WARNING: This might sound like bragging but I am not!
I don't think I am that beautiful or pretty. No, let me rephrase that, I don't think I am beautiful or pretty but I also honestly don't think I am ugly or plain looking. Actually, I believe I am the least in beauty ranking in the family. But I had my share of lookers, admirers and the like. I also at times get that "double-take" or "second-look" that boys do when they've spotted something they like. It was a common thing during my early years. My friends know this and we used to joke my beauty is "mabenta" sa mga construction workers, drivers, conductors. I had heard the common pick-up lines. What bothers me and inspired me to write about it is this:
Yesterday, I had two male patients in line for medical exam abroad. The younger one I was about to take blood sample from, and the older one around mid-forties was in front me. We were all talking about the holidays and the days the clinic will be closed when I told them we (the clinic) do not celebrate Christmas. When they asked why, I reminded them the clinic is owned, operated, and manned by Moslems (The clinic is located below a mosque inside the Muslim village where I live). They both got wide-eyed and looked at me straight in the face and asked "Are you a Muslim?". Of course I said "yes" and then came the question I had heard a dozen times "Muslim ka? Eh bakit maganda ka?" ("You're a Moslem? Then why are you beautiful?). Yesterday was only the second time I had answered, with a hint of amusement, "I don't know if I should be flattered or insulted. It seems you are implying that Muslims are ugly when back home in Marawi, I have cousins who are more beautiful than some of our local actresses." I wanted to add, "if you think I'm pretty, wait til you see the rest of my family, then you'd probably think I'm the ugly duckling" :)
My question is this: Are Muslims known for not being beautiful at all? I mean, just this last season of THE VOICE, an Egyptian Muslim, Sylvia Yacub, was one of the finalist and she was really really beautiful and had a great singing voice. They discussed that maybe I am balik-Islam (a Muslim convert) and I said "No, I am not. I was born a Muslim". What does that mean? I cannot be a Muslim because they think I'm pretty? The younger one of my patient shyly defended that most Muslim covers their entire face so maybe they just cannot see those Muslims that are beautiful. But, just here in this village, there are a lot of beautiful Muslim women to which I cannot compare! And they are not also covering their faces.
What kind of reputation are we getting? The males are terrorists and the women ugly??? tsk tsk.
---just speaking my thoughts. This post is not in anyway a forum in religion. No need to discuss religious beliefs here.
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