Jeneen R.

Garcia
21st Century Literature from the
Philippines and the World

Background
Jeneen R. Garcia was born in
Manila on November 19, 1979, but
grew up in Davao City. She
completed her degree in BS
Environmental Science at the
Ateneo de Manila University.

Current Work
Impact Evaluation Officer at Global
Environment Facility at The World Bank.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was
established in 1991 to provide new funding to
achieve global environmental benefits in initially
four and later six focal areas: biological diversity,
climate change, international waters, land
degradation, ozone layer depletion, and persistent
organic pollutants.

Education
Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus
Editor-in-Chief of Sci-Wings (School
Paper), Arts & Music Club, Student
Government representative

Education (Awards)
Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus
2nd Place, Editorial Writing
National Schools Press Conference
December 1995
Journalist of the Year
March 1996

Education
Ateneo de Manila University
BS Environmental Science
Chemical and biological monitoring,
ecology, environmental management,
environmental law

Education (Awards)
Ateneo de Manila University
Dean's Award for the Arts in
Creative Writing
March 2000
Poetry in English

Theses Titles
Equitable Access and Preferential Use of
Municipal Waters by Municipal Fisherfolk
Factors Influencing Coral Recruitment
Patterns in The Sulu Sea Marine Corridors
Scaling up management of socialecological systems: a case study on
community-based marine protected areas
in the Philippines

LITERARY
WORKS

Background

Freelance Writer and Editor

Poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published in national and
international anthologies and
magazines.

Background
Jeneen's poetry and essays have been
published in Heights,Sun StarWeekend
Cebu(TheGreeniePatch,Strangerthan
Fiction,LostandFound), SundayInquirer
Magazine,Panorama,PhilippinesFree
Press, and other periodicals. Her work was
also included in the LikhaanAnthologyof
EnglishPoetry in 2000 and the FilipinoSingaporean anthology, LoveGathersAll,
in 2001.

Writing Style

Narrative Essays: Telling a Story

In a narrative essay, the writer tells
a story about a real-life
experience. When writing a
narrative essay, writers should try
to involve the reader by making
the story as vivid as possible.

Writing Style

The fact that narrative essays are

usually written in the first person
helps engage the reader. I
sentences give readers a feeling of
being part of the story. A well-crafted
narrative essay will also build
towards drawing a conclusion or
making a personal statement.

Mini
Literary
Critical
Analysis

It Aint Easy
Being Brown
STRANGER THAN FICTION
byJeneen Garcia | Published in 2002

Never fails. Every time I walk down a

grocerys toiletries section, an overly
eager, mestiza sales lady blocks my
path, wielding the latest whitening
product. Its as if I had a sign on my
forehead saying In Need of Whitening:
Approach at Will.

Its weird how even in this age of

political correctness and Naomi
Campbell, Filipinos still
automatically equate beauty with
fair, cancer-prone skin. And have
you noticed how they use naturally
white people like Lucy Torres and
aforementioned sales lady to

In fairness, its generally

easier to find something thats
bright than dark. Its less
straining to the eyes. Bright
surfaces reflect instead of
absorb light, making
everything else around them

My mother most of all has always

wished my skin were whiter. She
says I was born reddish, and was
worried I would take after
mykayumanggifather. My
grandmother, however, assured
her it was just blood rushing to
my white skin that made me look
flushed. It didnt take long for

I dont know what it was that

made me not care about my
color, even as a kid with
amestiza-mindedmother and a
father who has resorted to
whitening cream. Maybe I didnt
look in the mirror enough. Or
maybe I just loved the beach
more than my face. Summer in

Over the years, I got too busy with

my studies to swim. The heavily
chlorinated water in Manila turned my
skin an icky khaki. But when senior
year came, I thought up a thesis that
would take me back to the sea, and
got myself darker than I had ever
been. Come graduation day,
EVERYONE had a tanor was envious

Alas, in the real world, where

most everyone is just a few
shades lighter than me, Im
still considered a victim of
unfortunate genes. Only in my
latest grocery experience did I
manage to somewhat redeem

Promo girl: Maam, XXXX whitening

soap.Makaputi niafter one weeklang!
[Whitens after only one week!]
Me: Uhsige lang. (with a polite smile and a
shake of my head) [Uh...that's ok.]
Promo girl: (bends down and excitedly holds
up another brand)Kanimaam,mas dugay ka
mo-puti, pero mas barato ni siya! [This one,
ma'am, it will take longer for you to get white,
but it's cheaper!]
Me: Sorry, missha pero di man gud ko gusto

THANK YOU FOR

LISTENING!