Comments on: Born Hybrid

By: Sezin

Sezin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:35:40 +0000

Hi Scary Azeri!

Thanks for reading and FYI we also have the expat+HAREM in common.

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

Cheers,

Sezin

By: scary azeri

scary azeri — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:15:42 +0000

Great piece and a lovely site. Found you via comments on FB between you and Monique.
Will be back!

By: Vesper de Vil

Vesper de Vil — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:16:40 +0000

You have to be kidding me! I was at a friend’s house tonight, and sitting there contemplating some of the things I read on your blog earlier….and I thought to myself, “I should recommend to her the excellent book called *Geek Love*”… And then you mention it!!! Synchronicity! Love it.

By: Sezin

Sezin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:32:48 +0000

Thanks for commenting, Vesper! Sounds like you are definitely one of us who was born hybrid, and I know what you mean about identifying with “The Other”. This is why I’ve always been obsessed with monsters and freaks, I relate with them more than I do with “norms” as Katherine Dunn would say in “Geek Love”.

By: Vesper de Vil

Vesper de Vil — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:14:26 +0000

This makes me think of the concept of otherness so often discussed in literary theory. I’ve always, always felt different, like I’m from another planet at times. I think it’s partially from living in my own little world, full of possibilities, and also from having a difficult childhood. I’ve always identified with anything different or other. My heritage is mainly Norwegian and Irish, so I’m not your typical hybrid. But creatively and emotionally, I’m very much so.

By: Sezin

Sezin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:46:50 +0000

Thank you all for these beautiful comments!

@Anastasia – Yes, we are similar hybrids in that way. Sometimes I feel lucky, sometimes I feel it might be easier to have been a hybrid born, as you say, in a homogeneous society.

@Jocelyn – My pleasure. What you said during Dialogue 2010 has been reverberating in my brain to the point all other thoughts were drowned out. Being aware of your future children’s hybridness is the first step to helping them make their path. We didn’t really have these kinds of discussions when I was growing up, so you’re already way ahead of the game.

@Rose – Wow, I had no idea otherwise I would have included you in this post too. What’s your connection to Milwaukee? For a long time I said that was where I was from in the States (in spite of never having lived there), but now I say California because that’s where I spent many years.

@Rene – Thank you so much for reading and commenting. What a fascinating mix you are! My imagination lit up when I saw that. I agree that the older we get the more important it starts to be to reflect on our heritage and how we’ve arrived to our current location.

By: René

René — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:00:34 +0000

I came here via Rose’s link on Twitter. My father was Punjabi, my mom is Mennonite. I’ve never made a big deal out of my mixed heritage, but recently it’s become clearer that it’s a fundamental part of who I am. I need to pay closer attention.

Thank you for this articulate meditation on hybridity.

By: Rose

Rose — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:32:36 +0000

Sezin, I love this post. It brings up complex reactions for me – remembering that feeling of not feeling quite in step with my upbringing (though living rurally for many years was great for the imagination), a mis-syncopation as I called it on Anastasia’s post Ring my Bell. Diverse my upbringing was not. We moved four or five times as a kid, but not like your experience. I didn’t realize you had Milwaukee in common, too!

By: Jocelyn

Jocelyn — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:02:37 +0000

Sezin, what a thoughtful article (and I’m touched to be a part of it).

What you write is so true — that sometimes it is an intuitive feeling, that sense of not belonging, the need to search somewhere else to find your destiny/identity/purpose.

I’ll never know what it’s like to grow up in a multi-ethnic family like yours, but I can imagine that, if I have children, they might feel as you do — forced into a hybrid lifestyle. And if so, I only hope I can do my best to help them find what lifestyle is right for them (and not necessarily what is right for me).

By: Anastasia Ashman

Anastasia Ashman — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:31:14 +0000

Born hybrid in a homogeneous society….a quirk of social genetics!

This was not really my experience (I grew up in a mixed ethnicity family in the cultural melting pot of the San Francisco Bay Area). A cultivated hybrid!

Looking forward to hearing from hybrids born in the wild.