The Image at Right is NOT My Wife
Because of her dark complexion and curly hair, my wife was often teased for being "
igorot" or "ita" during her childhood. Like many of her fellow Filipinas, she'd prefer to be fair-skinned. It's funny that people of color often covet fair skin while ultra-pasty types like myself strive to be tan.Family Ties
Upon meeting her lola and tito, both of whom possess strong family features, I thought the following: This is a nice family and I bet that their ancestors killed a-hole European explorers back in the day, shrunk their heads and celebrated by donning their newly-acquired undergarments. Well, I discovered on Wikipedia that headhunting was common in the Philippines (along with many other areas of the ancient world) so my instincts were sort of verified.
Switching Gears
Okay, now that I've offended at least two or three ethnicities in this update, I wanted to take a moment and acknowledge the terrible land slide that claimed so many lives in Baguio City. If there's a silver lining in such tragic times, it's hearing TV Patrol World anchor Ted Failon say, "Salamat, Rowena 'Ina' Reformina." Kudos to Ms. Reformina for wading through the flood to report on the environmental disaster unfolding in Luzon.
I got to this blog post from my Google Blog Search feed on the word "Igorot".
ReplyDeleteTo Mr-white-boy-who-married-his-Pacific-Island-princess: It is sad to hear that your wife was teased because of her appearance. It's a pity that she had to prefer to be someone she's not because of this. I'm an FBI (full blooded Igorot), and I was raised by my folks to respect everybody, and not to judge / make fun of anyone regardless of who they are, and what they look like. It's a good trait that I hope to pass on to my children as well.
In my family, there is no one who is dark skinned and curly haired. I do know Igorot friends and relatives who possess those looks - it's not surprising because it's how a lot of Filipinos look like - regardless of ethnicity. It doesn't matter though, as they say, it's not the package but what's inside that really counts.
Cheers and have a nice day,
SaGaDa-iGoRoT
H SaGaDa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts. I think it's great that you take pride in your culture and ethnicity and we should all strive to accept and love who we are and where we come from.
I don't, however, think it's necessary to tell my wife how to feel about her childhood or to coach her into boosting her own self esteem. I'm a big believer in "live and let live" and this sometimes means that people are not going to live up to the expectations you wish for them. Does that make them lesser people? I don't think so.
It's great that you have so much pride in your culture, but that doesn't mean my wife is wrong or sad or flawed for being a little traumatized by the ridicule she received as a child. A lot of us have wounds that will never fully heal.
Also interesting that you found the blog through an alert for "igorot". Stay dry and safe!