Why we’re so vain (You probably think this article is about you)

vanity

The entire social networking universe nearly exploded last week when Jinkee Pacquiao 2.0 was presented in this month’s Mega Magazine. Jinkee’s new face actually debuted last November during Manny Pacquiao’s fight against Juan Manuel Marquez. While Manny made his entrance to the song “Eye of the Tiger,” in homage to Rocky III, Jinkee seemed to have taken Adrian Balboa’s (Rocky’s wife) face from the same movie..

Those who argue that Jinkee Pacquiao’s face was “over-Photoshopped” are being cynical over the wrong technology. Of course her face was Photoshopped; everyone’s face who show up in print or outdoor ads are photoshopped. No one in their right mind, though, would totally alter a recognizable person’s face using Photoshop, which is what these people are suggesting.

You don’t need Photoshop when you have enough money to have your face Photoshopped in real life. Jinkee Pacquiao is a living, breathing achievement of cosmetic surgery. Her face has been chiseled and molded as if by a sculptor. The reaction on various social networking sites were mixed but the predominant reaction can be summed up by two words: “oh, vanity.”

Mirror, mirror on the wall

We may debate on the ethics of Jinkee Pacquiao’s decision to totally replace her face with a new one but her motive is actually more universal than we’d like to think. Although she obviously serves as the extreme example in this case, the desire to change the way we look in order to “look better” is as Pinoy as they come.

We’ve always been conscious of our outer appearance, as the rich history of pomade and hairspray in the country can attest, but this whole vanity thing is actually pretty (no pun intended) new.

When globalization happened, a new uncharted world of media and marketing was unleashed. Exposure to more TV shows (thanks to cable), more magazines, and more pop music (thanks to our first exposure to MTV in the 1990s) opened our eyes to new fashion and pop icons, making us more aware of new western paradigms in beauty.

Then, the internet happened, which accelerated this process to the degree of infinity.

Suddenly, we weren’t good-looking enough. This, of course, wasn’t true because what we really meant to say was that we didn’t look western enough. In a pop-culture-obsessed nation such as ours, the benchmarks will always be the leading exporters of pop culture, which happen to be a race of people that have blonde hair, blue eyes, and milky white skin.

Thus, the “Tathione Age” in the Philippines was born. Glutathione, an unnecessary and redundant protein that primarily functions as an antioxidant, has become all the rage for its quirky side effect – it whitens the skin! Celebrities and ordinary people alike shed their indio skin until the country’s erstwhile minority of mestizos and mestizas suddenly and mysteriously grow in population.

In a phenomenon that could easily be seen as blatantly racist, we embrace “skin whitening” products with matter-of-fact casualness, as if it were merely a new softdrink flavor. Racism – in the political sense – is when you attach unrelated and unfair judgments based on the color of one’s skin. Our racism is literally skin deep – the only thing we judge based on the color of one’s skin is one’s attractiveness. As in: “Hello? Anong maganda? Ang itim itim niya kaya!”

And this, apparently, is normal. There is no real movement against our increasing vanity and our willingness to alter the biochemical nature of our bodies to serve it. This seems generally acceptable, which begs the question: why is vanity so natural to us?

Sosyal!

To answer that, the question that needs to be asked first is this: what does vanity even mean?

“Vanity” originally meant “futility,”, hence the tone of regret whenever effort is exerted “in vain." Its modern definition evolved from the old term “vainglory” which meant “boasting in vain” – bragging when there is nothing to brag about.

Today’s definition is a little trickier. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, vanity means being empty and valueless. It also refers to any fashionable “trifle." So after centuries of shifts in culture and values, not only do we now see the act of unjustified boasting as “vain,” we’re now also judging what’s being boasted about as “empty” and “valueless." It’s now the subject matter, not so much the act, that bothers us.

The Pinoy word that comes to mind when I think about how “vanity” evolved is “sosyal.” Its etymology is fascinating, especially considering the Philippine context of vanity, because the term came from the English word “socialite” – a derogatory word that describes a person who spends an inordinate amount of time “socializing” with members of the upper class. But “sosyal,” however jokey or loosely it is used today, is actually a compliment. Whenever someone exclaims “sosyal!” (usually in a faux-gay manner; and in some cases, earnestly gay) he or she means “sophisticated” or “superior” or just plain “awesome." In other words, “sosyal” has been stripped off of any pejorative connotation that its word of origin possessed.

Natural-born celebrities

Why did we perform plastic surgery on the context of that word? Because “socializing” is and never was a bad thing in our culture; it’s just a thing. It’s THE thing. Pinoys are social animals. I am reminded of a story told by American writer Rafe Bartholomew in his book about Pinoy basketball called “Pacific Rims” where a group of Pinoy basketball players asked him what he did the previous night. When Bartholomew told them that he just ate at his apartment alone, the Pinoy cagers were in disbelief. Bartholomew was baffled at their incredulity. “(Being alone) wasn’t bad for me,” he wrote. “But to them it sounded intolerable."

Being alone, with no constant identity within a group or community, is anathema in Pinoy culture. We can’t imagine being alone because we can’t imagine existing outside the perceptions of other people. That’s why we’re always in groups, why family “reunions” happen almost every week, why grown men and women stay with their parents until they’re married, why people who go to restaurants or watch movies alone are considered “losers."

“Socializing” is not just a fact of Pinoy life – it’s our most important survival skill. We have our own word for it actually and it’s called “pakikisama." It’s our way of getting by in life – whether in politics, or in the workplace, or even in any random circle of friends. Those with the largest investments in social capital are the ones who get ahead in Philippine society. And this is why being vain in this country is rarely achieved “in vain.". Looking good in other people’s eyes is a valuable currency in our society because our life constantly revolves around other people. Vanity is a natural reaction in an environment where you are constantly judged.

And we like it that way.

When news came out last year that the Philippines was named the “Social Networking Capital of the World,” I thought it was a hoax; one of those exaggerated stories that keep surfacing on the internet. How can we top a list that involves new technology, I wondered, when (a) our population is miniscule compared to most countries and (b) our internet-using population must be infinitely miniscule compared to other countries? But this was real, actual news. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Of course our natural desire for outside affirmation compensates for whatever we lack in numbers. Twitter and Facebook is the Pinoy socialization utopia realized. In social media, we become celebrities. Not only are we allowed to constantly broadcast ourselves – it is the reason the technology exists. And most importantly: we are in control. In Facebook and Twitter, we are our own PR firms. We create our own image by choosing the pictures we post, crafting the things we say, and posting the links that can define what we want people to think about us: we can be romantic, witty, socially conscious, edgy, adventurous, and most importantly, popular.

Social networking is our social cosmetic surgery. Of course we love it. It’s how we’re going to survive the 21^st century. While discussing vain things like Jinkee Pacquiao’s new face.

Photo: “[ M ] Hans Memling - Vanity (1485) - Detail” by Playing Futures: Applied Nomadology, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved

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