Identity and DNA

July 1, 2016 — 4 Comments

We’re living in a world obsessed with identity, origins and DNA. I’m starting to believe this is a conspiration to get us all to test our DNAs -paying and very much willingly- to see where we ‘really come from.’ No, like- really, where YOU REALLY come from. First it was this overly dramatic flights company, Momondo ad. Followed by this DNA test Buzzfeed video, which got me really really wondering.

Then this Joanna Rants Flama video about hyphen identities~~~ with a shout out to Asian-Peruvian (Protestant)! xD Which in the end sent my head spinning mainly because of my dad’s side. Peruvian isn’t really a racial identity, though some would differ. I don’t know much about my dad’s side of the family, but I know more than my mom’s side~~~ one thing is certain, I’m positively certain my mom is 99,9% East Asian xD which makes me, at least, half East Asian (if not half full Chinese, despite having two Chinese last names~)

I know my grandpa on my dad’s side was mixed Chinese and I know my grandma on his side was mixed Spanish-Afro-Peruvian, but not certain on percentages. I’ll have to ask my aunt around now. But that would make my dad, at least, half Spanish creole (if not more) Afro-Chinese Peruvian xD and that would make me…… Chinese Spanish creole Afro-Peruvian? xD A Queer Catholic-by-culture Franciscan-by-school Agnostic Chinese Spanish Creole Afro-Peruvian. And that doesn’t even paint the political colors. xD

But interesting.

I’m totally into the idea of finding out what’s in me, but at the same time, I’ve been watching too much Orphan Black. lol

4 responses to Identity and DNA

  1. whoa…hyphen vengeance. I think you know my main identity but within my Filipina side, there’s Cavite City – Luzon (the big island) Catholic and Bohol (in the Visayan Islands) Protestant. Ppl sometimes distinguish Cavite as The City as opposed to Cavite province because they don’t want to be “probinsyal” or “from d” (“from the province”). also Luzon main islanders definitely discriminate against Visayans.
    The Puerto Rican side is from a small western town, with white as far as I know for my grandma’s side (I think one direct immigrant from Spain as a great-great-grandpa and maybe one from Italy?) but possibly mixed with African descent on the grandpa’s side…who knows before that with the way Latin America is.
    And NorCal is different than SoCal, Bay Area different than the rest of NorCal, East/West/North/South Bay are different, and it can be divided even further…

    • It’s confusing as heck. I’ll just go with I’m Chinese-Peruvian… get a couple of blank stares. Yes, looks Chinese speaks Spanish. With the clipped hair, I no longer get the awkward “oh, do you curl your hair? Oh, it’s natural? Why don’t you keep it longer~~~” xD

      • yeah, sometimes my mom runs into Chinese-Peruvians at work in San Francisco, and she says they also get quite a few stares when they speak.

        • San Francisco is packed with Chinese Peruvians xD a good 75% I know in the US that are Chinese-Peruvians are there. My aunt also lives there. Then the rest is divided in Orlando or New York.

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