POC women, do you feel celebrated for your beauty?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No.
I'm Indian/American and have been complimented but it's usually something kinda backhanded like, "exotic" or "you're pretty for an Indian".

I look ethnically ambiguous at times and there is always a look of surprise when they ask me where I originate from and it's not a good look of surprise. This comes from all different races, not just white.

+1

I'm Indian-American too and I have short hair, preppy style, I am slender and tallish 5'5". I have been asked if I am married to a White man? I am not joking. Like I was a hopeless case who was thankfully transformed by a White guy and then he married me. I have also been told that I don't look "Indian". (Though I could be Kamala Harris's family member). In India, my looks are not altogether uncommon in Mumbai or Delhi and no one comments on my pixie hairstyle either...but hey, I guess I have arrived in America...

My teenager is even more ethnically ambiguous in USA (Persian? Cuban?). She is more like Nikky Haley - all that Punjabi blood intermingling with mine. In India she is seen as a teenager. No one is confused there because her looks are common there too.

To some extent, I get it. Indian-Americans are not a very looks-aware lot in the US because most of them are in the STEM field and looking good is not all that important compared to academics.

But, I am surprised that I am not confused with the super stylish, gorgeous and well put together Pakistani-Americans either. I mean every single Pakistani-American woman I meet here is just so drop dead stunning. Maybe I am not stunning like a Pakistani-American but look good enough to attract a White husband. I dunno!

Did I just read that tight-“look good enough to attract a white husband”? So the standard of beauty is the ability to attract a white husband? That says a lot about your perceptions of white superiority and brown/black inferiority. That is really sad.
Btw I’m black with a white husband but have never seen things that way. I’m stunned!

I read that as, she received compliments about the way she looked and those people would follow up by asking if she was married to a white guy.

Basically implying that she is a surprisingly pretty or fashionable because she must be married to a white guy/white family in order to be able to carry herself that way -- which is super derogatory. They would not expect an Indian to be pretty or fashionable.

Thank you, This is exactly what I meant. The compliments given to me are backhand compliments.

Does this mean you look like Kamala Harris or one of her Indian family members?