Have you been told you do not look like typical *blank*?

[Tapatio89]

Hello!!!

Have you been told when you go abroad that you do not look stereotypically like the average person from your country of origin. In my case, it has happened many times, particularly in the United States and some Latin American countries.

When I was in the U.S., most Americans and even some foreigners were kind of shocked I told them I am Mexican. The reason is because in their minds, the stereotypical Mexican look is of a person or man in this case who has reddish-brown skin, mustache, short, stocky in build, straight black hair, round faces, small eyes and with mostly Indigenous blood. Many thought I was Chilean or Colombian or occasionally Spaniard or Italian (I do not see why they would say this). Same with other Latinos I met they also thought I am Chilean or Colombian usually.

Because of this, I barely experienced racism from gringos (in fact, all my friends in the US who I am still in contact with them are white Americans, Indians and Asians), although I did experienced racism from Black Americans and darker, more Indigenous Mexicans and Latinos.

Here in Mexico City, no one thinks I am a foreigner as they can tell I am Mexican, however, they can tell I come from Guadalajara by certain physical features found on Tapatios (people from Guadalajara) and not commonly found in people from DF. My countryfellow here can easily tell I am from Guadalajara because of my big,dark, expressive eyes, my olive or light brown skin and more angular face, features more commonly found in people from Guadalajara, as opposed to people from DF who most men and women too here have small, somewhat slanted eyes, rounder features and reddish-brown skin.

In Japan, they can tell I am Latino or for some Japanese Mediterranean as I obviously do not look like a blond Westerner.

How about you guys? Have this happened to you guys?

Cheers!

[Adama]

People are strange. I often find that people will claim I look like their favorite celebrity, but often those celebrities look very different from one another. So I don't consider much of what people have to say in that regard, although it can be entertaining.

[sentinel89]

Most of the Mexicans that come to the U.S. for work are indigenous looking