مہرین کسانہ: nisha-ology replied to your post: We South Asians are already taught...

orientalbarbiedoll:

nisha-ology replied to your post: We South Asians are already taught to hate…

It took me 16 years to realize that Indians/South Asians were some of the most gorgeous individuals on the planet because I had spent so much of my time being told that they weren’t or that I was “pretty for an Indian.”
“You’re pretty for an Indian.”

“You’re pretty for a Pakistani.”

“You’re pretty for a Sri Lankan.”

“You’re pretty for a Bengali.”

“You’re pretty for a Nepali.”

So on and so forth.

And these comments don’t come from White folks only (although their comments are of a different, creepy kind). The number of times I’ve seen some Arabs do this is ridiculous. I had a friend who wouldn’t tell you if he was Pakistani because as soon as he did, people would give him a disappointed look. He’d give obscure descriptions of faraway lands where nothing Pakistani existed. He eventually realized how insulting this was and he stopped. Now he won’t talk to you if he senses a frisson of let-down in your expression after you find out he’s Pakistani.

And the fact that people lump South Asians up as a homogenized group of people with a single kind of look, complexion, physique is just hilarious. Pakistan alone has dozens and dozens of ethnic groups in its population. The usual reason behind the foolish assumption that someone doesn’t “look” South Asian is because they’re light skinned so, in their minds, it can’t be possible in any way that a South Asian is light skinned. This plays into the Anglo-centric standards of beauty that are ingrained in this region. Completely ignoring the fact that there are hundreds of ethnic groups in South Asia with all kinds complexion. Each one is equally gorgeous and unique.

Then hostility within South Asian countries is another disappointing issue. Ethnic prejudice within countries is even more distressing. Dark skinned South Asians are seen as untouchable, unacceptable. It’s just disheartening.

tl;dr

We’re giving the ‘fuck off’ look the next time someone says something like “You don’t look at all! You’re so pretty! You must be !” We don’t have the time or tolerance for that crap.