I have never been as aware of my appearance as in Mexico. My profile: 1.60m, white skin, dark blond hair and blue eyes. You could describe me as “western” I suppose. Back home in the Netherlands I don´t stand out from the crowd and walking down the brick-paved streets of Amsterdam gives me this great feeling of anonymity of the big city. I can go wherever I feel like and do whatever I want without people constantly looking at me.

In Guadalajara, I do get a lot of attention – despite the fact that many Mexicans of mixed European and indigenous ancestry share my profile. I divide this type of appearance-based attention into two groups: pleasant and unpleasant. It has happened a lot that people tell me con todo respeto with all due respect that they think I´m beautiful and they like my clear blue eyes. I´ve received this type of compliments of both men and women, usually of adults.

There is really no reason to perceive those comments as unpleasant. Seriously, who wouldn´t react happily surprised to well-meant compliments of strangers – especially when you´re not used to receiving this type of praise back home? I smile and say thank you, and start a conversation by introducing a different topic. They respond normally and soon we have an enjoyable talk going on. I take that as a sign that the compliment was a conversation starter in the first place anyway.

The unpleasant kind of attention is more complicated to deal with though. I´m referring to staring, whistling or shouting and it includes unwelcome sexual advances of Latino men in the streets… Continue Reading »