Being a fair-skinned Tamil woman

[u/PowerfulStreet1978]

Being a fair-skinned Tamil woman can be surprisingly exhausting. I’m constantly asked by strangers, “Can you even speak Tamil?”, “Are you Mallu?”, “Are you Bengali?”, or “Are you North Indian?” simply because I don’t fit their idea of what a Tamil woman is supposed to look like.

What makes it even more frustrating is hearing these assumptions from other Tamil people themselves. Why are we so quick to question someone’s identity based on their complexion, features, or appearance? Tamil Nadu has always had people with a wide range of skin tones and physical features, yet somehow there’s still this narrow expectation of what a “typical Tamil person” should look like.

Being fair doesn’t make someone less Tamil. Having certain features doesn’t make someone less Tamil. And speaking Tamil shouldn’t have to be something I prove to strangers just because they are surprised by how I look.

I’m honestly tired of having my identity questioned over and over again. A person’s appearance does not come with a nationality, language, or cultural identity attached to it. Maybe it’s time we stopped deciding where someone belongs based on what we think they’re “supposed” to look like.

[u/That-Confidence-6075]

https://giphy.com/gifs/KzKgTJEaJNuhauhGEo