We all need a little reminder every once in a while about how powerful, us, women, can really be.
Our current campaign, DivHERsity, aims to celebrate all women and to promote self-love. This isn’t limited to embracing our skin color alone but learning to be comfortable in our own skin, whether it involves having skin conditions, tattoos, covering ourselves up with makeup, or anything that would make you feel like the best version of, well, you.
The Philippines, which is considered to be the melting pot of Asia, has been colonized by so many countries, that naturally, Filipinos have evolved to have different features, which makes our facial features so unique and—yes, you guessed it—diverse (or should we say, divHERse).
Tackling the topic on hand, colorism has been an issue in our society for a long time now, and it’s time to celebrate women of all colors. The range of skin colors we have in the Philippines is so diverse, that it deserves much louder recognition; from mestizas to morenas, and everything in between.
We had a chance to talk to Inka Magnaye, a well known voice artist and TikTok icon, to ask about her personal experiences and insights to encourage women to truly be proud of who they are. Magnaye was born into a family of voice artists. She started as a voice artist when she was around 5 years old and this spilled into her home life where she was raised to be very communicative.
“When I was younger, I always heard “wag ka mag pa-itim!” or other variations of the line because “papangit” daw ako. I never heard it from my family members, but it was still a regular part of my life. I used to dream about being old enough to get my skin bleached. I didn’t enjoy watching Filipino telenovelas growing up because it was just so “normal” to see darker-skinned characters so obviously made out to be the ugly character. There is always going to be transformation where her curly, wavy hair, and dark skin magically turn into straight hair and fair skin.”
A handful of us tend to compare ourselves to what mainstream media portrays online, but we hope to use this as an opportunity to encourage every woman to truly learn to embrace and love who they are, and what they look like.
“I was lucky enough to grow up in a family where colorism wasn’t a thing. Many nights I’d cry about my skin tone, and in all those nights, my mom or dad would be there, reminding me how beautiful my skin is. They’d ask me if I thought my dad was ugly, and I’d say no. They’d ask me if I thought my Ninang was ugly, and I’d say no. Then they’d ask me why I thought my skin was ugly, and I’d say “because everyone else says so.”
Inka Magnaye
Along with Magnaye, we also got a few words from The Scoop Asia’s founders, Taryn Navarro and Angela Tiotangco-Alvarez, about what this campaign truly represents.
“When we were starting out with our digital and tech company, ACT Digital and Design Corp., we saw a lack of representation for companies like us. Women-led brands, companies and organizations are very important in today’s generation.”
Angela Tiotangco-Alvarez & Taryn Navarro
Navarro and Alvarez believe that with technology ever evolving, using their voice through their platform would empower and inspire the youth.
The Campaign DivHERsity’s objective is to ensure that young girls grow up with a different mindset– a mindset that will help them feel more confident while they grow up, a mindset that lets them know they are beautiful.
“For The Scoop Asia, we wanted it to embody what a woman really is. We wanted our brand to highlight a woman’s strengths, weaknesses, beauty, insecurities, struggles, wins, goals, everything. It shows the capacity of a woman to go through these things. It shows no perfection, but rawness. It shows what’s real and what’s happening.” says Navarro. Women-led brands, companies, and organizations are vital to the upbringing of today’s generation of young girls. “It empowers and inspires the youth, and most importantly, with technology ever evolving, we wanted to use our voices through a platform.”
Speaking of being comfortable with your skin and embracing how you look, did we mention that we launched an exclusive DivHERsity merchandise that you can wear to proudly show your newfound confidence?
Our bucket hats come in two different colors: Black and beige. Accessorize them with some cute denim overalls (or anything, really), and go out with confidence!
Our tote bags and cropped shirts are also available for purchase on Shop Scoop Asia, and are designed to let the world know just how beautiful you truly are.
Our exclusive merchandise is available for purchase on our online shop, Shop Scoop Asia, which is waiting for you ever so patiently on our website, www.thescoop.asia.
Navarro and Alvarez hope that their platform can touch the lives of their audiences, and make them realize that if they are ever struggling as a woman in today’s society, they are not alone. “We’re all in here together, in this sisterhood. I hope the content we produce inspires them and gives them assurance that whatever they’re going through, whether it’s good or bad, it’s not anything that they can’t handle.”
DivHERsity is up and ready—now it’s time for you to get ready for a new and confident you.
