In case you haven’t heard, Fil-Am stunner Kelsey Merritt just became the first Filipina to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
WE DID IT PHILIPPINES!!!!!! 🇵🇭🇵🇭🇵🇭 I’m walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2018!!! Ahhhhhh I can’t believe this!! Thank you soooo much @johndavidpfeiffer, @monica.mitro, @10magazine, and Ed Razek for making my dream come true!! ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/sjR7X2FuEn
— Kelsey Merritt (@kelsmerritt) September 7, 2018
And while some are happy for the Filipina model
First ever Filipino to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show!!! Kelsey Merritt everyone 😍 Ang ganda ganda nya huhuhu pic.twitter.com/AX2C0dSTEo
— soleil ♡ (@ezdups) September 7, 2018
Others see the win as nothing out of the ordinary, considering Kelsey’s Eurocentric features
Kelsey’s pretty & it also takes a lot of talent and hard work to get into a VS fashion show but she also has eurocentric features.. do we say “filipino pride” because she’s part filipino? Wouldn’t it be a better representation if someone actually looked more filipino and got in?
— Iko (@ikoxv) September 9, 2018
My only issue with Kelsey Merritt, is that you can almost see that she’s pure American. It would not be that difficult for her to get cast as VS as she fits the ff standards: tall, skinny, and white. Why not hire Justine Biticon? Why didn’t Janine walk the VS show?
— Kristina Monarc ♡ (@prymchia) September 8, 2018
People were quick to come to the VS model’s defense
Some pointed out that Kelsey herself CHOSE to give our country a shout-out, and that the fashion show isn’t exactly a place that begs for a proper cultural representation.
People are clamoring for representation in a realm where it’s not necessary.@kelsmerritt got in a fashion show. Not a film where she plays a Filipina, nor a pageant as "Ms. Philippines"— AND YET, she dedicated the achievement to her home country. What more do you want?
— Maqui Castelo (@CaliforniaMaqui) September 9, 2018
Kelsey Merritt having heavy eurocentric features doesn't take away the fact that she actually identifies as Filipino & grew up in the Philippines. That's a whole lot better than how twitter forces brown Fil-Ams as the token Fil rep when they dont know shit about Filipino culture
— Gabe Legaspi (@Gabe_Legaspi) September 9, 2018
Ang sa akin lang Kelsey Merritt doesn't have to represent us but she did so we can all sit our assess down.
— Jai Cabajardashian (@jaicabajar) September 9, 2018
Yes, I’d love to see our pango noses and kayumangi represented in the media. Yes, our country has set euro-centric beauty as the standard, but what we’re not going to do is invalidate someone’s nationality/ethnicity based on her looks.
— Lazy Bitch Asian (@MiguelPoblador) September 9, 2018
Others chose to weigh the pros and cons
While Kelsey’s triumph IS stan-worthy, they also see the moment as a portrait of an underlying problem in the media industry
filipinos don't always have to be brown, but they seldom are in popular media, so i think we're allowed to be both proud of kelsey merritt and underwhelmed as it further feeds this country's bias for models with eurocentric features
— renzo (@renzosaurus) September 9, 2018
kelsey merritt's nationality shouldn't even be questioned. she is filipina through and through. that's not the issue. it's how the local media industry will use her big break to further justify their anti-black/brown prejudices when it comes to casting
— renzo (@renzosaurus) September 9, 2018
No one was discrediting Kelsey Merritt’s hard work into getting to walk the VSFS. People were simply pointing out that most Pinoys that do “make it” in the industry do not look like pinoys because of they’re usually mixed kids. In feeds more to the bigger issue in our country (1)
— May Dorog (@_MayDorog) September 9, 2018
As what seems to serve as her reply, Kelsey reiterated about how proud she was of being a Filipina
Pinanganak ako sa Pilipinas at lumaki ako sa Pampanga. Tinapos ko ang pagaaral ko sa Manila bago ako lumipat sa US last year. Mas pinoy pa dugo ko kesa sa mga “pure” na hindi pa nakatapak sa Pilinipas. I love my country and I’m proud of where I came from. ❤️
— Kelsey Merritt (@kelsmerritt) September 9, 2018
