The rambling in question
So, I am Latinoamerican, a woman, trans, gay, autistic, and some other fun stuff. I am, fundamentaly a minority in every concivable way, but funnily enough, I have been called a “White, Straight Man” by MY OWN SISTER.
Granted, this was mostly valid, i didn’t know i was trans, and the gay part comes with the package, and i hadn’t recived a proper autism diagnosis, even if i think it was pretty clear i wasn’t neurotypical. So i was, at the very least, a cis straigth man, with no disabilities and born in a privileged, high middle class family.
The White part is... Complicated. Escentialy, I am, by no definition, white, i am not even “White Passing”, my twin sister is a lot paler than i am, while me and my older sister (the one that called me “white”) are both fairly brown skinned, and even after spending all day inside, i think it would be ridiculous to call me “white”, my natural hair kinda turns into and afro if you let it be, it is VERY curly.
Obviously, even beyond fisical aperance, calling a latinoamerican person “white” is already weird, because while a lot of us are clear skinned, that does not take from the fact whe are latinoamerican, and kind of by definition, outside of the “white” label, at least how it is usually used. Still my sister, called me white, why?
Well, simple, because i am part of the privileged mayority in terms of skin color in my country. While i do think steriotypes and opretion that puts more clear skinned people in a social position of generaly less shittiness, in my country, discrimination based on physical diferences, or “race” just, works diferently than in the United States, in fact, almost all countries and regions of the world have a diferent standard and a diferent history of discrimination. In my country, being anywhere from very pale white to dark brown is generally not tha diferent, you are part of the ambigous mayority that is on some level, mixed. If you are evidently native american, afrocaribean, asian, or, specially, from our neighbour country, then there are steriotypes, discrimination and all that bullshit, but most people exist as part of a general, privileged mayority, that can’t really be called “white” or “black”.
However, while the United States sistem doesn’t exist over here, a lot of its standards have been brought over time. Obviously not just in the present, history is plagued by U.S influence, but more resently, the comversation around “race” and discrimination up there has traveled through social media and into the young progresive kids in my country. Generally not a bad thing, but it often leads to a strange sort of filter. Which leads to my sister, knowing that i was part of the privileged mayority in terms of discrimination based on apeareance and persived “race”, to call me “White” because, that’s the word the U.S uses.
And this always remains as a petty memory i have, my sister has changed a lot, and gained a deeper understanding on stuff, so i don’t she would seriously use that word again like that. But it always shocked me that she thought that, that she tried to apply that very foreign filter to her literal sister.
All of this to say, that this is why i think i have a very diferent perspective in all of the issues people discuse in the internet? Because, i am not from the U.S, i am a latinoamerican* trans, gay, neurodivergent woman, my isues, how i deal with them, how they came to be in the first place, it works very diferently to the isues in the U.S, even if i end up knowing more about y’alls policies than my own contries.
Yes, i am a “racial” minority, i also have never suffered “racial” discrimination, because i am also, a racial mayority, because, you know, i am a latina in latinoamerica!
I know of the discrimination people like me face abroad, i have family and people i know that have suffered it, but i am not, inherently a victim, you get what i mean?
Being a Minority, being priviliged, or opressed, is kind of a fluid thing, and it is very complicated. Again to the things my sister said, the labels and standards she was using at the time inherently didn’t fit, talking about “white people” in the context of the “racial” discrimination of latinoamerica is probably gonna fall flat.
But she wasn’t wrong about the other stuff, even now, that i came out of the closet and take pills and i take the public bus in a skirt, i haven’t recivied almost any form of discrimination, its been varely 3, 4 months? no one has said anything super bad, the university is a very safe space, specially on the social sciences building, my friends and family where accepting enough, even if my dad can be a dick. I have a progessive minded, high middle class family, I had profetional help when it comes to my necesities as a neurodivergent person, i recieved psycologycal aid during my darkest moments (and came the other side queer and autistic ;3).
I have struggled and suffered a lot honestly; but because of my specific situation, i have the privilege of not taking the brunt of it yet. My grandmas don’t know i am queer yet, and the other day i had my heart in my throat as i told a childhood friend i was trans, and he shrugged and said he didn’t mind.
broadly, weirdly, i am okay! Life hasn’t quite kicked me with its underprivileged hammer, in fact, plenty of not-queer people i know probably where and are less “privileged” than i am, despite the fact i have the whole batch of pokemon types XD.
So, i guess i just have a particular perspective on privilege, because of all of this. Not to say, i am not not privileged, i just think it is... complicated, and i also think i really cannot have a more valid opinion on a lot of this stuff, because i haven’t lived it. I cannot tell you much about what is like to be a “racial Minority”, i cannot tell you much about what is like to be openly trans in public, even if i am both of those things, and have learned a thing or two about them; my specific situation means i have a specific expirience. I am not dumb enough to say “being trans in public is fine in my country” because i don’t fucking know, i get on a bus and drop into a nest for comunists called a university, and get out of the bus and drop into my personal nest of comunist called my room.
I only went to the mall once with a friend and the lady at a pizza place called us girls, so that’s neat, and i spend most of the time pretending to lift my skirt to tease my friend and taking turns rambling about bushit we where hyperfixating on. I loved it, but can i realy tell you it is safe?
Would it be the same for a trans girl from a much nastier religious family, having to walk through the city center every day? for a girl having to work in public, rather than having the chance at higher education? For someone whose vaguely homofobic childhood friends didn’t turn out to be nicer guys? I don’t know, i don’t think so. i simply am, despite all, a very privileged person, as much as i am an underprivileged one.
Also, this friend in the mall I went with, he is kinda who i’m talking about, she has some codependant relationship with her hyper religious witch of a mother and they need a lot more therapy that i ever did, but they can’t really get it, because that Hyper Religious Mother is a helicopter parent who he needs to ask permition to go out with me, WHEN SHE IS 19 YEARS OLD AND MAKING A CAREER.
I dunno, what i wrote? I just... it stated with me being all baffled and almost facinated with Demily’s whole story about the discrimination she and her dad faced. I just had something personal to say, but, not to her.
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