SHARING TIME!
It seems like every single post I make about Avatar: The Last Airbender casting ends up in people needing to share their experiences growing up as a social outcast and/or a survivor of abuse and/or victim of visual judgement. I've also seen a lot of demonstrations of subverted self-loathing and (the more amusing) claims from multiple people that
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I am half Japanese. I am also half Irish mixed mutt. The red hair and freckles would be on my mom's side. I know I'm half Japanese on my dad's side because mom told me so. I've seen one really bad polaroid of my biological father, which my mom snapped in the morning, when he was in his boxers, squinting at the camera because he hadn't put his glasses on. He doesn't know I exist. I've never met him. I was raised by my mom and my adopted dad, both of whom are quite white, and our household and culture is quite white.
And yet somehow, without even knowing why I do it, without any idea where it comes from and before I ever saw other people do it in movies or whatever, I do things like cover my mouth when I smile, hand things to other people with both hands while slightly bowing, am a textbook case of japanese style "high-context" socialness where I emphasis polite and quiet in person, and dozens of other things from as silly as being able (and comfortable) squatting on flat feet to being ambidexterous with chopsticks. I don't speak any Japanese, I've never really aspired to, most of my contact with the culture is through popular media, but all the same there seems to be some sort of subconscious genetic cultural memory because I certainly find myself doing it in public. x_x
And yet, if I go into an asian market, even if I've dyed my hair red or blonde at the time, the staff will usually pick me out as being part asian. Meanwhile, working retail, the white populace perpetually thought I was mexican because I had dark hair and eyes (even the mexicans thought I was mexican). In Indonesia I had my ass patted quite a bit because apparently they like americans with asian features, while in America most white people can't tell I'm asian at all. And every time I come across those little "white" "african" "latino" "asian" "native" checkboxes on some application, I have to stop and spend a minute THINKING about it, because what am I supposed to put down? If I put down "white" I'm denying part of who I genetically am (and possibly also shorting myself of some nebulous advantages) but if I put down anything else then the white interviewer will think I'm sucking up the minority card. What the heck am I supposed to put down??
So really, I just sort of sit over here on the damned fence. I'm not one and I'm not the other, I can't really claim either, so here I sit. I am Switzerland. =P This is why I really haven't gotten involved in the online discussions about this.
...and on the other hand I am really damned tired of whitewashed Hollywood and this entire subject just makes me want to shake people and go "Look! Would you have enjoyed watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon if the actors had been WHITE? Would you?!" =P
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I've got Jewish heritage and the only people who pick up on it are Jews. I've never had someone who isn't at least part Jewish ask me about it or assume that I'm Jewish.
Oh, and the Jewish part of my family is also from Argentina, which is also quite an important part of my identity, but impossible to guess unless I say so. I suppose I am Switzerland too, in a way :P
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I've gotten the "what are you?" question, lol, from all sides. I used to answer 'I'm Canadian', but now that I'm older, even that answer seems too simplistic to describe myself.
I wonder if, when filling out the forms, we can use the 'Other: ______________' space and fill in "UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE"? Heh.
(no srsly - I was entranced by a snowflake the other day because I could see all of its six sides and I was like "All so unique, and yet so many all together to make a unity!" and then I finally -FINALLY got the whole meaning behind 'unique snowflake'. *snorts*
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