An Ode to Snow White

(Melai, in lieu of the article I promised, I hope this will do for the meantime. Para sa ating mga kababaihan ang post na ito............)

As far back as I can remember, I've always considered myself an eccentric. As a kid (until now), my favorite tales were Foolish Frances, and The Snow Queen. I never (and I mean NEVER) enjoyed reading fairy tales like Snow White, Cinderella, or Sleeping Beauty.

Why in the world were they considered heroines in the first place? What was it they had that made them stand out? Which quality was it that made them superior to their next door neighbor or even their stepsisters?

Maybe I envied them. Maybe not.

Yes, they were kind, no doubt about that. But not 'saintly'.

Maybe they were smart. But not 'ingenious'.

What made them such 'trophies' worthy enough for Prince Charming to risk his neck for? (I don't even know why he's such a catch himself when all I know about him is that he's filthy stinkin' rich and always on a white horse, but that's another topic................)

I'm sure you know why. They were all stunningly gorgeous.

Fairy tales like Snow White made me even more insecure than I already was. I used to curse the cute girls in grade school. Just because they were so darn white, they caught all they boys' attention. Even in high school where only the va-va-voom sexy ones got dates to the prom. I would imprecate them because they had what I did not.

We are at an age where physical beauty is such a commodity. It's so commercialized. I, for one, used to think that the only people who claimed to have 'inner beauty' were the ones who lacked it's physical component. I used to think that the only way to get a man to notice you was if you had flawless white skin, a 36-24-36 frame, and a face to rival any beauty queen.

I look at modern day philanthropists like (the late) Princess Diana, Queen Rania, or even Angelina Jolie. If they weren't as stunning as they are, would they still be as hounded as they are by the media? Would they still be exemplified as modern day heroines?

What about women like Marie Curie and Mother Teresa. Or Filipinas like Gabriela Silang and Teodora Alonzo. Or Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and Corazon Aquino. To me, they are the epitome of beauty.

Maybe it's called midlife or probably a certain level of maturity to be able to see past the external. There's some beauty we see, some we even hear, but the most resplendent, we feel inside.

Physical beauty is so f***in' overrated.

So here's to us plain janes . Sheer, unadulterated, non-airbrushed (or photoshoped) beauties. Myself, Melai, Ate Sienna, Mommy, Tita Loi, Ate Mel, Tany, Telly, Celina, and all Pinays out there.............. Let us bask in splendiferous glory and our beautiful Kayumanggi skin. Mabuhay!!!


P.S. Melai, I've only been blogging for a little over 6 weeks pa lang. Pinasakit mo ang ulo ko. I honestly don't know any other bloggers except for you and Ate Sienna. I still owe you an article though :-) saka isaw at yema...... haha