the ch!cktionary

12 Sep 2011
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17 notes

“Guys try to discern what my ethnic makeup is, and my friends even take bets on what he’s going to guess. Usually it’s some form of Latina, often Mexican or Puerto Rican, but sometimes men branch out to Columbian or Chilean. Alas, I’m none of the above. I’m Indian. But that doesn’t stop white men from walking up to me in bars and saying “Hola!” or “Como esta?” Failing to relate to me as a person, they immediately use race as a cheap tactic to start up a conversation. One man even went so far as to say I’m sassy because of all that Latin blood running through me. I am sassy, but being Latina has nothing to do with it.”

—

Rachel Khona, “Dating And Race”, AskMen.com

I was highly amused by this piece! (And I say this as someone who typically scoffs at the stuff published in men’s magazines.) The above article is chock-full of ludicrous examples from Rachel’s love life (as well as my own), all illustrating the level of ignorance that she’s encountered over the course of her dating history. Like Rachel, I’ve been mistaken for Latina (which is just … odd), and guys have made really strange assumptions about me based on my race (in her case, one starts talking to her in Punjabi, even though she grew up in New Jersey and her family isn’t from Punjab). I’m sure there are many of you who can relate all too well to our experiences.

This Friday, I’ll have an essay out in GOOD magazine about a similar topic: the Asian fetish. There are some subjects that are of particular interest to readers; this is a frequently requested one. And rather than blogging it to death, this will be a sort of “Lena’s final word on the matter of yellow fever’s grossness”. Can’t wait to share with you guys!