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Less is more

Author: Dinna Chan Vasquez
Column: Life & Entertainment

Disclaimer: This article is not a rant. It's a list of the things we hope we'd see less of in 2009. These are stuff which can be disturbing/irritating/offensive for some people although to others, they may be normal.

We hope the world sees less of...

Children dressed like Julia Roberts' character in Pretty Woman. Tube and backless tops are meant to be alluring but do we really want little girls to be seductive? High heels are meant to enhance the length of a woman's legs, why would we want kids to wear them at the risk of injury? This dressing-up-girls-as-hoochie-mamas is a trend we will never ever understand.

"Calling a woman a hoochie cooch is calling her a tramp, especially if dressed in a way that is meant to be provocative and showy. Hoochie mama is a variation on this term," says the Urban Dictionary.

While we're at it, what could be more hoochie mama-like than a five-year-old gyrating like a Sex Bomb Dancer? We understand that in certain sectors this dubious dancing ability is considered a sign of precociousness. Whatever happened to kids reciting the alphabet and counting up to 100?

Female stars who appear on TV with unnaturally white skin and super-flat hair that looks like it's been painted on their scalps. If Morticia Addams is your role model, fine. But it's surprising how many starlets almost look identical with their pasty-white skins and abnormally straight hair that doesn't move. What's even weirder is that this is the standard by which beauty is judged in the Philippines. A shout-out to morena stars like the two Angels (Locsin and Aquino) and Iza Calzado, who all look very natural and very much alive. We respect anyone's right to self-improvement but these scary-looking starlets should also respect our right to watch pleasant things on television.

People who have never lived or studied abroad speaking with accents. Did you know that Filipinos living in the United States and Britain are "forced" to learn to speak with accents because they wouldn't be understood otherwise? Thus, these Pinoys living abroad speak with accents out of necessity. Did you also know that in the US and Britain, strong accents are a sign that you are from the country? New Yorkers speak with clipped accents, which is their way of showing their supposed superiority. So a Filipino in the Philippines speaking to his fellow Pinoys in an accent that would put a Boston thug to shame is puzzling. Why would you want to sound like Vivian Leigh in Gone with the Wind or Jaime Oliver, who speaks that way because he is British, is difficult to understand.

Ugly, "choosy" men. How many times have you walked by a group of men, who will say loud enough for you to hear: "Ang pangit ng babae, ang taba-taba pa." This will be followed by laughter. Now, we don't mind if the group of men is composed of Dingdong Dantes, Piolo Pascual, John Lloyd Cruz, and Akihiro Sato. But these "choosy" men are usually middle-aged, balding, paunchy and definitely not millionaires. So what goes there? We respect anybody's right to free speech but this is a bit funny, if we weren't the ones being insulted.

Underage couples kissing in public. As adults, we know how hard it is to send children through school. Many parents even resort to borrowing from loan sharks just to pay their kids' tuition and other expenses. So how does it feel to see a couple, both parties definitely below 16, kissing in public? Don't look too hard because if they catch you, they will stare at you with pity in their eyes, as if saying that you are missing a lot because you're old and wrinkled. It makes one feel angry because you know where this couple is headed and that's not the University of the Philippines, for sure, but the maternity ward. So what happens to the parents who begged, borrowed, and stole to send their children through elementary, high school and college? They end up supporting more mouths than they can handle.

People with dirty feet wearing open-toed footwear. Havaianas has brought on a horrible phenomenon or is it a trend--people with dirty feet and unkempt nails wearing these Brazil-made flip flops. Also, these rubber flip flops are expensive but they are not shoes. Thus, it is not acceptable to wear them to semi-formal and formal events. It is not okay to wear them to birthday parties and weddings.

Source: Manila Standard Today