His name was David and he teased me relentlessly about my skin color. When you tell a 10-year old girl that something about her is not pretty, IT FUCKING STICKS. All throughout my gradeschool and highschool years, I've had a severe inferiority complex about my skin. There was even a phase when I used the so-called papaya soap to attain that ideal "fair" skin. 

It was only by when I was in college that I learned to appreciate the beauty of my color. It's a mystery to me how I've failed to notice that from all the years that I've been watching beauty pageants, such as Bb. Pilipinas, the winners they usually crown are morena-skinned Filipinas. 

And just recently, I've been acquainted with the saying "Kaya lang siya maganda kasi maputi siya" (she's only pretty cause she's fair skinned"). It is not an insult but it's an eye-opener that fair-skin does not give you the immediate eligibility that you are pretty. But it is the harsh truth, there are girls who are pretty just because they're fair and there's a good chance that if you make them dark... they'd lose appeal. However, the opposite goes for dark-skinned women... if you're already pretty while you're dark... it is MOST LIKELY for you to still be pretty (or even prettier) if your skin shade goes lighter. 

I look okay for girl. I have a nice nose, dimples, and a nice set of teeth (thanks to braces) but I haven't been given an ounce of attention (excluding perverts who seem to spend most of their day saying "hi" to any girl that pass by them) here in my country. I've been to foreign countries though that has a wide variety of ethnicities (Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong) and I can say that only in there, I've experienced the stare-smile combo from guys. I've even had one encounter when I was walking alone in the mall, browsing through, when a caucasian guy did a double take on me while he was talking to a salesperson and gave me a smile. He could be a pervert for all I care, but the thing is, most girls need constant reassuring that they look ok and the most I've gotten here in the Philippines, came from my mother.

Anyway... now I'm on a mission to show that mulatto is good. I love my caramel skin and it looks good on me.