Why "Beauty in Mahogany?"

When I was a little girl growing up in the Philippines, my parents gave me two vintage (they were vintage then as well) Barbie dolls: a traditional one with deep blue eyes and jet-black, bubble-cut hair, and another with molded plastic hair in chestnut brown and hazel eyes. I had a preference for the former, and sometimes neglected the latter, whom my cousin and I referred to as Mahogany for her darker, Mediterranean-like looks. Not sure why we favored Traditional Barbie, but likely it had to do with the "real" hair as well as the fact that, unfortunately, Filipinas still equate fairness and mestizo looks with beauty, while the native kayumanggi look was (and still is) more often than not, disdained.

In any case, having grown up and learned to appreciate my glorious, golden skin color, I look back on Mahogany with fondness and am grateful to my parents for giving me a doll that better reflected my own look. Hence, Beauty in Mahogany.