We pass all the time. I’m keen to maintain my standing as an oppression theorist, so I pretend I’ve read Nineteen Eighty-Four when it comes up in conversations. I’ve failed to mention my penchant for puns and my extensive board game collection on first dates, because it turns out neither of those are particularly appealing for some mysterious reason. And I trained myself out of my Minnesotan accent in graduate school, after noticing that some folks were having a little difficulty taking me serio…
Read moreWe pass all the time. I’m keen to maintain my standing as an oppression theorist, so I pretend I’ve read Nineteen Eighty-Four when it comes up in conversations. I’ve failed to mention my penchant for puns and my extensive board game collection on first dates, because it turns out neither of those are particularly appealing for some mysterious reason. And I trained myself out of my Minnesotan accent in graduate school, after noticing that some folks were having a little difficulty taking me seriously during presentations. Some people try to pass as younger, or older, looking for the opportunities and recognition that come with being thought a certain age. Some pass as members of different political parties, hoping to avoid attention or debate when they realize they’re in the minority at a gathering. Some pass as fans of popular figures or pastimes, seeing the value in fitting in with friends and coworkers, and some pass as aficionados of more selective pleasures, wanting to be seen as refined. Some pass as more confident than they are, more experienced than they are, more charitable than they are, more well-adjusted than they are, more appropriate than they are, more typical than they are. Sometimes the most advantageous identities or personal histories are not our own.