veryone wants to be unique but rarely do people want to be ‘different’ if you’re different then you don’t exactly fit in and those differences can be used against you. Growing up as a Filipina with green eyes can be challenging, but now as an adult, it’s kind of fun!

Emeralds, alligators, seaweed, grass, frogs, leprechauns, lettuce, limes, olives, pickles, Peter Pan, peas, Shrek, turtles, trees, mint chocolate ice cream … and my Filipina eyes?

Meet blue-eyed Jopai

Jopai is a young deaf girl with naturally blue eyes living on a mountain in the Philippines, in the area of Esperanza, Sultan Kudara. Amazing and beautiful as her skin is on the dusky side – so exotic. Many bloggers and journalists travel to see and photograph her – those blue eyes are mesmerizing!

Read more about Jopai and look at her fantastic photos on the fantastic Beyond Limits blog.

Are you a cat?

Growing up with pure green eyes in a busy region like Manila things were a little less exotic, also, my skin is fairly light. The combination is often fatal when it comes to fitting in. In elementary and high school I’d often be taunted by my classmates – saying meanly that I was:

• A ghost
• Fake American
• Half-half
• That I look like a cat – lol

The reality in cultures where everyone has similar traits (Philippines, Korea, Japan, or Asia in general) is that if you look different you often aren’t celebrated for your uniqueness, instead, you’re a bit of an outcast. This makes perfect sense from an evolutionary biology point of view – in a village or clan, anyone that is significantly different might be a danger. Keep them out.

As for my mother, while I was growing up she had lots of stories to help me fit in, she explained my light skin to neighbors by saying she ate lots of Milkfish and radishes when she was pregnant with me. That our family had a history of green eyes that would turn brown, eventually… Well, I’m still waiting. 😉

Eyes don’t change color, and what we eat during pregnancy doesn’t contribute to skin color.. (Thank god as I love to eat Skittles – can you imagine my rainbow-colored children!) But her version of the truth made everyone feel better – including me.

My sisters and brother all have brown eyes as does all of my extended family.

I don’t notice, but other people do – which makes me shy

Being silly with my green eyes 😉

Green eyes in the age of contacts

First, I have green eyes, not a tint of green but green. It’s something I don’t notice that much anymore unless I focus on it. Those around me seem to catch it right away, at least in the Philippines. When window shopping in the mall, or just stopping in for Jollybee the first question I get is:

• Are you half-half ?
• Are your eyes real? Or ‘Are you wearing contacts?’

When I admit they’re real and not contacts, then comes that weird incredulous stare like they think I might be lying or may not know the truth about my ancestry.

In Iceland at the Blue Lagoon – go!

In Europe they don’t notice my eyes as much, probably just assuming I’m mixed race

The Philippines has a long history of occupation by foreigners that change our culture for better or worse, Spanish occupation lasted over 300 years – from 1565 to 1898… Magellan landed Maluku in 1511 and then we killed him in Lapu-Lapu in 1521 for trying to convert us to Roman Catholicism – a religion which we’ve now embraced. Today our culture is full of Americans, Koreans, Japanese, and others. We get 8 million tourists a year that come to enjoy our beautiful country and beaches.

The point is that we’re not exactly a pure race, like the Khmer who are 97% pure and Japan where 97.8% of the population of Japan are Japanese. In the end, the idea of ‘racial purity’ is questionable. The first Filipinos were called Negritos and were Austronesians, their ancestors came from the Aborigines in Taiwan and their ancestors came from China, and their ancestors came from Africa, etc.

So, there’s a wide range of skin color and facial features in the Philippines today – especially the more foreign influence continues. In a way, it’s quite natural for people to assume I’m mixed.

My doctor recently asked to take photos of my eyes as he had never seen a green-eyed Filipina in his life. It’s a bit weird to go into the doctor sick, and then end up with a flash in your eyes as a curiosity.

I recently wanted to settle the matter, so I got my DNA test done through 23andme

Turns out I’m 98.4% East Asian, Everything above 1% include: Filipino, Indonesian, Thai, Khmer, Chinese and Southeast Asia – not a drop of Spanish or European blood in there.

Growing up mutant (sigh) …

Okay, so I admit it – I’m just a mutant, that’s kind of cool – X-men are pretty badass, unfortunately, I’ve got not superpowers unless it’s being chronically shy, a little moody, or my wanderlust. Also unfortunate is that the mutation means that my children (even if I have offspring with my green-eyed partner) probably won’t carry that mutation. It’s possible but unlikely. This is both a blessing and a curse, as I think a little bit of uniqueness is a good thing – and Gene mutation is the clockwork that makes evolution work for us poor humans who evolve and adapt ever so slowly. I think a future of blue or green-eyed Filipinos would be fantastic!

On a more serious note, looking different – even just colored eyes or darker / whiter skin, it’s something that shouldn’t make someone an outcast. As a culture we all condemn racism, yet still, on a practical side acknowledge it exists. Racism is just a fear of differences. It’s weird to grow up not 100% identifying with your race and heritage… Or more precisely them not identifying with you.

The extreme dark side of this can be found in parts of Africa with the way they treat Albinos, who often have to live most of their lives protected indoors as they are systematically killed, cut up and body parts sold on the black market due to myth and superstition that they contain magical powers.

More about eye color

The rarest eye color in the world is green. It is estimated that only about two percent of the world’s population has green eyes.

As for blue eyes, it is estimated that about eight percent of the world’s population has them. While green eyes consist of a mild amount of pigmentation with hints of gold, blue eyes are formed by the absence of pigment in the iris.
 
Changes in eye color are caused by the expanding and contracting of the iris, the colored part of the eye. When the iris is contracted, the pigments are compressed, making the color appear darker. When the iris is expanded, the pigments are spread apart, making the color appear lighter. Since the color of one’s eyes can change according to the size of their pupil, eyes usually change color depending on the amount of light entering the eye. Eyes can also change color according to one’s emotion. When one feels relaxed or happy, the iris expands. When one feels angry or tense, the iris contracts.

Anyway – I’m a pure Filipina, I love my country and heritage, I just look a little unique.

I believe there must be (statistically) a handful of other green-eyed or blue-eyed Filipinos out there, and I would love to hear or feature their story if you know anyone – please get in touch.

I’d also encourage everyone to take a DNA test if they can, in addition to showing your ancestry it also provides a bunch of tests on your health, possible future diabetes risk, and other health-related traits you might carry. It’s painless – and fun!