Television host Bianca Gonzalez aired her sentiments on being a morena, advocating for loving brown skin in light of whitening brands allegedly making brown-skinned women look “kaawa-awa” (pitiful).

Gonzalez took to Twitter Saturday, April 13, to let out her thoughts about being a Filipina with brown skin.

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“There is no problem at all sa mga gustong magpaputi. The problem is when whitening brands make us look [‘kaawa-awa’] dahil lang maitim kami. Kasi, hindi po kami kawawa, maganda ang kulay namin.” Gonzalez said.

(There is no problem at all to those who want to lighten their skins. The problem is when whitening brands make us look ‘pitiful’ just because we are brown-skinned, because we are not pitiful, our color is beautiful.)

Just a note from a Filipina with brown skin since birth: There is no problem AT ALL sa mga gustong magpaputi. The problem is when whitening brands make us look "kaawa awa" dahil lang maitim kami. Kasi, hindi po kami kawawa, maganda ang kulay namin. — Bianca Gonzalez (@iamsuperbianca) April 13, 2019

The model also said that she loves her brown skin as she grew up looking up to actresses Angel Aquino and Tweetie de Leon who “proudly flaunt their brown skin.”

“I did not need to compare myself to fair-skinned girls. It need not be a ‘battle’ of maitim (dark-skinned) versus maputi (fair-skinned),” she added.

The “Pinoy Big Brother” host also said that while it is up to her daughters, who are both brown-skinned, whether to lighten their skin color or not, she will teach them to not be ashamed of their color.

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“What I will teach them is that being brown is not something ‘shameful’, and being brown is not something that makes them less beautiful than others,” she stated.

Gonzalez has been outspoken about her opinion on skin whitening. In 2017, the host also put out a series of tweets explaining that she “feels sad” when a morena celebrity endorses a skin-whitening brand. However, she added that whitening is still a choice, but she advocates for celebrating natural skin colors. NVG

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