YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Perceptions of Race and Fluidity

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Perceptions of Race and Fluidity https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Mon, 27 Apr 2026 02:21:49 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php lyn* on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1232735 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 23:22:50 +0000 lyn* 1232735@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ DonnaF - you bring up an interesting point about makeup, the lady at Sephora matched me to a colour she said was "white" and inquired if I'm a halfie. While I appreciate her curiosity, I informed her that asian people come in all different shades and we aren't really regulated to the "asian" section of the makeup (there are sections of makeup?) Diana - My colleagues in HK pointed me out a mile away as foreign too, but when I asked why, it's apparently because I do not look determined enough, and looked relaxed. This was when I didn't run my heels off for a subway because the sign said the next one came in thirty seconds. I can wait thirty seconds. They all laughed and said that is "SOOOOOO CANADIAN!" - In the hospital, I also asked support staff for their opinion - GASP. It's funny what they think is important and what we think is important too! I also went sleeveless a lot which was a big no-no for them - and my lengths of skirts and dresses were short, but not intentionally so like they were. And I'm a chunky monkey. :p Rachylou - I think we might be distantly related; my dad claims to trace back to some emperor in the same dynasty... he knows all the details but I think I just rolled my eyes when he told me. Interestingly, the Boy has a surname that is mentioned as a royal peerage in Downton Abbey, so I was quite excited by that! (Because Downton Abbey is the authority on all things awesome and old and cool, right?) rachylou on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1232447 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:39:48 +0000 rachylou 1232447@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Oh Greece - my neighbor is gypsy. Greece is where - sometime last autumn? - they took a child away from a couple because the child was blond and the (foster) parents were 'dark-haired gypsies.' The whole gypsy thing is interesting; they have a history like the Jews. In fact, they've been lumped together often enough as people to be 'cleansed.' MsMaven on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1232322 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 17:16:29 +0000 MsMaven 1232322@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ People occasionally remark that I look Swedish.  I laugh and tell them they ought to see my sisters--who both take after my Swedish grandmother.  We are mostly English, with Swedish, Danish and Cornish ancestors.  (I've learned a lot more about Cornwall recently.) My husband has had his paternal DNA tested.  On his father's side he comes from Latvian and Polish Jews, albeit DNA his particular strain goes back to Siberia (long before Biblical times.)  On his mother's side he is a Mayflower descendant on his mother's side, also Irish, English and German. In France and Italy we are often handed menus in German.   The fall of the Soviet Union made it possible for him to research his father's genealogy and for the first time what happened to relatives who did not survive Nazi rule.   This morning I got an email from a friend in Cornwall telling me that the EU has granted the Cornish the protected minority status, so now they stand with Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  So I'm going to do a start a new thread. catgirl on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1231680 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 02:31:53 +0000 catgirl 1231680@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Diana, it's the same for me in India... Even surrounded by family, I stand out because I walk like an American, and am generally much less graceful in movement and gesture than my cousins there.  Diana on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1231653 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 02:15:55 +0000 Diana 1231653@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Donna, your comment reminded me of my recent trip to Athens.  Even before I got robbed, I definitely felt uncomfortably out of place because I was so obviously a tourist.  And it wasn't that I dressed differently, or was carrying a big camera, or was a rude American - no, it was merely by the fact that I was Asian.  Because the truth is that almost every single Asian person there was a tourist.  The same is true of Africans, to a somewhat lesser extent.  Part of this I'm sure is that Greece is currently experiencing some backlash against immigrants so the immigrants themselves I think tend to keep a pretty low profile.   Like you, Donna, I am accustomed to living in places where I don't feel out of place because of my ethnicity, in fact usually I don't even feel like a minority.  So it was kind of shocking (although it probably shouldn't be) to suddenly realize how different I look in some places in the world.  I do believe that I was targeted by the robber in Athens because of my ethnicity (since it marked me as very clearly a tourist, plus there is a perception of Asians as meek and won't fight back), and my Greek friends seem to believe this too.   (Interestingly enough, when I visited Hong Kong and Taiwan as a teenager, everyone there claimed that they could tell from a mile away that I was American even though I was ethnically exactly the same as most of the natives.  So there's obviously other things besides ethnicity at play here...) catgirl on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1231645 Thu, 24 Apr 2014 02:10:05 +0000 catgirl 1231645@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Oh my goodness, how timely...  And yes, race has become more fluid and more complex.  We had endless discussions on this issue on vacation, as my child is Indian/Irish-American and his cousins are Indian/African-American.  They look completely different and yet seem to notice not at all.  My son's main complaint was that he burns so easily and wishes he was more brown so I wouldn't have to spray him down with sunblock every half hour.  He is exceptionally fair so he gets really frustrated when people don't believe I'm his mother or that he's half-Indian.  I identify as American, Alaskan Bostonian, Indian, as brown, as South Asian, as Maharashtrian, as originally from Pune and Goa - it all depends on whose asking and why.  I know these aren't all race related but it's really all about how we categorize and the inside/outside lines we draw. Have you read "Half and Half"?  Some interesting stories by mixed kids choosing to pass as whatever suits best, sometimes not even anything close to what they "are".  Sexuality is also more fluid with a generation younger than mine.  Did anyone follow the whole debate at Smith about whether a guy transitioning to a woman could apply to a women's college?  The alums were against while the student body saw much less of a problem.  Makes you wonder how relevant a two-gender system is now and what equal protection means if gender is changeable.  As a women's college graduate, I find that fascinating.  DonnaF on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1231467 Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:47:04 +0000 DonnaF 1231467@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ A couple of years ago, I viewed a documentary on the Estonian peaceful revolution from Russia, and then last year saw the follow-up documentary on the Estonian song festival that celebrates Estonia and the revolution.  What really struck me was the blondness of the Estonians and the visual difference of the invading Russians who were a lot more diverse.  Of course, not all Estonians are blond/blonde per se, but I never spotted any olive-skinned dark haired ones.  It made me realize how accustomed I am to living in California where I see people from all over the world and transplants from all over the U.S. who are the descendants of folks from many places.  Just had a thought:  Make-up associates here have a much greater challenge trying to figure out the proper colors for their customers.  I think I went through four or five samples of Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer before I found the right one. Caro in Oz on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1230202 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 23:12:49 +0000 Caro in Oz 1230202@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Swedish father & Irish mother, I've never lived in either country. I lived in England as a child & Australia since. I have three passports Irish, British & Australian. If I think of myself as anything it's Australian but it is all very fluid in my mind. The state I now live in, is so not multi-cultural compared to where I used to live. It made me realise we have a long way to go. rachylou on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229867 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 16:59:42 +0000 rachylou 1229867@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Ceit - my brother did the National Geographic *Journey of Man* project thing. He just got back his results and we have to go log in and find out what they are now. We picked on him; we figured his DNA would provide us all with the most information about the unknowns. *** ETA and ps: On the subject of everyone having a royal in their family tree... on my mom's side, the family traces back to the first emperor of the Han dynasty in China. Hilarious, since my grandma only let us go once to the Family Association to view the family tree. The Family Association was basically a bunch of old men stripped to their undershirts gambling and being generally slummy... Hahaha. Real classy. Anonymous on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229618 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 13:30:03 +0000 Anonymous 1229618@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ This is a really fascinating thread! My background is Jewish, with my relatives immigrating from different parts of Central/Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania) to the US around the turn of the 20th century. I'm not religious at all even though I was raised to be semi-observant, but I've always identified strongly as "culturally Jewish." In terms of the actual countries my ancestors came from, I mostly don't feel a huge connection to them. Which seems common for descendants of Ellis-Island-era Jewish immigrants, in my experience, for what are probably pretty obvious reasons. However, we did pick Budapest as one of the stops when we decided to do a big Europe trip last year for our anniversary partly because I liked the idea of going to a part of the world with some connection to my background. We were actually able to meet up with a few distant cousins of mine in Budapest, which was wonderful. (They were descendants of a relative who had stayed behind to fight in WWI rather than immigrate to join the rest of the family.) Since I'm very short with dark coloring, I kind of look non-specifically "ethnic," so I get lots of comments/assumptions about my ancestry. I get Latina a lot. I'm kind of used to having people come up to me and just start asking directions to somewhere in Spanish. People also sometimes think I'm Italian or Middle Eastern, and just a few weeks ago someone thought I was from India. Like Mochi, I was ridiculously flattered when I was in Italy a few years ago and had people speaking to me in Italian.  In general, I'm flattered when people mistake my ancestry for something else, but I wonder if that's actually problematic on my part somehow. Like, is it just obnoxious for someone who has the privilege associated with being white to also enjoy looking "exotic" when she feels like it, knowing she doesn't really have to deal with any negative consequences? I hope that at least being aware of the dangers of saying something really clueless-sounding on this topic has kept me from doing it. (Or maybe I just did? I really hope not.) And, Deb, my husband has ancestors who were Bohemian immigrants to Nebraska! We actually went to Prague on the same trip as Budapest because his family background had sparked our curiosity about the Czech Republic (and, okay, because of the pilsner). Anonymous on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229539 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:31:27 +0000 Anonymous 1229539@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ My parents both immigrated to Canada from the UK, so I am first generation Canadian, but I guess mostly English, Irish and Scottish, at least ethnically. I as part of incidental research while participating in a study at work had to have my haplogroup analysed and I came back as U5a1, which means that my primogenitor female ancestor can be traced back to about 16000 years ago, in the north right when the ice sheets were retreating. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_U_%28mtDNA%29#Haplogroup_U5" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.....logroup_U5</a> So at some point my female ancestors made it from northern Europe to the UK. It's pretty fascinating stuff! deb on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229278 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 03:16:53 +0000 deb 1229278@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Anna, you ancestry is very interesting. annagybe on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229235 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 01:55:48 +0000 annagybe 1229235@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I'm mostly Northern European mutt. On my Dad's side Russian and Estonian via Australia. Mom was German and Britain. My maternal grandmother was heavily into geneology. But she stopped when she traced back to the Eastern shore of Maryland. On her side I have Daughter's of the American Revolution. On maternal grandfather I have Grand Dame of the American Revolution, which is even more high level mucky-mucky. She stopped tracing her roots. My Dad theorized that she found indentured servants or something, because a lot of them settled in the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She was always trying to prove something. I think indentured servants are more interesting actually. She was very impressed when she found out I had very minor Russian royalty on my Dad's side. That and 3 rubles won't buy you coffee in Russian. My paternal great grandfather got mixed up on both sides of the Russian Revolution, after that he hightailed it out of the country. So basically I like to say I have a bunch of rabble-rousers on both sides. Though it was weird when I did my grand trip through Russia. The only place I got a feeling of place was Lake Baikal in Siberia. My Dad said I blended in the most in Sweden, go figure. lyn* on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229227 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 01:47:03 +0000 lyn* 1229227@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I definitely find mixed people more visually appealing - I like your averaging theory, though, Aziraphale - I can think of many visually striking people with quite a good balance in their features (although not too symmetrical). I think I like to stare at The Boy for so long because his features are unusual. I do have some that are unusual for being asian too, like that eyelid thing. Boy thought I had surgery done on them so he was watching me wash my face to see if he could see the lid scars. >__< oh boy. Echo on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229103 Tue, 22 Apr 2014 00:05:03 +0000 Echo 1229103@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ rachylou: It is likely that I am half German, as it is likely my father was purely German. He was considerably older than my mum, and was born in Milwaukee during a time when the vast majority of people were recent German immigrants (virtually everyone in the area in which he lived). His adoptive parents had recently immigrated from Germany, and his biological mother had, too. He always told me while I was growing up that I looked "very German". I had not known that Germans could be mistaken for Asian or mixed-race people. Anonymous on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1229060 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 23:22:38 +0000 Anonymous 1229060@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I find this all so interesting. I have always thought of race and cultural/ancestry as slightly different things but many of the responses here (and on the broadcast of the original story) seem to interchange the terms. My mom parents immigrated to the US from The Netherlands. My dads family has lots of Irish and English ancestry but the family has been in the US for many generations, more likely a true mutt mix. My DH father's parents immigrated from Norway and his moms family is a mix of German and Swedish (yeah, he is from Minnesota). One trip to Italy we were consistently mistaken to be German. We laughed, must be the non-sneaker but sensible shoes. Happened in Spain and France but not as much. Should be interesting when we actually go to Germany this summer. I have a good friend who is German and told me when we first met she was shocked that I was American. She was positive that I was Danish. Our kids are blonde, blue eyed, and very fair. They are by far the blondest of their friends. We live in a pretty diverse area so there is lots of representation from all over the world. Plus lots of parents and kids of mixed races. When we visit my in-laws in very small remote Minnesota town they are one of many toe heads.  Mochi on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228970 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:41:17 +0000 Mochi 1228970@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Oh, just read Aziraphale's comment. I have known many international couples in the US and in Japan with mixed-race children (mostly, but not limited to Japanese-other). The children 98% of the time are overwhelmingly gorgeous. As is my kid! Mochi on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228968 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:39:14 +0000 Mochi 1228968@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ (I barely read the comments, though I definitely plan on it.) This is a great discussion. I don't know about myself...I did feel a lot of pride when, on my recent trip to Italy, people were occasionally speaking to me in Italian. I realize that's not a racial thing, but it spoke to my looks (and dress--very important!)...in Napoli, in the south, I REALLY looked local. More than I feel I do in Boston.  But it's my daughter to whom this truly applies. She's the product of a Jewish mother and a Japanese father, and since early childhood, depending on the context has been thought to be 1. my adopted daughter from the Philippines 2. Thai 3. Native American (this was by a NA, when we were visiting a pueblo in New Mexico) 4. Latina, now that she lives in L.A. I'm sure she could pass for some mediterranean person. I've thought she could make a living as a convenient, racial chameleon on TV. She herself has mixed feelings about it. Not that she doesn't want to be who she is--it's just sometimes annoying for her to have to deal with well-meaning but ignorant questioning. With people who are overly interested in her makeup in the first place, or assume she's from "somewhere else."  Aziraphale on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228885 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 19:27:44 +0000 Aziraphale 1228885@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Lyn -- hybrid vigor. lol There's some truth to the popular idea that mixed race babies are very cute, though -- I read that it has something to do with the fact that people generally prefer symmetrical faces that have features that are "somewhere in the middle" -- not too big, not to small, not too wide or thin, etc. And if you mix Asian and white, you tend to get an averaging of features. Having said that, my 100% white children are exceptionally good looking. People stop me in the street sometimes to comment on them. They are much better looking than me, haha.  ;-)  I'm betting that it has something to do with the fact that my husband and I have very different facial features, despite the fact that we're both Caucasian, and the kids have inherited a "good" combination of these features. It's the same sort of averaging of features that you get when you mix two races. lyn* on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228830 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 18:47:32 +0000 lyn* 1228830@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ All my friends are rooting for me to date someone not asian because mixed babies are perceived to be "cuter" - haha; poor asian guys. Emily on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228805 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 18:26:03 +0000 Emily 1228805@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What an intriguing question. I tend not to be asked about my race - probably because I look like an average everday caucasian. My ancestry is mostly a mystery.  I do know that my maternal grandfather's parents (my great-grandparents) were born in Canada.  My maternal grandfather's father's (my great grandfather) parents were English and Dutch, apparently.   I guess I am technically 12.5% English 12.5% Dutch and 75% ?!?!?!?!, but I identify as Candaian.  Does that count as fluid or fixed? Aziraphale on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228757 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:49:50 +0000 Aziraphale 1228757@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ What an interesting question, Echo! I've thought about this before, because I live in Vancouver, which is highly multicultural, and with each successive generation there are more mixed-race individuals. And with this mixing comes the blending of cultures, too. It makes for a very rich and diverse urban cultural experience. I agree with you that perceptions are shifting, and I welcome it. So many of my friends have parents or grandparents who were not born in North America. Most are of European descent (Italian, German, Scandinavian etc) or Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Korean). I would bet that all of them think of themselves as Canadian, even if their parents spoke a different language in the home when they were children. For example, one friend is genetically Chinese and he can understand Chinese but not speak it, owing to the fact that his parents spoke Chinese to each other but his friends spoke English. His wife is of Ukrainian descent, and wore a typical white gown on their wedding, but changed into a traditional red Chinese gown for the reception. They now have two beautiful daughters who are mixed race, but no one really pays attention to that because, well, we mostly ALL are mixed race now!  As for me, I actually DON'T know fully where I come from. I was adopted as a baby. My adoptive parents were given some information about my background. They were told that my ancestry is 3/4 English and 1/4 Icelandic. My hair, skin, eyes and facial features certainly confirm this. My brother (also adopted) is part Irish and part Ukrainian, I think. None of this really affects anything. I simply think of us as Canadian. My husband doesn't even know his ancestry, nor does he care (it's probably mostly Irish and English). I guess we are specifically white Canadian, but I really do think that people are becoming increasingly colour-blind -- in a good way. rachylou on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228734 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:14:37 +0000 rachylou 1228734@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ p.s. I love little children, Echo. They'll tell you what's what with such certainty. One of the most eye-opening experiences I've ever had was living in the ghetto (which I did for 15 years) and being called *the white woman* by the little children. What that says, why they would think something so completely incorrect... fascinating really. p.p.s. You must be German (although you could be Chinese, actually) - there are all these very Chinese looking Germans. My spiritual director (a German nun) in college - our priest (Italian) used to insist she was Chinese. My grandma, after her hair turned white - very Chinese looking. Thistle on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228731 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:09:48 +0000 Thistle 1228731@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I guess I honestly never thought much about it.  I am half German half Russian. My husband is half German half Polish. I guess that makes DD half German, 1/4 Polish, and 1/4 Russian. We live outside of Milwaukee which is heavily German and Polish, so I guess it has just never come up! rachylou on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228730 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:07:46 +0000 rachylou 1228730@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Interesting question! But oh my goodness, I have to start by saying this is a small-talk topic for Bay Area Natives. We talk race politics like other people talk about the weather. I think that's different elsewhere, no? I think American (second generation and beyond, first generation being the people who immigrate) - American young people are more comfortable in greater numbers crossing the ethnic divide. I work with one girl of Vietnamese heritage who is out looking for a good Mexican boyfriend. She says she wants Mexican Christmas. Her sister-in-law, who also works with us, however, is more caught in the middle. She tends to talk about salad as mysterious and exotic while being totally down with sushi - because that's a natural, Asian food. I do think young people who have grown up in mixed communities are in fact multicultural. It's not just "cultural exchange" - picking up stuff here and there from other cultures - they really live these bits and pieces. No matter what their parents, or others more singularly culturally attached, think. I'm not young, but I did grow up in the Bay Area. I think my life has been somewhat a prototype for the *brave new world.* Black people ask me if I'm black. Filipino people ask me if I'm pinoy. My mum's neighbor tells me I need to make pilgrimage back to the Motherland (China) for a good husband. And last but not least, I'm as WASP as a non-white, non-anglo, non-protestant can be: I subsist on gin and saltines, after all. It goes like that. What I consider myself is mixed, heritage wise. I'm Chinese, German, & Scotts, with an overlay of British Colonial mannerism. My people have been in the new world for almost 175 years. I suspect the German "mind set" is pretty dominant: I'll talk lovey to my dog, but not to you. Hahaha! I will say it's a little funny, because personality wise - I'm a person rooted in place. I know fully where I'm from, in excruciating detail. Anyways, I want to say something: we've gone from the Great American Melting Pot to Diversity as an ideal (promoted heavily by my own township) and I feel it's the worst thing ever to happen. It's fracturing. I don't like it and think it was a bad, bad idea. Last but not least we're on a new wave of immigration. New, later layers of immigrants. What they think is Irish or French or Asian or Latino is not what the folks already here think of as Irish, etc. etc. It's a double cultural-clash. I could go on babbling, but I'll stop now. I mentioned it was like talking about the weather, right? Hil on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228725 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:00:14 +0000 Hil 1228725@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Very cool topic! Being a white South African is interesting because whilst I am fiercely South African and love my homeland, I know my roots are European and a mixed bag at that. My maternal heritage is English and Irish and paternal heritage is Dutch and allegedly French, but that is pure speculation based on my grandmother's surname. As a kid, I was often asked if I was Portuguese or Asian. Portuguese because we lived in an area where there were many Portuguese immigrants and Asian because of my eyes. I identified most with the English part of my heritage as a kid and I really did feel quite at home in England but in recent years I've been really keen to travel to The Netherlands and explore my Dutch ancestry. DH is half Irish. Our daughter recently had to do a project for school on her heritage and I gave her the run down of what I knew from both sides of our family but she really seemed to zone in and take on the Irish part and decided to focus her project on that. I have often wondered why this was. rae on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity/page/2#post-1228710 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:37:24 +0000 rae 1228710@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I am laughing at this story because, in high school, my 90% Mexican cheer squad would travel to Florida for Nationals every year... and every year, someone would ask, "Are y'all Chinese?" Not enough representation on the cable TV shows, I guess.  <shrug> I am always impressed when someone tilts their head and asks what my ancestry is (no one has asked where I am from, thankfully), or when someone looks at my last name and asks if I am Polish or Hawaiian. Most of the time people just assume I'm Mexican because I'm a brown-skinned person in Los Angeles. I think this has gotten slightly better with the emergence of Vanessa Hudgens as a half-Filipina celeb. harmonica on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity#post-1228681 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:49:30 +0000 harmonica 1228681@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Interesting topic! Must come back and read. Short answer is that I believe most identities are fluid. For myself: born in S Korea, then adopted as a baby to Scandinavia, biological parents unknown. Adoptive parents from different countries with a mix of several nationalities involved. Well, fluid is just the beginning deb on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity#post-1228671 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:33:05 +0000 deb 1228671@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I became interested in my genealogy when I was very young. My paternal relatives in Nebraska wrote a book withal of the old stories of the migration from Bohemia in the 1867 with all of the names, dates, places, basically everything written down. We, my dad, his folks and us kids, almost did not make the book because they lost us when Grandma And Grandpa moved to California in 1946. But, they found us and my brothers and I are the last generation in that edition of the Wenzl family tree. My mom is the last generation in the Ricker genealogy book. My cousin started moving forward with the family before everything the internet availability and now I have taken over. Ancestry dot com is a wonderful source. A second cousin from my maternal grandfathers side contacted me last week. He grew up knowing nothing about his parents family.   The picture attached is the 1885 Nebraska census showing my great-great-great- grandfather's household and my great-great-grandfather as a little boy. It is all so interesting. lyn* on "Perceptions of Race and Fluidity" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/perceptions-of-race-and-fluidity#post-1228651 Mon, 21 Apr 2014 15:15:51 +0000 lyn* 1228651@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Definitely fluid! I get all sorts of strange races because I am "too tall" vs. the typical Chinese person you see in this part of the country - and I apparently have "larger eyes" and I am not "squinty" - hahaha. I have gotten everything from Greek to Russian, although most commonly, people think I am of First Nations origin. To be fair, I thought that my boyfriend was of some type of mixed European descent because he is quite pale with dark hair - turns out he's a mix of Asian and British genes!