The Controversial Truth About 'COLORISM'
The word COLORISM refers to discrimination based on skin color of a person. This concept has existed since slavery. This is a form of prejudice in which people who share similar ethnic traits or are treated differently based on social implications that come with the cultural meanings that are attached to skin color.
This topic is frequently omitted from curriculum content and social work practice. According to the website of the University of Georgia, skin color also functioned as an indicator of socioeconomic status since then because of the culture. People with lighter skin became a symbol of ‘higher class’ which favors them over those people with darker skin.
Sadly, the media in the Philippines have become prime suspects for promoting colorism. Advertisements like Glutamax had been recently a topic for their #YourFairAdvantage campaign which suggested that morena or dark-skinned Filipinas are disadvantaged compared to light-skinned Filipinas.
This is how the media today shapes our lives. It is very alarming to see that the ‘beliefs’ that they feature eventually affect the perception of the Filipinos in the society and reinforce the idea that having a morena or dark-skinned tone defines our privilege, worth, and acceptance in society.
Radiate your color. Be proud of your skin tone.
You are you.
Importance of Recognizing and Addressing COLORISM
Fighting Colorism requires awareness and Education. It is important that we take the necessary steps to learn about it and to learn how to properly address it.
CNN conducts a study to determine the skin tone biases of kindergarten children and middle childhood youngsters in the United States of America. The study suggests children who preferred lighter skin tones rejected darker skin tones and children who preferred darker skin tones rejected lighter skin tones, shown in the figure below the means of children's color preference and color rejection.
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Retrieved from: CNN Pilot demonstration, 4-28-10 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/expanded_results_methods_cnn.pdf )
CNN Pilot demonstration, 4-28-10 (http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/05/13/expanded_results_methods_cnn.pdf )
From this study, we can see that children were unaware of the beauty of skin color- the question is 'will they still bring this attitude until they grow up?'
A lot of people, children or adults, deal with colorism at home. We can identify such by listening and voicing out. All of us have to acknowledge that colorism is one of the reasons for having low self-esteem, depression, or even self-destructive behavior. By effectively addressing this issue, one can provide positive conversation. That is why we have to keep on talking about Colorism - to educate and inform people disregarding age, race, and gender. We have to dismantle colorism and abandon beauty standards.
