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Ever notice how women in Playboy are frequently of the homogenous, big-breasted, long-legged, and WASPish variety?

Comedian Chris Rock lamented this, discussing a publication for inner city blacks whose centerfold featured women who had bullet wounds in the butt.

The dude’s got a point. It’s not just U.S. girlie magazines that are guilty of bias when it comes to beauty. Local publications, not to mention our entire mass media (including the Grand Centennial Parade, which glossed over the Philippine-American War), are dominated by airbrushed mestiza types.

Sure, looks aren’t everything. But I’m also learning how to broaden my definition of “beautiful”. Call them unconventional beauties if you like. Reject the labels (and this article) if you’re the bullish-about-political-correctness-kind of girl. The point is, it pays to appreciate those types. By “appreciate”, I don’t mean just being able to tolerate looking at them, but being able to see what other people are wont to miss. And loving—that is, really loving—how they look.

Take Nora Aunor. Detractors dismiss her as short, dark, and ugly. Okay, so she’s short and dark, but so what? She’s got talent. And her presence, though quiet, is a commanding one. If we were to go by looks alone, Nora is still one great beauty. Then and now, those eyes show expressiveness and intelligence.

I have a friend who is a short filmmaker in more ways than one: she makes short films and also happens to be short. When she drives her old red Isuzu, not only does she wear platform shoes to reach the pedals, she needs five throwpillows behind her just to reach the steering wheel. Today, she’s the toast of the town in artists’ circles because of her work, her exotic features, her odd but eyecatching fashion sense—her diminutive stance not withstanding.

Sometimes, all you need to see unconventional beauty is time to look. Really look. I was at the mall when a female friend pointed out a life-size poster of Elizabeth Ramsey and exclaimed, “Now, that is a gorgeous woman.” Gorgeous? My friend has very strange taste sometimes—well, maybe that’s why she was dating me. But I looked hard as though the poster was a 3-D Magic Eye print, and started to see the way her eyes glowed. A fire blazed inside her.

Oddly-shaped eyes, lips or ears; flat, hooked or bulbous noses; faces that may seem too fleshy or angular. These are not features to gloss over, but features that can work together, features that just might form a pleasantly striking whole.

If eyes can see and ears can hear, they’re doing their jobs. Good health is what makes a person glow. Ah, and good grooming.

Didn’t I say it pays to appreciate the unconventional types? To rephrase a cliché: life and women are not all roses. See the “lowly” santan in a new light. A rose by any other name is a kampupot. I ask, so what?

Who’s to say that beauty is defined by the size of a woman’s waistline? I once went out with someone who was on the heavy side. An orange blouse made her look like a ponkan. I also had a crush on this woman who was into mountain biking and weight training. She could beat me to a pulp is she wanted to.

Indeed, there are more beautiful women out there than the mass media cares to aim their cameras at, women who charm us despite or because of their unusual features.

All said, what matters is what’s inside. How one thinks and feels will inevitably find its way to the surface anyway. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll admit I won’t willingly go out with someone who has more hair growing out of her nose that on her head. But, hey, who knows?