#i have The Most muse for donny rn so this was bound to happen

[pocmuzings]

colorism in the rpc, especially with regards to filipinos (and southeast asians in general)

hello! thanks so much for letting me do this, and thanks so much for making the rpc confront its own prejudices or biases. i wanted to talk about something that’s been bothering me for the longest, longest time, as a southeast asian who is considered darker. (i’m not dark-skinned by western standards but i am in asia.) the sad thing is that i have been talking about it, but no one listens. i haven’t seen the rpc make a change. funny, that.

let’s start by talking about how southeast asians are so painfully underused, unless they’re mixed with white. i suspect that much of it is because southeast asians = east asians in people’s minds. no. we southeast asians systemically face discrimination and abuse from east asians. do you know that k-pop idols, such as sooyoung (of girls generation) and tzuyu, who may have slightly darker skin are often called compared to “ugly” southeast asians? that ur fav tzuyu is one of the most conventionally beautiful k-pop idols but she’s still slung with hate because she’s known for “looking southeast asian”? that whenever sooyoung is praised by netizens, there’s bound to be a “whoa, she evolved from southeast asian” comment? that crazy rich asians by kevin kwan, based on his own experiences as a chinese-singaporean, describes chinese-singaporeans as being disgusted by ugly, dark southeast asians? that being southeast asian is an insult to many east asians? rpc realize that southeast asians are not the same as east asian challenge. that we deserve representation too and that east asian or half-white se asian rep will not cut it.

now i’m going to be talking a bit less broadly, though i’m sure people of other southeast asian ethnicities could probably relate to this too. why are the only filipino faceclaims the rpc uses half-white?

i just wanted to preface this by saying, of course biracial people are valid. biracial filipinos are not white, they are poc. but at the same time, when the only ones y'all gif and use are half-white, something is up. something is UP. especially when THE most famous actresses in the philippines right now are NOT half-white and they’re usually on the darker side. (idk why but most of the famous filipino male actors are lighter but that’s just the status quo rn; women usually experience colorism worse than men). note: keep in mind these women i’ll show you tend to wear light-colored contact lenses bc they’re pressured to concede to eurocentric beauty standards in some way, even if they get to have their natural complexion.

THE most famous actress in the country, the so-called “box office queen”, kathryn bernardo:

one of the other top famous actresses in the country, nadine lustre:

some of the other famous/rising actresses with lots and lots of giffable clips online:

and so many more! and many of them, such as gabbi garcia and kate valdez, have literally talked about being discriminated against for being darker-skinned! and yet they succeeded. and yet the rpc goes out of their way to find b-list, c-list, and d-list actresses like bela padilla and julia barretto to gif, even when bela and julia have a very public history of colorism/racism. here’s bela and julia, two pale actresses mixed with white, who the rpc went out of their way to make resources for, posing with or in blackface and brownface:

yeah, that’s right. to many pale-skinned half-white asians, darker-skinned native asians are just shadows to step out of. please remember this is the message you are perpetuating when you ignore asians who aren’t half white and/or have skin as pale as dahyun from twice.

i know this is “just rp,” but we’ve established by now that writing affects real life too. i am so, so, so exhausted of feeling like i’m the only mun in the rpc who thinks of using filipino fcs who actually have any color to their skin, such as gillian vicencio. i’m tired of playing daniel padilla muses and getting ignored. (funny thing is that daniel has like a quarter white ancestry too, but i guess he just popped out too southeast asian-looking for the rpc’s liking.) this never happens when i play cis, white muses, lol.

i’m tired of the rpc only using james reid, kelsey merritt, liza soberano (who also has a VERY public history of brownface btw! just so y'all know this about your fav “safe” half-white filipino girl), and christina nadin and thinking they’re doing something to promote diversity. i’m tired. i’m tired i’m tired i’m so so so exhausted. PLEASE do better. PLEASE. the actresses i mentioned ALL have plenty of tv show + film clips on youtube. they have interviews. there is no excuse. there is no excuse!

maybe someday i will see faces like kathryn, nadine, gabbi, kate, maris racal, khalil ramos, mccoy de leon, and donny pangilinan in the rpc. maybe someday.

 — SUBMITTED  BY @jxngjinsoul​ ( thank you very much ! ) 

#thank u for sharing ur views and writing about this so extensively ! #this is something i can even admit to doing myself : not knowing nearly enough filipino actors or celebrities or how to find content of them #which isnt good enough and im really sorry ive never fixed that or tried to fix that until now #but this is very very well put and definitely shines a light on a SUPER UNDERREPRESENTED community especially in the rpc #also thank u for the fc suggestions i know its not ur job but i very much appreciate them and everything u took the time to write #and explain ! #filipino fc #submission #colorism tw #racism tw