There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear a comment about my height.
Are you standing on something back there?
Wow, you're TALL!
How tall are you?
Do you play basketball?
Do you model?
It must be so hard to find a man tall enough for you.
There have also been many a day in which I hear questions about my heritage.
Are you Pacific Islander? Native Alaskan? Native American? French? Persian? Egyptian? Spanish?
And though I embrace both qualities about myself (height and nationality), I nonetheless get tired of the consistency in which those comments persist.
Because lately, it's been the only thing people notice about me.
Maybe it's moving to a new city and a new state, which brings about a new neighborhood of people, but ever since I moved to Northern California, I have gotten bombarded with these comments and it's becoming a wee bit tiresome.
Mostly because it has to do with my image. Don't get me wrong, I love the way I look and how that look falls upon a statuesque figure, but there comes a point where the comments become stagnant.
I've got witty responses to both, classics that only those annoying enough to make yet another comment about my height and heritage get to hear, but they don't stop the next person I see from eyeing me up and down like some zoo animal, like some rare display of a human being.
Looking for courage, for strength, and for confidence in the fact that I need not let these hooligans affect how I see myself, I channeled my favorite inspirational character: Wonder Woman.
Wonder Woman represents a myriad of things to different people. Depending on the writer and depending on the interpreter, Wonder Woman could mean a fierce warrior who fights for freedom and liberation, helping those who can't help themselves, or she could represent a scantily clad, white, large breasted pin-up girl who sets an unideal standard to women.
She's clothed in controversy.
Sounds a little like moi.
I try and practice kindness, sweetness, courage, and empathy, yet people notice me as exotic, tall, and intimidating.
I may walk around like a tall, badass, confident, and striking creature who knows how to dress her body, but that doesn't mean that I'm not also shy, kind, and friendly to those who pass my way.
Like Wonder Woman, I'm used to people judging me by my cover and I'm trying to break the chains of image based stereotypes and telling the world that there's more to me that meets the eye.
There's more to everyone that meets the eye. Instead of commenting about an apparent physical feature, I'm trying to notice traits about people not visible to the eye, looking beyond what they look like.
And if they're tall like me and are used to the barrage of comments about their height that they've guaranteed to have heard before, I try a different approach.
Wonder Woman is more than a gorgeous Amazonian warrior who happens to look killer in her battle outfit. She's a fighter, a lover, and she's more memorable by her courage and bravery than what she looks like.
She's admirable, super, and most of all: she's a wonder-ful woman, inside and out.
