I feel like everyone and their mother has seen Oli London at some point in their lives. The infamous influencer, who is now suddenly conservative, that spent thousands of dollars trying to look like Jimin from BTS.
That isn’t his only controversy, though, far from it. He even helped push the term “transracial” into the spotlight on social media. So why bring this up? Well, because today’s story involves someone who thought they were being bullied for having blonde hair and blue eyes, when in reality, it was because her identity didn’t quite match… who she felt she was.
Read more: Reddit
Feeling like an outcast while living in another country is a common experience for many immigrants
Image credits: benzoix / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However, this woman felt like she was being alienated by her own co-workers, who refused to eat her baked goods
Image credits: user19739995 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
After realizing that one of her colleagues was telling the rest not to eat the biscuits, the woman decided to confront her
Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Turns out the colleague was actually resentful because she felt as if the narrator was taking advantage of her looks to fit in better
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In reality, the two realized there had been a misunderstanding in their intentions, and the two clicked, but that wasn't the case for everyone else
Image credits: Liza Summer / Pexels (not the actual photo)
With the situation cleared out, the woman felt better, but the colleagues apparently weren't so forgiving after seeing her Instagram account
Image credits: pressfoto / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Apparently, the woman identified as "transracial," and she shared on Instagram that she felt like she was a Dutch woman born in the wrong body
Image credits: lookstudio / Freepik (not the actual photo)
She went on to explain that she is American, and after a visit to The Netherlands, she realized she wasn't meant to be in the United States
Image credits: yaroslav-astakhov- / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In order to feel more Dutch, the woman says she had a leg lengthening and eye color changing surgeries
Image credits: Little-Weather4042
She believes genetics don't play a part on your race (or ethnicity) and that she is now able to live as her true "zelf"
So, the story is told from her own perspective. The Original Poster (OP) is a 19-year-old American woman studying and living in the Netherlands. While working at a supermarket, she brought her colleagues some stroopwafels, a traditional Dutch biscuit, since it had just been her birthday, but she noticed that none of them ate them. In fact, she saw one colleague telling the others not to.
After confronting her about it, the colleague said they had all seen her Instagram and were put off by how openly she talked about wanting to become Dutch. The colleague herself was born in the Netherlands but wasn’t considered “Dutch” and was judged for not fitting the stereotypical Dutch appearance, so she felt upset seeing the OP suddenly come in and act Dutch.
In the end, the OP understood her point of view, and they actually grew closer after talking about feeling alienated by Dutch society. However, the colleague warned her that the rest of their coworkers probably wouldn’t want to be friends with her, and that’s where things took a turn. Apparently, not long before making the post, the narrator had “come out” on Instagram as transracial.
As it turns out, the OP is American, but she says she doesn’t identify with her nationality. This led her to undergo several surgeries, including leg-lengthening and eye color–changing procedures, and to dye her hair blonde. She even moved to the Netherlands, trying to live her life as a “Dutch person born in the wrong country.” And that might explain why her coworkers were put off.
Image credits: rosshelenphoto / Freepik (not the actual photo)
That’s a lot to take in, but let’s look at some facts. So, is “transracial” actually a thing? According to several scholars, transracial identity isn’t, and shouldn’t, be compared to being transgender. Race is generally understood as something shaped by history and social structures, rather than purely personal identity, and the concept of being transracial is still widely frowned upon, even by many therapists.
That said, it’s important to keep some cultural context in mind. The colleague brought up a key aspect of a common immigrant experience: the feeling of exclusion. Aside from cultural differences, research shows that many immigrants feel excluded for not fitting the stereotypical image of a Dutch person, and looking different can and will still make someone feel pushed to the margins.
That said, this doesn’t seem to be where the OP was coming from. So what exactly was she hoping to achieve, aside from living her… “true Dutch self,” for lack of a better term? Mental health professionals might suggest that the narrator experienced some form of social exclusion growing up, which led to a desire to fit in. In this case, that desire appears to have been directed toward a country very different from her own.
The general consensus among netizens fell on the belief that the woman was just plainly ignorant. Aside from not believing in the idea of genetics, she also often confused race with ethnicity on several occasions. They truly understood where her Dutch colleagues were coming from. So, do you believe in the idea that people can identify with a different nationality? Let us know below.
Netizens were now fully certain that the reason why her colleagues avoided her was because of her... national identity
