Pretencioso

Pretencioso;

That's what I often noticed about some characters upon reading the novel

Noli Me Tangere. 

It astonished me how these kinds of people already existed in the past. 

People pretending to be what they're not, seemingly hiding behind a shield as if too afraid to show what they really are. 

Number one on the list would, of course, be no other than Donya Victorina; the woman who hides her true self under numerous layers of maquillage and innumerable lies. She pretends to be Spanish when she is clearly a Filipina. 

Similar to how a lot of girls are these days. They pretend to be someone they're not just in order to fit in the crowd. As a girl myself I cannot comprehend why they do such things because I think that in order to blend in and find your own clique or circle, you must really be yourself. 

Although it may not be any of my business since it's their lives anyway, these girls still need to realize that putting on a false front won't get them anywhere. I, too, have tried to alter and amend myself just to be able to assimilate with others, but I never felt happy nor contented about it. I felt as if I was caged up; my true self was bottled up inside of me. That's why I made the decision of showing what I really am and put to mind that if they can't accept who and what I am, then they don't deserve my presence either. 

I'm pretty sure that these girls will soon be conscious of this fact. After all, pretending and acting as someone else or someone new is a phase we all go through at some point in life. 

Let's just hope that this will remain just a phase for everyone.

“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.”