Blog 7

Like McIntosh described in her article, I’ve never really thought of myself as “white” and so I’ve never really noticed that I take advantage of my race in everyday situations.

One of the ones that struck me the most was buying makeup in my color. I’m a ginger, so I have extremely pale skin, so I should have a more difficult a time finding makeup in my shade than should a woman of color. But I don’t. No matter where I go to buy makeup, they always have the “ivory” that is my shade. Always. I think that’s unfair. I’m an extreme color, but because I’m white, I can find makeup whereas a black women might not be able to.

I have felt disadvantaged because I am a woman, though not really in the English department (it’s a pretty gender-neutral department). But when I was in high school, I was an active member of the theatre department and those of us who could drive would take turns running to the local hardware stores to buy paint, nails, lumber, etc.

It’s very difficult to get sales associates to take you seriously when you are a woman alone in a hardware store. They just don’t believe you know what you’re doing and they tend to follow you around to make sure you don’t break anything or burst into tears or whatever they think you’re going to do. I’ve never been able to figure it out. Having people treat me as incompetent makes me feel incompetent. It’s a strange sensation and I really hated it.

I’m also lower middle class and so, while I generally feel pretty average class-wise, there are certain situations where I am made uncomfortably aware of my financial state. Sometimes, when I go into particularly nice stores, the sales associates and other customers look at me with something like disgust for my non-designer clothing and I guess poorer appearance. They don’t follow me around, but they do keep an eye on me, which is extremely insulting.

As far as being young goes, sometimes I feel like I’m not being crazy or reckless enough. There’s this stereotype that young people don’t take anything seriously and are just out to have a good time, but I’ve never been much of a partier or a go-with-the-flow kind of person. That can be frustrating.

But, all in all, I guess I’m at a much higher advantage to a young woman of color in my same situation. I just don’t have to fight as hard for respect and opportunities. Hopefully, that won’t last and in the future, people will be judged on what they can achieve, not based on their stereotypes.