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Last night I was compared to Cher. I didn't see that one coming. I'm no Chad Michaels.
It was a strange complement, as it seemed to be a complement about the ethnic-malleability of my facial features.
I do have facial feature that seem to adjust widely to a range of hairstyles, hair-colors, and make-up styles. I don't just look like an unmistakable face in a variety of different hair situations...I look different enough from look to look that double-takes are not unknown to me.
Still, I don't think it's a case of me looking "X" ethnicity if I want to. Like-Cher woman was insisting on my ability to look Turkish or Middle-Eastern...which I think reflects what she wanted to see and the GINORMOUS range of facial-types within those very broad categories and not any ethno-transmogrifying on my part.
But, I knew she meant it as a complement. You don't start a conversation about how Cher played up a very small amount of Cherokee in her family tree to get out of backlash from the whole half-breed thang when she should have just said "opps, my bad" and backed away from that set of Bob Macki feather dresses when you're talking to an intoxicated, intense, bi-lingual woman who just wants to complement you.
Also, I had just read this on racialious: http://www.racialicious.com/2012/05/02/lies-damned-lies-and-the-complicated-accounting-of-identity-counterpoint/#more-22406
It was a strange complement, as it seemed to be a complement about the ethnic-malleability of my facial features.
I do have facial feature that seem to adjust widely to a range of hairstyles, hair-colors, and make-up styles. I don't just look like an unmistakable face in a variety of different hair situations...I look different enough from look to look that double-takes are not unknown to me.
Still, I don't think it's a case of me looking "X" ethnicity if I want to. Like-Cher woman was insisting on my ability to look Turkish or Middle-Eastern...which I think reflects what she wanted to see and the GINORMOUS range of facial-types within those very broad categories and not any ethno-transmogrifying on my part.
But, I knew she meant it as a complement. You don't start a conversation about how Cher played up a very small amount of Cherokee in her family tree to get out of backlash from the whole half-breed thang when she should have just said "opps, my bad" and backed away from that set of Bob Macki feather dresses when you're talking to an intoxicated, intense, bi-lingual woman who just wants to complement you.
Also, I had just read this on racialious: http://www.racialicious.com/2012/05/02/lies-damned-lies-and-the-complicated-accounting-of-identity-counterpoint/#more-22406
