Preach with me
i wonder where our local girls got that cinderella mentality, which is all about low self-esteem. is that the same as the low self-esteem as a result of being colonized/colonial mentality? or are the two different factors that are interlinked? is cinderella mentality an entirely separate but universal malaise (or something) in at-risk populations?
Hi Sparks, I've been a blog lurker ever since my sis (chrismiss) linked to yours.
As a fellow pinay in Oz, I like reading about your thoughts while down under.
I especially like this entry. =) We should catch up...
kala,
what's the cfo?
yeah, i've met mothers who think their daughters' greatest accomplishment would be to have blue-eyed babies. i tell them thats impossible, because having blue eyes is a recessive gene in a mixed-couple baby.
on a positive note, there's more of the filipino gene pool floating around in the world. i think thats a good thing if we are aiming for zafra's plan of pinoy global domination. 
r.o.,
if i spell american, i get demerit points from my profs...nyahaha. they don't like americans much here so i'm writing in aussie mode so as not to confuse myself.
i don't think we use 'material' in quite the same way. when i say 'material' i mean our personhood is shaped by our material living conditions and our environment.
i tend to believe that the moral stems from the material more than the other way around (engels/marx not hegel). some people can afford them, some can't. i know this, so i am less judgmental of japayukis. i know that i have my morals due in large part to an accident of birth.
I had the whole Cinderella mentality thrown at my face when I was at CFO for a guidance/counseling seminar for emigrants. A young girl, not even in her twenties, was being questioned by a counselor about her marrying a German national. The girl's mother was answering all the questions defensively, and when the counselor told the mother to shut up, the mother shot back, "Bakit ba at ayaw mong makapang-asawa ng foreigner ang anak ko, German national ata yon, makaka-abroad na siya at kami rin, baka inggit ka lang!"
Needless to say, the CFO office is one of the most depressing places in the Philippines.
hey sparks, i can't help but notice the sudden briticisms in your spelling. neighbour. organisation. you've been aussiefied, consciously or not.
hi sparks. i hope your interesting discourse will have a li'l room for a moralistic view. this may be oversimplistic but my take on the issue is: it's all about being materialistic, the material as the ultimate measure of man:
http://restyo.blogspot.com/2007/...rst-
person.html
Hi Sparks - While I was reading your post I got this surge of images rush through my mind's eye. It was still at the height of the Martial Law years and the Tourism ministry was promoting the Philippines around the world. I don't remember seeing photographs of, say, our beaches or festivals or historical sites. The images I still remember clearly were of an array of beautiful Filipinas smiling for the camera -- mostly fair-skinned and obviously of mixed heritage, of course. I guess that's all that foreigners needed to see to make them want to come here and visit.
And I suppose it also made us believe it's all we had to offer anyone as well.
chanced on this site while searching for ilustrados from the philippines. didn't read it all yet but I guess it is one of those thinking blogs. will come back to you after this stressy week. all the best!
pinayskaleidsocope@gmail.com
Sparks,
Thanks for sharing your take on this. Really appreciate the fact that this time it comes from a Filipina, a woman directly affected by the issue.
Economics needs aside (or maybe it's because of economic needs), i've heard that Asian women (not just Filipinas) have a predesposition to be exogamous.
Anyway, would it affect you as much if the one with the 'Cinderella mentality' is male and the rescuer is a rich matron?
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