tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831992386706557428.post6264373938142474559..comments2023-03-25T08:00:54.870-07:00Comments on persona ingrata: Adoption Loss, Resilience & Cultural IdentityChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11174391264544788775noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831992386706557428.post-42412721657755047182008-01-20T13:29:00.000-08:002008-01-20T13:29:00.000-08:00thanks for your thoughts, sang-shil...i've been en...thanks for your thoughts, sang-shil...i've been enjoying your blog!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11174391264544788775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3831992386706557428.post-8393092657897264392008-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:002008-01-02T16:53:00.000-08:00I've noticed the "I am" vs. "I was" distinction wh...I've noticed the "I am" vs. "I was" distinction when I tell people about being adopted as well. In some contexts I deliberately say I "was" adopted, as if to say that adoption doesn't define who I am, but more often I deliberately say I "am" adopted. While adoption certainly doesn't define everything about me, I do think it is an important part of my identity, and sometimes I want to acknowledge or emphasize that. I am also wary of people trying to perpetuate the "as if" myth -- "as if" I were born to my adoptive parents, which I so obviously was not. (Well, obvious if you see us together in person.) So many people want adoptees to "get over" being adopted that I can be a little hypersensitive to people who want to brush it aside "as if" being adopted doesn't really matter.<BR/><BR/>Your idea of a kind of "adoptee identity development" as a parallel to racial/ethnic identity is an interesting one, especially since I am a transracial adoptee and so in many ways am dealing with both of those things. I get a little nervous when other people try to equate racial/ethnic differences to other kinds of differences, but I think being adopted is a much bigger difference than the kinds of comparisons that I usually cringe at (e.g. wearing glasses, or being overweight). The idea of moving from less aware/accepting to more so certainly seems to appy.<BR/><BR/>You also ask an interesting question about the critical worldview, but I don't want to monopolize your comment box so I'll save my thoughts for later.<BR/><BR/>Welcome to the blogosphere!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com