Does it bother when, ''what are you?'' is the first thing out of a person's mouth?

Because it just gets under my skin.
I wonder if I'm just hypersensitive and need to chill out.
I'm not ashamed. I love everything I am. In fact, if you know me for any amount of time you quickly learn where I come from.
But when I introduce myself to someone and the first question they ask is, ''what ethnicity are you?'' GRRRR!!!
I guess to me it implies that they can't really know me without being able to file me into an ethnic category; like that's the first thing that needs to be taken care of or else who I am is null and void. It just seems like a shallow question. It bothers me.
I've thought about it: Well, maybe they need to know what type of environment I grew up in...no, just because I grew up with my Black side or Mexican side will not tell them anything important but will help them draw stereotypical conclusions.
Well, maybe they will wonder throughout our first conversation and so they just want to get it out there...why the stuff would anyone hang on to such a stupid thought?!

I've really thought about it and people who ask me this right off show themselves to be shallow thinkers. I really feel like there are better questions to ask to get to know a person. ''Do you have any hobbies?'',
''Have you travelled?'',''What do you do for fun?''

Has this happened to you?
Does it irritate you? or am I hanging on to a stupid thought?
Thanks for your replies ^-^

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Forever Flowering on March 30, 2010 at 5:10am

happens all the time lol

Permalink Reply by Fashionfreak on April 1, 2010 at 12:05pm

i just say i'm from earth lol.

Permalink Reply by Tony Bennett on April 25, 2010 at 3:46am

Holy crap it happens to me all the time! What race are you? What parent is what color? What ever happen to hey how are you? You seem cool wanna hang out or something like that? Maybe I should just paint myself green then no one would ask me what I was lol But yeah all the time

Permalink Reply by ofSoundMind on June 4, 2010 at 3:17pm

It used to bother me more than it does now, but I think the atmosphere has changed over the last 20 years.

A while ago, there was a fetish-like fascination in the media, and "stars" started to acknowledge being mixed and in some cases used it for PR. Prince comes to mind from the 80s. Halle Berry and Mariah Carey more recently.

It seemed to me, that the underlying reason for people asking, switched from confusion to "Wow, you're one of those....".

I'm not saying either is cool, and I agree that there are better things to know about someone. Unfortunately, we live in a race obsessed world and I see no signs of evolution.

Permalink Reply by Yirme on April 18, 2011 at 11:25pm

LOL good one... I get asked this alot, I agree its annoying.

Fashionfreak said:

i just say i'm from earth lol.

Permalink Reply by Cliff St. Croix on April 27, 2011 at 9:29pm

I get this constantly and sometimes people are rather rude about it. I've even gotten comments from black people like "take those fake contacts out " , because my eyes are blue , which really fucks with their heads even more ! White people seem to take notice of this but generally are more curious than anything though it still freaks them out . LOL...!

Permalink Reply by angie1340 on September 13, 2011 at 3:55pm

try funny short sentence. Like : I"m an alien coming from a satellite of Pluto":-)

Permalink Reply by Cliff St. Croix on September 13, 2011 at 10:55pm

Funny you say that because generally that's what people think , they have no problem letting me know how they feel , which comes out pretty negative , ignorant and ugly . My response , if I even bother is to tell them " you do what you're told in your dress , music , speech , I do what I want " ! About fifty percent of the time they get insulted ( after trying to insult me ) angry and want to start a fight . You just can't win with that level of ignorance , but I'm not trying to win . I just want to be left alone to write and play my music my way ! !

angie1340 said: