A Titas and Titos Guide To Filipino Standards of Beauty

Key Points

• The trio also discusses how colonialism, media standards, and deep-seated cultural expectations influence how Filipinos view physical presentation both in the Philippines and in Australia.
• The conversation explores how Spanish and American colonial eras shaped Filipino beauty ideals—ranging from the myth of Malakas at Maganda to the literary figure of Maria Clara from José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere.
• A discussion on the Filipino definition of beauty would be incomplete without tackling cultural valuations of mestizo/mestiza vs kayumanggi/morena and the role that media/advertising plays in perpetuating certain standards of beauty.
• Erika M. Carreon is the Philippines Literary editor at Cordite Poetry Review. Her literary works have appeared in Kritika Kultura, Anomaly Journal, Kalliope X, and in Ulirát: Best Contemporary Stories in Translation from the Philippines. She co-founded and co-edited Plural Online Journal and currently collaborates with Neobie Gonzalez as Occult’s Razor to produce hybrid art and literary artifacts.
• She earned her MFA at De La Salle University, Manila, and her PhD in creative writing at the University of Melbourne with a special interest in ecofiction. Her artwork and illustrations have appeared in Three Books written by Mesandel Virtusio Arguelles and translated by Kristine Ong Muslim, Rurok: Comics & Art Anthology, and in SOL Gallery’s SOULS group exhibition.