A Cultural Depiction Of Beauty

Beauty is defined by each culture in a very different way. An elongated neck with brass rings is considered beautiful in Indonesia. Creating long earlobes using stones or tusks, is considered beautiful in Kenya. Plus, the more tattoos you have the more desirable you are in New Zealand, especially if it's around you lips or chin. 

Upon arriving in another country, you begin to compare everything that you know to everything that you see. I have never been outside the United States and this is the first opportunity that I've had to do so. When arriving in Manila, I noticed a lot of similar things. The Philippines is surprisingly very Americanized. American music, clothing, and foods are every where. Yet, there is one big difference that actually surprised me.

Everyone wants to be white. Practically every store we go to has whitening soap and lotion which is very popular to buy. Girls will wear lighter make up on their faces. People bring umbrellas with them everywhere to block out the sun. It is seemingly the exact opposite in America, where most everyone I know uses tanning beds, lotions and oils to get a darker skin tone. I had to think about this. I've asked many of the girls and women I meet why, and it always comes out to beautiful and desirable. I explain to them that their skin is beautiful and desirable to me. They would scoff and laugh and disagree with what I said, but I realized that it just boils down to one thing.

People aren't satisfied with what they already have...

Embrace who you are and what you look like

We can achieve whatever look that makes us happy, but we should be proud of where we came from. Every scar, blemish and feature of our bodies should be embraced. I'll never have the silky and shiny hair of a Filipino woman along with their beautifully soft and dark skin, I'll always have my curly red locks and my freckled white skin, and that is to me is how it should be.

Thanks for Reading,

Love, Nick

Follow Along with me and my journey in the Philippines! | @iamnicolecara

I wrote about my own personal Depiction of Beauty | Click Here!

WORKS CITED

Article - cosmopolitan.com - Beauty Standards from Around The World