16th-19th Century Concept of Beauty in the Philippines: A Historical and Cultural Approach
Zara Mazelene A. Amerila (
[email protected]) University of the Philippines Diliman
Abstract
Various studies on the Philippine concept of beauty have been published all throughout the years. The obsession with whitening products and even going under the knife just to achieve the perfect nose shape has been popular recently. Perhaps, we all agree that due to the three hundred yearlong influence of the Spaniards and the occupation of the Americans soon after has reshaped our idea of beauty. However, a very important question was never asked. From what previous concept did it change from? How did it change until the American period? This paper focuses on the various aspects of beauty in the 16th-19th century Philippine society, before and during the colonization of the Spaniards.
Keywords: traditional philippines, beauty, spanish colonization, precolonial
I. Introduction Beauty and ugliness are a part of the cultural norm. Lexical evidence shows us that beauty is “predominantly centered on the human body” in natural state and sometimes in modified form through the use of ornaments (Malicsi, 1982). However, this study goes beyond the physical attributes that determine beauty. It will delve into the depths of Philippine history and culture in the 16th-19th century and provide a clear definition of the traditional concept of beauty and its opposite, ugliness. This paper seeks to determine the cultural norms regarding beauty and ugliness before and during Spanish colonization. Using historical accounts and literature, the researcher aims to identify factors that define what is beautiful and what is not (i.e. ugly) and how the Spaniards consider this traditional concept of beauty. This study only utilizes books that are available in the University of the Philippines Diliman Main Library Filipiniana Section and University Archives section and some articles found online that are related to the traditional concept of beauty in the Philippines. The researcher hopes that this study will contribute to the analysis of Filipino values before and during Spanish colonization, especially on the aspects on beauty.
II. Review of Related Literature Unpublished works Maginde (2014) quotes Rondilla (2009) that the concept of fairer skin equating to being beautiful was a result of the 300 years of Spanish colonization and was later on reinforced by the Americans hence explains our obsession with skin whitening products from then until the present. She further emphasized that due to this colonial history, our
language, concept of beauty, our way of life, culture and traditions were “indefinitely influenced”. Pasion (2016) investigates the essence of the Tagalog word ganda in a corpus data collected from various forms of media from years 1970-2015. In her study, she defines ganda as relating to “physical appearance of a person”. She later on concludes that ganda not only refers to a person’s aesthetic beauty but also people who adhere to social standards and receive a positive opinion from others. All these studies are mainly focused on the contemporary definition of beauty as portrayed in various forms of media. This paper instead focuses on the historical and cultural side of the matter i.e. what was the concept of beauty of the natives before and during the Spanish occupation and how the Spaniards reacted to such notion. Furthermore, previous studies did not mention anything about ugliness. The researcher firmly believes that defining beauty requires the notion of what is not considered beautiful. Therefore, this paper will discuss the traditional notion of beauty, as well as ugliness.
Published works Malicsi published his article ‘On the Sambal Ayta concept of beauty’ on 1982. This paper was the only article found that specifically aimed to explain the notion beauty, specifically of the Sambal Ayta. His elicitation of words and phrases in Sambal Ayta showed that there is evidence that the concept of beauty is “preponderantly centered on the human body” – particularly in its natural state and occasionally by modification through the use of ornaments. Synnott’s (1990) Truth and Goodness, Mirrors and Masks Part II: A Sociology of Beauty and Face was a substantial inspiration of this study. His take on the importance of beauty and ugliness and its impact is absolutely
mind blowing. With the use of history and literature, he explains that beauty and ugliness are not only linguistically physical opposites but moral opposites as well. Among many other things, he concluded that one’s attitude with beautiful and ugly people is actually institutionalized. Furthermore, he asserts that one’s attractiveness is never determined by physical appearance alone but also one’s morality and values. These two works are largely the backbone of this study and will therefore follow the format of these respective authors and apply it to traditional Philippine society and culture.
III. Discussion Definition of Beauty In this paper, we will adopt Synott’s (1990) classical definition of beauty as attractive and loveable. By definition, what it means to be beautiful is to attract others and be loved by others. On the other hand, to be ugly is to be unlovable and unattractive and even repulsive and repelling. In the next paragraphs we will then determine the factors that affect the concepts on beauty of the traditional Filipinos.
Historical definition of Beauty in the 16th-19th Century This paper will account both histories and works from Spanish and Filipino historians and writers alike to give a broader take on the idea of beauty. Since the definition of what is beautiful and what is not differs from every person’s point of view, we will first allow the chroniclers and historians to explain to us the concept of beauty and ugliness before and during the Spanish occupation from their perspective. This
portion will include the works of Antonio de Morga, Pedro Chirino, Miguel de Loarca and William Henry Scott. It should be noted that this portion contains Spanish interpretation since accounts of our history during the Spanish regime are mostly made by the Spaniards. The Filipino point of view will be delivered in the next part of the paper. Historians mostly divided their narratives per island group: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. We will start from the very well documented the life of the Pintados. They were called Pintados due to the “very beautiful figures” tattooed on their bodies (de Loarca, 1903). Aside from that, they adored their teeth by sharpening them and covering them with lustrous black or bright red colors which preserved their teeth until old age. The edge to the middle teeth has holes which were filled with gold. This custom was deemed most beautiful to the natives, whilst thought of as ugly by the Spaniards (Chirino, 1904; de Morga, 1990). Settlers of the island of Pintados were described as “well-featured, of good disposition, and of better nature and more noble in action than the inhabitants of Luzon and its vicinity” (Chirino, 1904). The women were good-looking and walk gracefully. They looked very neat with their long black hair tucked in a knot on the head, even as large as the head itself and consider this their “crowning glory” (Scott, 1994). Both men and women also wore earrings, necklaces, wristlets and anklets among others as part of their attractiveness. Chirino (1904) mentions two settlers of Panay namely the white skinned Bissayans and the black Negrillos whom he considers ancient inhabitants of the island. He describes these black skinned people as “not so dark or ugly as the natives of Guinea”. Loarca (1903) asserted saying that Pintados are not very dark and some
women are white. One of the reasons for this was probably due to their occupation such as weaving that kept them away from the sun, another may be that some of these women were binukots of Central Panay. The binukot were one of the most powerful women of the indigenous Philippine society. From the word bocot “to entrap”, these women were daughters of datu who were secluded from society solely to be married to influential men of political and social standing (Abrera, 2008). These women were known for their beauty and influence, and seen as equal to datu. They were chosen from birth and raised in a place where the sun could not reach them in order to preserve the fairness of their skin. In the 17th century, their hair were long and their teeth black and planted with gold pegs in every tooth. According to the epics, binukot transcend physical beauty. They were known for their “radiance” - they were the most beautiful, richest and possess the finest character. In other words, their beauty extends to their disposition, posture and even social standing. And because of that the binukot is highly valued and pursued many men especially by heroes and rulers. Aside from secluding their daughters, Visayans also practiced skull molding where newborn infants’ heads were bound in order to achieve broad faces. This, to the natives, was considered a “local canon of beauty” (Scott, 1994). Moving onto the people of Luzon, one thing that separates the Tagalogs from the Visayans was their lack of tattoos and they did not practice head binding, although they did file and dye their teeth and pegged it with gold. They also had their earlobes extended until the shoulder and kept their hair short and removed facial hair as much as
plucking their eyebrows every month. De Morga (1990) described the people in other areas of Luzon having woolly hair with medium stature and black in color as natives and distinct from those who lived in Manila and its vicinity that were of Malay descent. The latter had medium builds, yellowish brown complexions and were thought of good looking whilst the natives were called barbarians. It can be interpreted here that skin color may be associated with one’s attractiveness, hence affects one’s attitude towards the person - hostility to the black natives and empathy for those of Malay ancestry. Both the Visayans and people of Luzon were very particular, not only of their hair, but their hygiene in general. They would take baths several times a day and surround themselves with sweet-smelling fragrances. Like the Visayans, people from Mindanao also value their hair as much as it is considered a great humiliation for the hunters if their hair were to come loose in a fight. Jewelry were also widely used by men and women but tattooing was not as highly valued in Mindanao as in Visayas. The datu’s daughters were also secluded, very similar to the binukot practice of the Visayans. Except for the previously mentioned, little is said about the ancient inhabitants of Mindanao regarding their concept of beauty.
Definition of Beauty in Literature in the 16th-19th Century There are many other ways to convey one’s history and culture and one way of which most early Filipinos were fond of was conveying their traditions orally in terms of myths and legends. In this portion of the paper, we take into account the stories and epics of different people from various places all over the Philippines written by Filipinos.
In Jocano’s (1971) Myths and Legends of the Early Filipinos, the words “beautiful”, “lovely” and “handsome” were mentioned 17 times out of 53 different stories, all referring to mortals and non-mortals (in contrast to objects and places). Firstly, it is important to note that Jocano has included myths and legends from all over the country from Luzon (Cordillera, Abra, Ilocos, Zambales, Bikol, Bukidnon) and Visayas (Capiz, Antique), except Mindanao. It is notable that the definition of a lovely, beautiful maiden is “winsome and gentle” with long black hair and white ivory skin (fair complexion). These women were mostly of high status. They were either daughters of chieftains, or were non-mortals (goddess, spirit or diwata ) who were sought after many men, especially of warriors, rulers and even gods. Most of the stories mentioned the number of suitors right after describing the loveliness of the maiden which can be interpreted in a way that the number of suitors can be used to measure one’s beauty or influence. Hence, the more sought after the woman, the more valuable she is (in terms of marriage). Likewise, the handsome men were described as brave and noble - most of them were actually of high status, either sons of chiefs or hunters. Remember that after the datu or the ruler, the timawa of Visayas or the maharlika of Luzon come right after with the highest rank in society – the members being feudal warriors and nobles (Scott, 1982). Given the following, aside from physical appearance, one’s social status may also reflect aspects of beauty. On the other hand, ugliness was seldom mentioned in myths and legends. In fact, the word “ugly” was mentioned only once out of 53 stories. In A Great God Descends to Earth to Punish the Selfish of the Ifugaos, there was a great god called Kabunian who turned himself into an ugly man whose skin was covered with sores in order to test the
heart of the most beautiful maiden, Bugan, and put an end to her brothers’ selfishness. The story ends with Bugan overlooking Kabunian’s physical attributes and falling in love with his nobility and greatness. In this story, a person may make up for his lack of physical quality in terms of character. In relation to that, in other stories, rather than ugliness, a woman’s physical beauty is valued less when her personality is rotten. A great example of this is the story of The Barren Tree of Camarines Sur where a beautiful daughter of a rich couple, amidst her beauty and appeal to attract suitors, was cursed and turned into a tree by her own husband due to her bad behavior, vanity and conceitedness. Another is a story from Northern Ilocos called Why the Fish has Scales. Here, there was a beautiful maiden who was spoiled, vain and conceited. One day she meets Bonowag, the Chief of the Crabs, and mocks him for his appearance and in return for her bad behavior he scratched the girl on the face. Later on, those scars turned into scales. In retaliation, she fought back and threw stones at the crab but failed miserably as she fell into the water and became fish. Both stories circle around these girls’ whose beauty were disregarded for their bad character. This implies that a bad attitude may be equal to ugliness and because of this, it made the maidens appear less appealing and even turned into trees and fishes. Hence, character and morality is also a factor of one’s beauty. In connection to that, Modesto de Castro’s Urbana at Felisa (1900) talks about pag-ibig sa kapwa tao or interpreted as selflessness on this study. One’s selflessness equates to his or her love for God. If you love the Lord, you will learn to love and respect other people. De Castro (1864) states:
“Ang karunungang ito ay hiyas sa isang dalaga, dangal sa isang ginoo, pamuti sa isang binata, dilag at kariktang kakambal ng magandang asal na ninihag ng puso.” [This knowledge is essential to the woman, dignity to the gentleman, necessary to the young man and woman, and is beauty equivalent to good conduct in order to attract others.] He refers to this wisdom as pag-iingat sa kanyang kilos, asal at pangungusap [awareness of one’s acts, behavior and choice of words]. This statement proves that during the 19th century under the Spanish occupation there was a primacy of moral over physical beauty. On Chapter XIII, Urbana specifically tells Felisa that in order to be loved, she has to know how to socialize with other people and show that she has good behaviour. To do this, she has to develop confidence and avoid stuttering when talking to others. By doing so, she will be known as someone with asal timawa (noble behaviour) - honest, morally good, loyal and indulgent. Otherwise, if she shows bad behavior and is selfish she is not considered as a person worthy to be loved. Another classic that tells us a lot about the relationship of beauty, intelligence and morality is Rizal’s Noli me Tangere (1887). Let’s take for example, Maria Clara who was considered the undisputedly most beautiful woman in the story with her large eyes, long lashes, curly long blond hair, straight nose and skin as white as cotton. Her features, apart from her curly hair, definitely showed that she was a daughter of purely Spanish parents (Padre Damaso and Doña Pia Alba). However, amidst her beauty, the protagonist was sporadically disappointed in her childishness and lackluster ideas which resulted to Ibarra’s boredom of their superficial conversations.
In another portion of the book, specifically Chapter XXIII, Rizal describes Ibarra and Elias as both having athletic build and striking features. Ibarra was, however, voted as a level higher in ‘handsomeness’ after his showcase of intelligence defeating the buwaya after slicing its belly open (versus Elias who was an actual crocodile hunter). Apparently, the protagonist plotted to attack the beast’s weak point first before diving into the water while the pilot simply dived in without thinking (he did so with the intention of showing off his manliness to Maria Clara). The act of thinking first and not separated Ibarra from Elias and in the end amidst Maria Clara’s interest in Elias; she was even more smitten with Ibarra than before. Both situations, including Maria Clara’s example, show that it is not only important to have physical beauty but also intelligence.
IV. Conclusion Ultimately, through historical accounts, traditional aspects of beauty for Filipinos 16th-17th centuries focused mainly on physical aspects of beauty. The same as Malicsi’s (1982) conclusion, beauty was “predominantly centered on the human body” in natural state and sometimes in modified form through the use of ornaments. The natural state of the body, one’s complexion, dentistry, hair and shape of the head determined one’s attractiveness. Through jewelry and tattoos, on the other hand, not only reflects one’s social status but enhances one’s appeal too. In relation to this, after studying literary works, we have found out that most of the adored maidens in our stories are either of the ruling class or deities. Given that the number of suitors determines the lady’s charm, the value of the lady is still mainly dependent on her position in society. Hence, the higher the social class, the more
beautiful the lady, the more extravagant the dowry it requires. This proves that social class too can also determine one’s attractiveness. Meaning the lower her status is in society, the lesser her value is amidst being physically attractive. On that note, numerous factors can also affect beauty. Bad behavior such selfishness, vanity and conceitedness actually reduce and even strip the person of his appeal. Likewise, lack in physical attractiveness may be overlooked if the person has good moral characteristics. The turn of events start around the 19th century where morality takes over physical beauty as a determiner of one’s charms. Classics like Urbana at Felisa and Noli me Tangere prove that morality and intelligence hold great power over physical appearance in determining one’s loveliness. All in all, this paper has provided the evolution of beauty from the primacy of physical appearance in the 16th to 17th century to the overturn of it around the 19th century where morality and intelligence were valued more, if not equal to, physical attractiveness. In modern times, physically beautiful people still hold a lot influence around society especially with the dominance of attractive people in the media and film industry. With the cultures merging and people always changing, the concept of beauty will forever be evolving. A century from now, what do you think will determine one’s beauty?
V. Collocation One of the most interesting things that you get from literature is the overwhelming influence of women. Women could actually own property, engage in politics and industry and even succeed as a female ruler in absence of a male heir. In
fact, probably not even equal with men, women actually enjoyed more freedom. During the pre-colonial period, women and their female servants walk ahead with their husbands, father and brothers with the servants walking behind them (de Morga, 1990). You can see the vulnerability of these men in our myths and legends, once the wife leaves, the husband is almost rendered useless. The influence of the woman does not lie in her physical appearance but her capacity to use it and her other aspects of beauty (morality, intelligence) in order to hold authority.
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