#MagandangMorenx: Calling In The Filipino Community To Take Down Anti-Blackness
Whether you’re consuming media in South and Southeast Asia or flipping through T.V. channels in the United States, one thing is for certain: Brown and black representation is scarce everywhere.
I was 8 years old when I searched “skin whitening” on the internet for the first time — I hated my dark skin. I really did.
Imagine an 8 year old, desperate to conform to a whiter standard of beauty, searching the internet for “at-home”skin bleaching recipes, “reliable” skin whitening soap or lotion brands, and even beginning to build an understanding of costs for skin lightening medical procedures. That was the reality I lived for many years, completely rejecting my brown body.
Maybe it was the white faces I always saw on television, in magazines, or on newspapers growing up. Maybe it was the constant frustration that came with people not believing I was Asian because my Filipinx complexion was so brown (as if brown Asians didn’t exist). Maybe it was my mom always telling me not to stay out in the sun for too long, reminding me that I would “get darker” in a negatively-suggestive tone. Perhaps, it was a culmination of all those experiences. Whatever it was, I had internalized this idea that my brownness was something to be ashamed of, something I needed to hide, and something that made me less-than in comparison to my fairer-skinned counterparts.
I didn’t really understand it then, but my experience in resenting my brownness had stemmed from the greater issue of colorism in Filipinx culture — a community with a deep societal obsession with skin lightening and eurocentric beauty standards.
Surely I wasn’t the only one who heard phrases like, “don’t play out in the sun, you’ll get too dark!” growing up. When the hashtag #MagandangMorenx began trending in 2016, I knew that my struggle to [re]accept the skin I am in was not an isolated experience.
BEYOND A HASHTAG: THE #MAGANDANGMORENX MOVEMENT
Literally translating to beautiful brown person, Magandang Morenx is an online movement launched by actress and digital creative Asia Jackson, who identifies as Black-Filipino, to combat the issue of colorism in the Filipinx community and put and end to the problematic, oppressive, and archaic system of class stratification based on the color of one’s skin.
“In the Philippines, light-skinned folks have a tremendous amount of social privilege compared to those who are dark-skinned. Filipino celebrities, for example, go to great lengths to maintain the light-skin tone in contradistinction to their largely dark-skinned audience.”
Of course, there are often criticisms of such online movements where trending hashtags or posting an article online are regarded as a passive form of activism or insignificant to bringing forth tangible change. But in today’s digital age, where opinions, information, and communication are increasingly influenced by our online connections, it is arguable that this type of activism holds more potential than most may realize.
And three years since the initial launch of Magandang Morenx, it’s clear that kababayans around the globe (myself included) have resonated with Jackson’s mission. A plethora of personal stories and words of validation continue to pour in on social media from all parts of the world in support of Jackson and her movement. Without a doubt, Magandang Morenx created an outlet for Filipinx voices on bigger topics like colorism as well as anti-blackness — but this kind of movement is nothing new.
Do a simple Google search and you’ll find that “brown is beautiful” campaigns have existed for years, across various communities, and taking different shapes or forms. The ongoing struggle of reclaiming brownness, empowering brown folks, and tackling issues of colorism and anti-blackness is not exclusive to Asian and Filipinx circles. The conversation is much greater, and far from over.
IMPORTANT TERMINOLOGY
Words like “colorism,” “eurocentric,” and “anti-blackness” can be big, confusing and uncomfortable concepts to digest, but they are necessary to further discussion about the harmful impacts these issues have on our communities. For those new to these terms or still working towards a better understanding of them, let’s take a brief moment to break it down.
- Eurocentrism: A focus on European/Western culture or history that excludes a wider view of the world; implicitly regarding European culture as superior.
- Colorism: Prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a darker skin tone (typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group) with preferential treatment given to those with fairer skin complexions.
- Anti-black/ness: The personal, cultural, social, legal, and structural attacks on black folks and blackness as a whole.
Taken together, these terms facilitate a belief that brown and black bodies are subordinate and fall below the standard of beauty. This is just as true in the East as it is in the West. Whether you’re consuming media in South and Southeast Asia or flipping through T.V. channels in the United States, one thing is for certain: Brown and black representation is scarce everywhere.
THE CROSS-CULTURAL FIGHT AGAINST COLORISM
The bullying and mistreatment Jackson experienced while living in the Philippines was a catalyst for starting Magandang Morenx and examining colorism through a Filipinx lens, but we must also remember the firm grasp that colorism has on various cultural communities.
For Black Americans, colorism stems directly from slavery and white supremacist ideologies. Colorism in Black and eventually Latinx communities would develop a link to job and educational access, as well as chances (or lack thereof) for upward mobility. In Asia, colorism is believed to be rooted in a class system that equated elites with fairer skin tones and peasants with darker skin tones, due to how much time peasants and laborers would spend working and traveling under the sun versus their ruling class counterparts. Over time, that idea developed into modern day status of colorism in Asia with many celebrities, high ranking government officials and upper class families tending to possess lighter skin complexions.
While we cannot disregard the ties between colonization and colorism within communities of color, it’s also important to note that colorist practices have existed even prior to European colonialism and in many parts of the world.
We are all deeply connected in the struggle. The fight against colorism, and all forms of oppression, must be cross-cultural, multiculturally-informed, and intersecting. Our liberation is bound together — we are not free from systematic oppression until all of us are free.
A CALL TO ACTION. A CALL TO CONVERSATION.
“I love my brown skin.” That’s a phrase I wouldn’t have been able to say, with confidence, three or four years ago. And when #MagandangMorenx first popped up on my social media feed in 2016, I remember my mind bouncing back to the hateful thoughts I had internalized about my brownness as a child; those same thoughts that followed me throughout my teenage years and other critical periods of personal growth.
What if Magandang Morenx existed then? I thought. What impact would that have made on a little brown girl who was told by a dominant narrative to be ashamed of her skin? I know now that it would have meant the world.
There is something truly powerful in storytelling. For Jackson, it was taking that single step of putting her story out into the world that brought Magandang Morenx to life, which in return widened the space for transformative conversation around deeply rooted issues like colorism in Filipinx communities to take place. Opening up that space for discussion, reflection and vulnerability, I believe, is what makes Magandang Morenx so powerful.
In an era where dominant forces continue to hold others down, there is absolutely no room for complacency — when we choose to ignore oppressive systems, communities only continue to suffer. So long as we keep challenging those oppressive systems, keep questioning dominant voices and beliefs about what is beautiful, and continue holding space for uncomfortability and growth, it is within those moments of collaborative resistance that true change can begin to take form.
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Originally published on One Down Media on October 29, 2019
Editor: Kristine de los Santos, Director of Operations | One Down | kristine@one-down.com | Instagram & Facebook
