On Containing Multitudes
It’s always been partially funny and partially frustrating to me. Having to constantly assert your actual identity is annoying […]there’s usually A LOT of surprise, because I “read” as white or Asian to them. The surprise itself doesn’t bother me if it’s just matter-of-fact, getting-to-know-you type stuff. But then there’s the offensive kind of surprise, where it’s clear that this person is just struggling to put me in an appropriate box. The most common examples are people going, “No! Really?!” Like, OK, you wouldn’t be this surprised if you weren’t carrying around very rigid ideas about race that I don’t conform to.
yes yes yes yes yesyesyes also:
I love (meaning hate) the implication that I’m only mentioning a fundamental part of my identity to gain some imaginary advantage.
YES what is this? why do people react like this?