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About a week into my second stay in the Philippines, I was walking through a department store in a local mall. Something seemed off, but not in a bad way. The atmosphere was somehow different beyond the things brought about by being in a developing Southeast Asian country rather than the United States. I dismissed it from my mind and continued searching for some light beach clothing.
Walking down another aisle of clothing I turned the corner and found myself looking at a clothing advertisement featuring handsome young man. More specifically a young, Western … white man. Glancing up, I saw a similar larger advertisement up on the wall of the store. That’s when it struck me. I had not seen advertising featuring a white man in the United States for many years. Perhaps even over a decade. There were other advertisements displayed that did not feature young, white Western men. There were also young, white Western women. Young Korean-looking men and women were also featured in advertisements.
The Philippine culture and society equates light skin with beauty. My personal views run exactly opposite, as I consider darker-skinned people to be more beautiful. Disclaimer. I am a very light skinned American man of northern European descent. My views are personal preferences, nothing more. They are not a political or ideological statement, nor do they attempt to assign value or worth to people. However, it was a positive experience to see someone who looked like me being represented in public … instead of being cancelled out of society and blamed for all the ills in the world. It also struck me how 40 years of increasing condemnation of white men, and men in general, in the West had taken its toll on me. I feel guilty simply mentioning this, even though it is simple truth and I should have no reason to feel guilty about it.
It speaks volumes to me that I am more appreciated in a nation on the other side of the world, than I am in the nation where I was born, in which I lived and paid taxes for 45 years, and in whose military I served and fought for 27 years. It shouldn’t be that way. Travelling to a distant land on the other side of the planet proved that to me.
I don’t care to hear any stories about advertising outliers that still include white men. There are always exceptions. They don’t change the very clear and obvious exclusion of white men over the years. I can also already hear the counterargument that I am simply benefitting from a racial bias in place here. Perhaps that is so. I didn’t make that bias, nor do I even agree with it. I am simply a guest here with no horse in the race. As I said before, I find darker skin more attractive. I do feel more accepted here though … so I believe I will stay. In the words of nomad capitalist Andrew Henderson, “Go where you are treated best.” If you feel fine in the West, then remain in the West. I wish you the best there. As for me, I will heed Andrew’s words.