I love talking to people about the place I come from, when it’s genuine.
I wish this question would lead me to amazing conversations with people about my culture; my sense of belonging and my connections with my home country. Unfortunately, most of the time this question takes me into awkward situations. It makes me feel uncomfortable, disrespected and not welcome.
I was born and raised in Brazil, and since 2015 I've been living in Australia. When I say I am an Australian resident people ask questions about how I got my visa and how long I'll stay in Australia. I'm allowed to stay forever since this is now also my home.
When I say that I'm from Brazil, (usually straight) men think that gives them permission to be invasive, disrespectful and to harass Latin women. I used to work in a bar and often had to hear male clients making sexist jokes.
Once a man came to the bar, and without even asking he assumed that I was a ‘Latina immigrant without a decent visa.’ He tried an: ‘Hola’, and told me if I wanted to get an ‘Australian visa’, I should marry him. I said to him I already have my PR and pretty soon would get my citizenship and I didn't need to marry anyone. He didn't believe it and asked, ironically, how I got the residency working as a waitress in a bar. I changed the subject. I didn't want to start an argument. It's exhausting and confronting to educate people every fucking time.
I sincerely love talking to people about the place I come from, when I feel like I'm going to have a genuine conversation with someone who is interested in getting to know the different Latin cultures or exchanging our experiences. Unfortunately in most cases if you are from a ‘Third world country’, people just want to stereotype you and perpetuate racism, sexism and prejudice.