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I have dark hair, dark eyes, and a fairly swarthy complexion (via a great-grandfather from the Mediterranean). Māori people always seem to know I'm Pākeha, but Pākeha often think I'm Māori. For example, I've been hassled by Pākeha cops for Walking While (appearing) Black, followed around shops by Pākeha store detectives, whose implicit bias suggests I'm more likely to steal.

I may not be Māori, but that doesn't mean I have no lived experience I can use to identify with their struggles.

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Strypey 2y ago

I didn't always identify as a "man". To the point where I'd be juggling in a public place and a mum would say to their kids "look at that man juggling", and I'd literally look around to see who they meant. It took me a long time to find role models for positive masculinity, which allowed me to feel comfortable identifying as a man.

I may not be non-binary or gender-fluid, but that doesn't mean I have no lived experience I can use to identify with their struggles.

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Discussion

Strypey 2y ago

Identity is complicated and mulit-faceted. It's dynamic, ever-changing. We contain multitudes, every one of us. Presuming to know the limitations of other people's life experience, based on visible identity markers, is the *opposite* of "progressive".

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