CHAKA DOLL

“If you want to look like Piolo Pascual and Dingdong Dantes, you go to Belo. If you want to look like Boy Abunda, then go to Calayan.” – Vicky Belo quoted on one of her interview at a Showbiz talk show. This could be mere rival of networks. This could be mere rival of brands. This could be a mere product of rival endorsements. This could mean a lot especially in Philippine TV where sensationalism is quite a daily bread. But one thing is clear here – a vivid discrimination between the ugly and the beautiful.

I remember this one time on the MRT. It was a Saturday afternoon and I stepped in at Taft station. Two “kolehiyala” girls went in with an obvious stance of class and society voice. These two girls stood in front of me, too close I Could smell their expensive colognes. The train started and a few minutes after we reached the next station. Men rode in - Men who are obviously employed with some menial jobs. I wouldn’t deny the fact that they stink. But I kept it in my mind and did not show any offensive reaction or gesture. I am very sensitive with smell, but I kept my cool and prayed that soon the smell may subside. But the girls i mentioned earlier couldn’t keep their mouth shut.

“Goodness to hell! What’s that smell?”

“Girl, it’s coming from the Chaka dolls who just rode in”

Apparently, “Chaka” is a gay lingo which basically means something or someone is visually unpleasant and unsightly. These girls thought the guys can’t comprehend English language because they uttered the lines so loud. I believe the guys did get the point because they were all silent after hearing the girls.

It would be hypocrisy if I will say that I don’t see the difference between what’s beautiful and what’s not. I am in an industry which requires definitive sense of taste and a clear command on which is aesthetically acceptable and which is not. But beyond these, I still believe in respect and humility. One can be better than the other but one should not be shouting it all loud to the entire world. No one has the right to tell someone about his/her inferiority especially if it aims to discriminate alone.

I like someone who is effortlessly beautiful but is unaware of it.