04/02/2026
Growing up in the Philippines where 𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐊 often means commenting on someone’s body
“tumaba ka” “umitim ka” “tumanda ka” etc.
compliments and insults are treated like normal conversation.
Then moving to Japan 🇯🇵, where commenting on someone’s physical appearance whether good or bad is considered UNETHICAL.
Here, kids grow up without the experience of being judged based on how they look.
And it made me realize how deeply normalized body shaming is in our culture.
