Filipino A-saucha

filipina
Traditional Filipino Costume called Baro’t Saya made of silk or white bark fiber

Short, brown skin, non prominent nose- these are a few of the preconceived physical notion of a Filipina. Cheerful and hospitable are the resounding adjectives of my race. During the first week, Master Paluu asked each race represented by a student in our class to be described. It was stereotype enumeration game. Much of the girls were shy, sensitive and would veer away from any negative implication to a certain race. Master Paluu on the other hand, was on a frankness streak since he has been blessed with truthfulness(Satya).

We are quite the Miss Universe batch- the races were very diverse. Most of the descriptions were funny. Some adjectives were exaggerations however, for some, like for myself it was spot on. Filipinos ARE known to apologize too often, a little too much in fact. We easily blame it on our history of over 300 years of colonization of the Spaniards, Japanese, and Americans all combined. For me, it is much of a convenient excuse to be submissive. It is true, the truth stings. I loathed being stereotyped, it made me feel limited and predictable. Even though I did hate being stereotyped, I found myself sharing the same superficial thoughts over the different races as we went through the class. So I took home with me two lessons that day. One is to treat others how I want to be treated (Bramacharya) and to eliminate any bias (Saucha). Who knows you might meet, a tall, fair skinned, unapologetic Filipina and hopefully, be pleasantly surprised.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Bianca Pereche- Gamboa
[Tall, fair skinned, unapologetic Filipina] 200hr TTC (weekday), March 2015