What about these age-defying, wrinkle-free, eye-lifting formulas flooding our market today?
Or the straighter-blacker-hair makes you beautiful?
Before, I thought ripe papaya is a fruit I eat, green papaya for achara, kalamansi is a juice to help cure flu and licopene is something we get in tomatoes to fight the risk of cancer,
UNTIL whitening-beauty-products-working-in-as-fast-as-7-days obsession came.
Are we moving towards the whiteness-makes-you-beautiful world invasion?
Or a generation when people should not grow old?
Or an age when everybody should have straight, long, black hairs?
Will we be less beautiful if we do not have any of these?
Why are we soooooo into these things these days?
Oh well. Maybe I am just bitter. I may not have the money to spend for all of these things.
First, yes, I admit, I don’t have all the money to spend for these. Hehe.
But, if I DO have the money to spend, will I?
Second, am I bitter because while I stay the way I am,
all the rest are transformed into these artista-looking, almost-worthy-of-center-fold-magazine-spot creatures?
Well, I guess, if I have the money, I will definitely be tempted to buy all these products that promise beauty and youth. Who won’t be, right?
And who wouldn’t envy all these flawlessly fair celebrities and the people who are soooo close to looking like them?
Hypocrisy aside, I want that too—I want attention, I want fame, I want to be desired.
BUT THEN AGAIN, We have to draw the line between our wants and our needs.
I ask, what’s the NEED to draw more attention? What’s the need of being famous? What’s the need of being craved for by ALL?
Would these things DEFINE the BEAUTIFUL? Define ME?
If I were fair, does that really make me beautiful?
If I had long, black, straight hair (which I think I have, though not really the one worthy of shampoo-endorsement type.hehe) will that add to my SELF-worth?
If I remain youthful and never grow old, will that assure me my dignity as a person?
What makes me beautiful are the people who embrace me for who I am—the whole package, ME with all the flaws, the weaknesses, and the complexities. When they do not withdraw their faith in me amidst my shortcomings, when they are able to see the strength in me even when I break down, when they remain hopeful that the best of me is yet to come—I feel approved…I FEEL BEAUTIFUL!
No, they are not the hundreds of thousand in this city, nor the thousands in school or the hundreds in my village.
They are just a few. But they are enough.
In fact, MORE than enough. J
As you continue taking that metathione pill everyday,
or applying that numerous hand-face-body whitening solutions,
will you think there will be a time that you can say,
the poll for the new 7 wonders of the world is on!!
let’s make sure these two amazing Philippine wonders : Tubbataha Reef, Sulu Sea and Subterranean River National Park, Puerto Princesa will be included on the list!
PHILIPPINESTubbataha Reef is an atoll coral reef in the Sulu Sea that belongs to the Philippines. It is a marine sanctuary protected as Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park. The reef is composed of two atolls, North and South Reefs. Each reef has a single small islet that protrudes from the water. The atolls are separated by a deep channel 8 kilometers wide. Over one thousand species, including many that are endangered, can be found at on the reef. These include manta rays, lionfish, tortoises, clownfish and sharks.
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is located about 50 kilometers north of the city of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines. The National Park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the northern coast of the island. The City Government of Puerto Princesa has managed the National Park since 1992. It features a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 8.2 km. navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. The lower portion of the river is subject to tidal influences. The underground river is reputed to be the world’s longest.The area also represents a significant habitat for biodiversity conservation. The site contains a full mountain-to-the-sea ecosystem and has some of the most important forests in Asia. www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/puertoprincesa.html
This is a picture of a girl who was stoned to death for choosing the man she loves.
She went against religious beliefs.
She followed her heart. She paid with her life. This is only one of the many horrors predetermined marriages bring.
The horror of setting unbalanced and unreasoned religious beliefs above the value of personal choice, above the value of life. On whose hands should we let the choice of our marriage partners fall?
will we let it rest on the hands of our race?
our religion?
our family?
or should this ultimately be our OWN choice?
For centuries, and until today, we see a history tainted by numbers of women snatched of the right to choose their life-long partners. For them, love, was the not main, not even one of, the ingredients in their marriages, but it was religious beliefs, social status quo or racial biases.
Just last year, we see a horrifying incident of a girl who was stoned to death for following her heart and struggling to be together with a boy of a religion other than hers.
what are the horrors manifested by such realities?
one, ABSENCE OF EQUALITY.
men chooses, women waits.
men decides, women keep their tongue.
male heads of families chooses their daughters’ husbands-to-be while their wives agree but silently protesting their daughters (like theirs) pitiful plights.
Male religious group leaders decide the death of a woman for loving a man of another religion
as the women of these religious groups are silenced by fear of death if they contest the decision.
Dark Ages? NO.
this is a modern-day scenario.
two, ABSENCE OF JUSTICE.
Just behavior is a concern for genuine respect and treatment for all, without biases or discrimination.
Where is genuine respect in a case of a woman who is stripped of the freedom to choose the person that truly befits her? to choose person that truly fulfills, not only her physically, but also her emotionally and spiritual needs?
Where is genuine treatment in a scenario where the woman is chosen for WHAT she is—an organic machinery who cooks, cleans, attends the kids, irons the clothes, gardens, picks up the trash, and not for WHO she is in all her complexities and richness of spirit.
three, ABSENCE OF HUMANNESS.
If there be a heirarchy of values, which value should be higher?
family honor or right of choice?
racial seclusion or individual freedom?
religious conservatism or human life?
these abominable behaviours result from absence of reason and unwarranted fear.
what are we so afraid of?
women are not on the fight to rule the world.
we are not into the abolishment of established positions,
nor are we a threat of ready-made social matrix, IF these be of reasonable ground and just to ALL mankind.
we are no trash or DISPENSABLE elements of society. .
grant us the right to be heard.
grant us the right to choose.
grant us the right to live.
misunderstood for their uncommon opinions, misjudged for their strong beliefs, looked-down because of their culture-challenging principles, scorned for their unsifted expression of ideals, hated for their unwavering stands…
and YET…stood firm unfaltering…
this page is dedicated to the expression of women’s thoughts regarding relationships, family, political issues and the like where we are often misunderstood…
hear me out as i give you a peak of what’s going on inside a strong woman’s heart and mind and to all women (and MEN!) join me in this journey of unraveling our gemstones of strengths!
What’s with the metathione/glutathione craze?
