Student Presenter(s): Azzam Afghani Alonto
Faculty Mentor: Jeaniffere Vila
Department: Humanities
School/College: College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, Long Island

The skin-whitening industry is booming in the Asia-Pacific region, and colonialism is regarded as one of the factors that made it successful (Future Market Insights, 2021; Singson, 2017; Renault, 2015). After being colonized by the Spaniards, Americans, and Japanese for almost 400 years – all of whom uphold fair skin as a beauty standard for women – the Philippines retained explicit colorism in its culture, especially since fair skin signifies high socioeconomic status (Renault, 2015; Rondilla, 2012). In the most recent study done by Mendoza for the Journal of Public Health Policy (2013), half of Filipinas, mostly represented by middle-class and working-class women, make up 90% of skin-whitening product consumers and often disregard potential health issues that come from these. This study aims to examine the role of colonialism in the current beauty standards for Filipinas, how corporations and the media perpetuate these beauty standards, and how and why Filipinas choose to use these products.