[gardeniyas]

After living here for most of my life, I came to the conclusion that some people are considered more mexican than others. Of course, everyone born here is a Mexican citizen, but doesn't matter if I speak like a chilango, celebrate Independence Day and drink tequila and eat tacos. The point is that my name and my phenotype always bring the eternal question: "De donde eres?/Where are you from wero?" If I tell people I'm Mexican, the next question would be: "Are your parents foreigners?" It doesn't just happen to me. Many mexican friends of Central and Northern european looks also told me the same. Same happens with east asian and afro looking people. They are always chino. My friend from veracruz always gets confused for a Cuban and few people believe he's mexican. Here in Mexico city to the average chilango I'm a gringo. They start talking to me in English and the saddest thing of all is that they automatically think I'm a rich guy. This has caused a lot of robberies and assaults during my lifetime here.

My point is: There IS a typical mexican. It ranges from Full blown Indio to Med Criollo types, but it seems that mexicans that look like me, of east asian heritage and afros are not quite the mexican to the eyes of your average Mexicano. They are less mexican than the others.
Apparently a "real mexicano" can't look like this:

[Svatudjw]

wouldn't the same hold true for a chicano - looking fellar in russia or ukraine?

[JackieC]

die your hair and tan tan tan! its the only way holmes. then grow a mullet and don levis with flannel shirt and cowboy boots or whatever it is mexicans wear nowadays, and do it up like the cast of jersey shore.

fake it til you make it compadre.



on a side note i told people i was half mexican all through middle school and like 50-60 percent of the time people believed me sorta. now i tell people im russian to see if they believe me and most do. probably because most people have never met a russian so they are clueless. i just don one of those hats with the flaps on it and they automagically believe me.

[leangarance]

wouldn't the same hold true for a chicano - looking fellar in russia or ukraine?

My point is that most Mexican posters around here say that everyone born here is considered a Mexican and fully accepted as such. My experience and of many others of a similar phenotype to mine, doesn't matter if they lived here for generations, they are less mexican than an average mestizo or a Mediterranean looking white.

For example, If this girl tells that she's mexican, even being of recent Spaniard stock nobody would question her

As opposed of people like my friends who's family has been living here for generations.

and her

[valiumcheapll]

That has been your experience everywhere you've visited?

I wonder if its happened to Batman

[Neitteloxesia]

That has been your experience everywhere you've visited?

Almost everywhere. That means Southern and Central Mexico mostly. Only in some parts of Jalisco and Sinaloa I wouldn't be asked. But then the question was: You speak like a chilango, but how come? Chilangos are dark and short. You can't be one, man!

[6M8PJigS]

Almost everywhere. That means Southern and Central Mexico mostly. Only in some parts of Jalisco and Sinaloa I wouldn't be asked. But then the question was: You speak like a chilango, but how come? Chilangos are dark and short. You can't be one, man!

Lol that's crazy, I mean I don't know how I'd feel in that situation or how family members would take it.
That doesn't mean they're not Mexican, though.

Is it why you identify as Russian instead of Mexican then?

[Dndjzirw]

I have been told many times i dont look mexican here in California, by mexicans, chicanos and everyone lol when i was younger i hated being called white boy, that to me was the most offensive thing someone could say to me. I became a self-hater also, i hated being blonde, hated looking white, and hated being asked by mexicans where did i learn spanish. On top of that they would tell me i didnt look mexican. In mexico it was different, i was never asked by the mexicans where had i learned spanish, now when i go to Tijuana, they do ask where I am from but they mean where in Mexico am I originally from since Tijuana attracts migrants from all over Mexico. When i went to D.F that was a different case, they also asked me the same questions as you, i didnt pay much attention since i know D.F does get a good number of Europeans.

You told me that you have been to Jalisco, did they also question you about being mexican? When I was in Jalisco i wasnt, i went to Guadalajara, they asked me where was i from because i didnt sound Jaliscense, i sound like a Sinaloense and use their slang, but that was it. On another note, some lady asked me if i was from Los Lagos de Moreno in Jalisco, i said no and she told me I look like I am from there. I have never been there so I am not sure if these people are the typical people from that area

[citicroego]

Lol that's crazy, I mean I don't know how I'd feel in that situation or how family members would take it.
That doesn't mean they're not Mexican, though.

Is it why you identify as Russian instead of Mexican then?

Yeah, it's the main reason. Also my friend in the pic above, has been told here many times: Tu no eres mexicano, wey.

It reminds me of the movie Blood in Blood out when nobody really accepted the main guy Miklo as a chicano. He had to prove it to them, by killing a white inmate.

I suppose many white Mexican-Americans who have central euro and northern phenos are also called whiteys and not quite accepted as proper mexicans.

---------- Post added 2012-04-18 at 22:33 ----------

I have been told many times i dont look mexican here in California, by mexicans, chicanos and everyone lol when i was younger i hated being called white boy, that to me was the most offensive thing someone could say to me. I became a self-hater also, i hated being blonde, hated looking white, and hated being asked by mexicans where did i learn spanish. On top of that they would tell me i didnt look mexican. In mexico it was different, i was never asked by the mexicans where had i learned spanish, now when i go to Tijuana, they do ask where I am from but they mean where in Mexico am I originally from since Tijuana attracts migrants from all over Mexico. When i went to D.F that was a different case, they also asked me the same questions as you, i didnt pay much attention since i know D.F does get a good number of Europeans.

You told me that you have been to Jalisco, did they also question you about being mexican? When I was in Jalisco i wasnt, i went to Guadalajara, they asked me where was i from because i didnt sound Jaliscense, i sound like a Sinaloense and use their slang, but that was it. On another note, some lady asked me if i was from Los Lagos de Moreno in Jalisco, i said no and she told me I look like I am from there. I have never been there so I am not sure if these people are the typical people from that area
http://i.imgur.com/O6Gng.jpg

See, that's what I was talking about man. And yeah, as I said in the post above, only in Jalisco they didn't ask me those things. And specifically in the Los Altos region. I've been there and yeah, those kids are typical people there. And if that makes me sad, I can only imagine what that was for you being an actual Mexican.

[mikelangr]

you shouldve seen me as a kid, dude!!! I had platinum blonde hair, and mexican ladies thought i was a white gringo kid and the thing is that i came to the USA when i was around 5 not sure, but i was already going to school in Tijuana and my mom decided to move to California. Everyone would speak english to me and i wouldnt understand them, i was just quiet. Ill pm you a picture of me as a kid.

[thegamexpertsdotcom]

I have been told many times i dont look mexican here in California, by mexicans, chicanos and everyone lol when i was younger i hated being called white boy, that to me was the most offensive thing someone could say to me. I became a self-hater also, i hated being blonde, hated looking white, and hated being asked by mexicans where did i learn spanish. On top of that they would tell me i didnt look mexican. In mexico it was different

UGHHH I get the same comments in USA mostly by Chicanos, though. It bothers me so much. It also bothers me SOOOOOOOOOO much when they ask me if I'm from Jalisco. I hate that. As if all whiter Mexicans are from Jalisco. I'm not easily annoyed, but if somebody wants to annoy me in less than 1 second, they can ask me that. In Mexico (Guanajuato, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Toluca, and other random places I can't think of at the top of my head), it's never happened. But then again, I don't think I fit outside of what Legion has described as norm so its irrelevant.
I have family members that do, though. Very light blonde, very light skin, not very typical in the range Legion mentioned. So far they've never mentioned anything and at least in front of me they've never been asked. I would school someone if they even implied anything
__________________________________________________ _______________________

What I disagree with is that "not everyone can be Mexican." That's not true. Like I mentioned, I have family members as light and as "uncommon" as Batman and Legion and they're Mexican regardless of how ignorant people can be. My afroMexican friends are as Mexican as anybody else. Legion doesn't identify as Mexican which is all I need to know to consider him anything else and he has his ancestry to identify with. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't consider him any "less" Mexican. Plenty of non-immigrant Mexicans don't have that other country or don't want to identify with it and they shouldn't be considered anything else. I can't even picture my cousin or my tio or my tia or friends not identifying with the country.

[bZEUWO4F]

I have seen the opposite. That is, Mexicans in the US mistakenly speaking Spanish to people who they think are Latinos but actually aren't. It actually happens to my wife every so often. She's a pseudo-señorita.

[AbraroLib]

you shouldve seen me as a kid, dude!!! I had platinum blonde hair, and mexican ladies thought i was a white gringo kid and the thing is that i came to the USA when i was around 5 not sure, but i was already going to school in Tijuana and my mom decided to move to California. Everyone would speak english to me and i wouldnt understand them, i was just quiet. Ill pm you a picture of me as a kid.

Just like me, I was a platinum blonde until 9 or 10, but it really didn't change a damn thing. Nowadays I'm still a gringo anyway.

[Sipewrio]

Yeah, it's the main reason. Also my friend in the pic above, has been told here many times: Tu no eres mexicano, wey.

It reminds me of the movie Blood in Blood out when nobody really accepted the main guy Miklo as a chicano. He had to prove it to them, by killing a white inmate.

I suppose many white Mexican-Americans who have central euro and northern phenos are also called whiteys and not quite accepted as proper mexicans.

In many places not even white ones but ones that are harnizo and whiter. USA kind of has a pass at being ignorant (towards Mexico), though. They're not the actual country

[erepsysoulptnw]

I have seen the opposite. That is, Mexicans in the US mistakenly speaking Spanish to people who they think are Latinos but actually aren't. It actually happens to my wife every so often. She's a pseudo-señorita.

Does she look mestizoid?

[Abnorttrano]

What I disagree with is that "not everyone can be Mexican." That's not true. Like I mentioned, I have family members as light and as "uncommon" as Batman and Legion and they're Mexican regardless of how ignorant people can be. My afroMexican friends are as Mexican as anybody else. Legion doesn't identify as Mexican which is all I need to know to consider him anything else and he has his ancestry to identify with. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't consider him any "less" Mexican. Plenty of non-immigrant Mexicans don't have that other country or don't want to identify with it and they shouldn't be considered anything else. I can't even picture my cousin or my tio or my tia or friends not identifying with the country.

It's unfortunate that not all think like you. I really love Mexico and it makes me sad when people make me feel foreign and like I don't belong. That's why I'm thinking of moving up North or to Jalisco. But, on the bright side my lil' sis is nothing else, but Mexican.

[id2008]

Does she look mestizoid?

Not really, no, not like an Amerindian mix. She looks like an ambiguous Asian. She also gets Hindi and Mandarin from time to time. Maybe they think she's a 'Chino' or similar.

[D6Ri5u13]

I think mexicans/chicanos can be very ignorant, legion if you ever come to the USA, go to mexican areas and speak like a chilango, their reaction is hilarious, they'll keep staring at you with a smile on their face thinking a guero loves mexican culture so much that now he speaks like one

[Zwnkkvle]

I think mexicans/chicanos can be very ignorant, legion if you ever come to the USA, go to mexican areas and speak like a chilango, their reaction is hilarious, they'll keep staring at you with a smile on their face thinking a guero loves mexican culture so much that now he speaks like one

I'll do that, and I won't just speak as an average chilango. I'll use the barriobajero naco tepito style slang for stronger WTF reactions.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s053FtTNiNP2
Actually, I'm planning to go to the states this summer.
Is the chilango accent strongly present anywhere? I though chilangos are the group of mexicans that almost don't move to the states.

[LOVEBoy]

I'll do that, and I won't just speak as an average chilango. I'll use the barriobajero naco tepito style slang for stronger WTF reactions.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s053FtTNiNP2
Actually, I'm planning to go to the states this summer.
Is the chilango accent strongly present anywhere? I though chilangos are the group of mexicans that almost don't move to the states.

they will get very surprise, since we dont have much chilangos here and because un guero gringo is speaking it.

What part of the states are you going to visit?