#interracism

[thisis-intersexism]

Overheard a doctor saying obviously the reason I'm intersex is because I'm Koryo-saram. Or to be more accurate, he said "one of those filthy little Koryo-saram."

Koryo-saram are descended from ethnic Koreans enslaved by the USSR, used as slave labor, and then forcibly relocated to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where they were left to die in the cold or survive if they managed to. White Russians, like my doctor, like to say we're inbred. I don't know why. We marry within the community most of the time, but the community is 175k+ strong. That's not really inbreeding. Yet, apparently, this idea we're inbred extends to assuming we must be intersex because of it.

I got my stuff and left. I'm not usually that rude, but I didn't want to deal with this. He got angry with me and I told him - and I know this is rude, too - "I just need a doctor who doesn't know less about medicine and science than ChatGPT's basic mode. And you're not that."

I know that's uncalled for and rude and cruel. But so is what he said. My great-grandparents being slaves isn't why I'm intersex. But also, even if it was, he would still have been mocking a group his people enslaved and murdered and forced into poverty. I don't ask that every white Russian feel guilt about it, but at least do better than this.

this is interracism.

anon, I assure you that you could have been and should have been meaner cuz he definitely deserved it. shaming you for your genetics being affected by generational trauma that his ancestors caused is certainly a choice. white supremacy and bioessentialism is evil. I'm so sorry you had to experience that 🫂

[ichliebemeinkissen]

White trans women b like: oh? that historically intersexist slur for JAPANESE PEOPLE? yea that's actually MY word, YOU GUYS cannot reclaim that

[thisis-intersexism]

Not sure if this is internalized intersexism or not: my dad assuming I was perisex and telling me as much because he ALSO has the same variation I have and assumed guys were just sometimes born that way. For reference my dad was 56 when I was born and comes from a country that doesn't even have sex ed now, let alone back when he was growing up. And his parents told him he was normal, it was just a thing that happens sometimes in their indigenous ethnic group.

He's genuinely shocked to learn this is unrelated to ethnicity and is in fact a thing with a name rather than 'idk we're just like that sometimes'. He's still wrapping his mind around, "So you're saying this can happen to white people, too?!"

this is interracism.

that breaks my heart. not knowing, your whole life, that your intersexuality isn't just a random occurrence for your ethnic group, but a natural thing that can happen to all humans? I feel for your dad, and I hope both of you have a wonderful journey exploring this part of your identities and lives.

[goholahop-blog]

Jane the Virgin’s Gina Rodriguez on Intra-Racial Criticism

“I think that women should uplift women. I think that cultures should uplift cultures.”  http://dlvr.it/Bt78LY

[thishairrelationship]

Blackness.

In my opinion, through my travels and experiences, there is nothing quite like living and growing up as a black girl in a black country. 

From a young age I felt like I was ugly, because, even though I grew up in a black country, my "wide nose" and "big lips" were a source of humour for adults. And as with any behaviour seen in adults, children exhibited it on an even larger level. My big nose and big lips were the subject of constant teasing (I wasn't the only one, any black child who had more "predominantly African features" (slash any child who wasn't crazy enough to punch the hell out of anyone who made fun of them) was subject to such teasing). Thus, from a young age, I knew what "pretty" was. I noticed that girls who were deemed more or less attractive had commonalities. The straighter/silkier the hair = the prettier the girl. Beauty was ranked by the thinness of ones the nose and the skinniness of ones lips (but not too skinny, you know? Just skinny enough that you don't look toooo black). And, of course, skin colour. "Luckily" for me (as people would say), at least I was light-skinned. Unfortunately, that was also a cause of even more mystery. How could this light-skinned girl have nappy hair, a wide nose, and full lips?? How unfortunate.

As a young awkward girl, I would watch American television channels and honestly desired to be the white girls I would see on TV (no matter how broke down she looked). I wanted their hair, their nose, their skin, their eyes...I wanted that validation. Because, based on what I saw in my society, THAT was the ideal. That was pretty. Those who came closer to this ideal were considered pretty.

One example of how ingrained this idea was (and is) in my society, is a few years back, when I was about 12, when I overheard the conversation of two girls who were probably no older than 10 or so. We were all standing outside church, and there was an interracial couple some distance away with a young biracial toddler. The two girls were giggling from afar at her beauty (she was a beauty), but I could never forget the comment one girl made to the other: "See, that's why mommy says I gotta find a white man to marry. So that my children could be that pretty."

Pause.

Wait.

...What?!?!?!

This was perhaps my first realization of the RIDICULOUSNESS my society entertained. As I got older, "grew into" my African features, and began to be "acknowledged" as a "pretty girl," I lost my desire to be white (nothing against white people, I just began to love my own skin, thank you very much!). However, I still hung on to that perm (got at a "late" age of 13, to the chagrin of my father). After losing that perm 3 months ago, I am now having to come to terms with my "blackness" in a whole new way.