating her hair with heat and chemicals because it damaged her locks and caused her to lose
her curls. (Reyes, 2021). Fortunately, as the new generation ushers in a wave of inclusion and
self-love, the criteria for beauty are gradually changing. Curly-haired Filipinas increasingly
own their naturally textured locks and enjoy their moment rather than giving in to the pressure
to have straight hair. Many influencers and celebrities have embraced their textured hair on
social media to unlearn that type of ideology and learn to embrace aesthetic diversity. They are
inspiring many others to follow suit.

For most Filipinas who have had their hair rebonded and believed the pain was worth it, and to
those Filipinas who spend a lot on beauty and whitening products, it because to them, and their
physical beauty is elevated, there is nothing wrong with their choices if that makes them
comfortable and boost their confidence. Make them more attractive, desirable, and beautiful.
We understand that colonialism has distorted our thoughts and beliefs in many ways, especially
our beauty standards. This distortion has been damaging our culture and our well-being for
generations now. We have been perpetuating these distorted beliefs and passing them down to
later generations for a long time. It is time that we break the stigma. However, to conclude,
colonial rule is not solely to blame for these biases toward beauty. Includes the issue of
financial affordability toward these preferred hair treatments and whitening products,
contributing to this as well.