I usually draw myself like this:
But a more accurate drawing would be like this:
I get asked all the time if I dye my hair.
Nope.
This mousy brown hair color is all my own.
Although yesterday, my coworker called it chocolaty brown.
I like that.
I've also been asked a couple of times if I'm mixed.
Again, nope.
Fully Chinese.
The questions amuse me though.
And it reminds me of how monolithic some people are in their perceptions of what Chinese people look like.
So, let me show you my family.
This is my mom, her hair is light like mine:
My aunt, my mom's younger sister, has hair the lightest of us all.
People just skip the hair dyeing question and automatically go straight to asking her what shade she uses.
It's au naturel, people.
This is my cousin, my dad's sister's son:
He has ridiculously curly hair. So much so, that he keeps it shorn close to his head or he'd be growing a poof. And no, he's not mixed.
These are all my male cousins.
Besides the babies, they are ALL taller than me.
Okay, that's not saying much. I'm 5'4". I'm the shortest grandchild on both sides of the family. Woe is me.
But, more than half of the boys are near six feet or over. I think my tallest cousin is 6'3".
It certainly feels like it when I try to look up at him.
And here are all the female cousins in the family, including me.
Oops, almost forgot the littlest one!
We all look very different from one another.
Though you can't tell from my drawings because I suck at drawing.
My sister and cousin have what the Chinese call perfect oval faces. It's the epitome of East Asian beauty. And big eyes. All four of them possess that feature.
I have to say, 'cause I'm not biased or anything, I have a stunningly beautiful family.
Just a little snapshot of what my Chinese family looks like.
If they were bad cartoon renditions of themselves.
Ha.
