Arnel T. Ambag
Thyrell Luizuinni A. Baslot
Che-Anne Mae T. Celeste
Joymae M. Eltagon
Josephine P. Namocatcat
We shall begin with the question- As a Filipino; do you consider yourself to be a patriotic person? The answer to this question needs a great assess to yourself whether you are a Filipino with a respect for your country’s flag and with a desire to see your nation succeed or an apathetic Filipino with a colonial mindset.
The Philippines is an area known for its rich society and customs, having been involved and impacted by various countries including Spain, America, and Japan. The colonial history of the Philippines is the essential element in the presence of colonial mindset among its people. It is accepted to be a result of over four centuries of colonization under Spain and the United States of America. Colonial mentality is a mental procedures to a great extent credited to colonized individuals or individuals with pioneer history. While the Philippines is a free nation, it has a rich history of expansionism, from the Spanish to the Americans (Lasado, 2014). According to David and Okazaki (2006), its degree is not constrained to the support of outside items but rather likewise includes the decision of dialect, idea of magnificence, instructive framework, laws and approaches, and even political framework. Filipinos with the colonial mentality are oblivious more often than not that they show this sort of outlook. The development of such a mentality is a product of the Philippines’ experiences.
Filipinos are afflicted with a colonial mentality which is one of the long-term effects brought by the colonial era. It is basically the mindset that foreign talents, practices, products, skills and many more aspects better than of one’s own. As seen now in the status quo of our streets or in our mass media, most of the things being sold are from foreign countries or foreign celebrities are often projected to advertise our local products. Slowly, this sanity replaces our sense of nationalism; our identity as Filipinos.
The result of this mentality is cultural weakness that makes Filipinos extraordinary open to the acceptance of modern mass culture which is often western. Thus, there is depletion of Filipino practices, preference of the Filipinos in terms products and entertainment, and factors that make Filipinos feel inferior than any other races.
CULTURAL EFFECTS
As we try to consider some specific issues in the effects of colonial mentality in the Philippine culture, let’s define first what colonial mentality really is and also it is necessary to have a little background of the Filipino culture.
Depletion of Filipino Practices
Culture refers to the traits and personalities of a specific race. The Philippines is a known country for its cultures and traditions having been influenced by foreign forces. Colonial mentality crept in our minds and it runs through deep affecting our Filipino culture, practices and traditions. Before, women were generally diffident, refined and inhibited. A girl before was not seen alone with a man, no touching not even her hands when talking to each other they were always an arm’s length apart. On the other hand, a man before had to undergo and should pass several tests before they can date a woman.And most especially, men were famous of the so called “Harana” or the old school way of courting or pursuing the heart of a woman. But with the influence of western ideas of dating and courtships, these practices are now out of the trend.
A different scene happens when the technologies and westernized way of living influenced the Filipinos where courting takes place through social media like chatting, video calls, or texting which cause Filipinos have colonial mentality (Anonymous, 2011).
Bayanihan is one of the most famous Filipino culture. It is assisting one’s neighbor as a group and doing a task together to make the job easier. But those traits are gone now. Aside from the change of environment there is also a change in people’s attitudes and dispositions. This perception was influenced by the western countries to be independent and having the ability to do the things without the help of others or so called individualism. A group of sociology students had conducted a social experiment entitled “The Lost Wallet” last April 15, 2016. The said social experiment came up with a result that some of the Filipino people did not care for the owner’s feeling even though the wallet was placed in front of the subject. Indeed, Filipinos are now influenced by western culture.
Another famous culture of the Filipinos is the “Utang na Loob” or debt of gratitude. This is where Filipinos would owe somebody who has helped them overcome trials. However, because of colonial mentality, it somehow distorts the idea of owing someone. Sometimes, individuals would prefer not to have an obligation of appreciation to somebody who they believe is lower than them. Because of colonial mentality, there are individuals who rank others according to their standards. A person with this mentality would not have any desire to owe somebody from the squatter. It also destroys the Filipino’s culture of “Pakikisama” or Harmony (Anonymous, 2008).
Preference of the Filipinos in terms of products and entertainments
The status quo of our country in this modern time is that, we Filipinos are no longer the master of our homeland but rather the aliens now control our economy. We are stuck in the hustle-bustle of choosing foreign products rather than our own and that is why our country’s economy has drop vertically nowadays. In the Philippines colonial mentality is most apparent in the presence of bias for Filipino mestizos (essentially those of blended local Filipino and white lineage, additionally blended indigenous Filipino and Chinese, and other ethnic gatherings) in the diversion business and broad communications, in which they have gotten broad introduction in spite of constituting a little populace in the nation ( Lago, 2012) that is the reason why the local brand Penshoppe imports international artists to endorse their clothing brand. Hollywood films such as Civil War, Hunger Games, The Walking Dead and songs like Love Yourself by Justin Bieber, Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran and Work by Rihanna attract more Filipino audiences than “Original Pilipino Music” (OPM) and Filipino Movies such as Orapronobis and Manila Sa Kuko Ng Liwanag by Lino Brocka. Plainly, the motivation behind why the excitement business is giving much enthusiasm to the mestizo on-screen characters and performing artists is on the grounds that they have more benefit in them. They discover more benefit in them in light of the fact that the Filipinos venerate them and to the degree of adoring them and getting to resemble them. Those mestizos on-screen character and performing artists get to be moment hits in our general public in view of provincial attitude. (Anonymous,2008)
In addition, in view of colonial mentality, most Filipinos see that having white skin improves them look. They have been blinded into imagining that non-natives are better even in physical appearances that is the reason they attempt to duplicate them and seem as though them. A case is the utilization of skin whiteners. The interest of skin whiteners in the Philippines is high and is ceaselessly expanding in light of the fact that increasingly Filipinos need to be white to accomplish the greatly sought outside look. A few Filipinos consistently squeeze their noses to make them less level and look more European. They additionally avoid the sun or utilize skin brightening items to look whiter and respect English capability and levels of Americanization as measuring sticks of insight and status.(Anonymous,2008)
Sadly, we have not been accountable in our stand about “Tangkilikin ang sariling atin”. It may sound cliche but the reality is Filipinos do not live by it.
Factors that make Filipinos feel inferior to any other races
Colonial mentality strikes in the confidence of the Filipinos or the inferiority complex. One factor that leads to being inferior in one self is the language sensitivity. Just like in the Philippines whenever they are compared to a foreigner most of the time they feel inferior and lose their confidence. In the Filipino perspective, speaking in English fluently is a measurement of intelligence (Sta. Ana, 2013).
These are the Factors that make Filipinos feel inferior than any other races:Being a full-blooded Filipina and speaking as a teen who is highly internet and trend conscious, We choose to narrow the factors into three. First would be something that appeals to our inner vain selves – Beauty or more precisely, the world’s perception of beauty and attractiveness. It is a shame how we – a race of naturally tanned skin, stout and round stature, and flat/button nose – try to whiten, trim, and surgically ‘enhance’ ourselves in order to conform to the world standard of attractiveness. Our hair is usually more wavy than straight and we seldom see Filipinos as tall as foreigners.Because of Spanish colonization, another factor arises way back in the history of the Philippines where natives often judged by their physical appearances like their height, skin color and pudgy nose or “pango”. Most Filipinos prefer to have white skin for them to look better. They have been blinded into thinking that foreigners are better even in physical appearances that’s why they try to copy them and look like them. Also during the Spanish Era, some were treated slaves and prisoners and that’s one of the reasons why the thought of foreigners as why the superiors came into the Filipino minds (Anonymous, 2008). Yet due to colonial perception and westernized idea of beauty, we force out bodies to succumb into ways which we are not. Because to us ‘lowly’ Filipinos, Foreigner beauty is how beauty should be.Second: Education and language. You are smarter if you are fluent in a language not you own, especially if it’s English. It is horrifying how most university students choose to be more proficient in foreign languages i.e., English, and struggle when directed to write or speak in our own tongue. Also disappointing, how political misgivings has stunted the growth of the education sector and pushed us to rely on foreign scholarships to get worthwhile and internationally recognized post-graduate studies. Lastly, Workforce Seen from foreign countries, Filipinos = Domestic Workers, Construction Workers, and such. Always the white collared workers on contract – always the employee, an inferior wage. We were always the race who exports manpower because we cannot afford to give stable and sufficient jobs to our own citizens and rely on rich countries. While some may argue that it is division of labor and it is a necessary exchange skill, a symbiosis per se, it does not alter the fact that our OFW left the country because they would not be able to support their families if they stay in the PH. This is rather alarming and sad, how being an OFW should just remain and option. But due to economic and political reasons, our citizen are left with being and OFW (and eventually hoping to get a GREEN CARD) as the ONLY option out of the murky waters of poverty in the PH. We see ourselves as inferior because we look and act as if relying on other countries is our only option left.
The colonial mentality was eventually passed from generations to generations. And this way of thinking has also influenced the way we see ourselves. We feel inferior and we feel so left behind that is why we tend to adapt their ways. As the old cliché goes, “If you cannot beat them, join them!” We tend to let their standards be our standards as well forgetting our own. English has been the measurement of intelligence and pearly white skin has been the measurement of beauty. This is us now and this will be us in the many years to come if we will continue losing our loyalty and pride to our county and our identity as Filipinos.At this point in time, we already have elected new set of leaders that will hopefully lead our country into a new prosperous era, and the choice is in our hands if we’re going to let this mentality ruin us once again or not. Because we tend to clamor for change, and even joining the bandwagon of CHANGE IS COMING hashtags, and yet we do the complete opposite. Why have we not really outgrown our colonial mentality?
REFERENCES
David, E.J.R. and S. Okazaki. 2006. The Colonial Mentality Project. 2010, January 7.
Lago, Amanda. The semantics of ‘mestizo’. GMA News.GMA News Online. (2012, July 27). Date Accessed May 2, 2016. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/267061/lifestyle/artandculture/the-semantics-of-mestizo
Anonymous.Colonial Mentality (Weakness of the Filipino Character). Blogspot.com. (2011, April 13). Accessed May 2, 2016. Retrieved from http://filipinopersonality4us.blogspot.com/2011/04/colonial-mentality-weaknesses-of.html?m=1
Anonymous.Colonial Mentality.Onebigblog2008’s Weblog. (2008). Accessed May 2, 2016. Retrieved from https://onebigblog2008.wordpress.com/colonial-mentality/
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