Even as there is a growing recognition for the need for representation, there are still many cases where folks will find themselves as the only person in a room representing their particular demographic – and often there is pressure to perform in such contexts to prove competence not just for yourself but for everyone who is like you. The burden and the stress of being the “representer” is real, and so we wanted to create a space where folks can discuss who they go about ensuring they are effective and successful even in contexts where no one else on the team or in the room is like them.
Aalisha Jaisinghani
The experience of “being the only one in the room that looks like me” feels unfortunately and unnecessarily humiliating. Sometimes I had to work twice as hard as certain peers to be taken half as seriously as them. As an Indian American girl growing up in the early 2000’s, it was uncommon to see representation in the fields I was passionate about, and the few prominent Indian characters onscreen were usually caricatures of mean stereotypes. In music environments, it was common but not easy to be the only South Asian, or only woman, or both. Despite all my confidence in my hard work, I always had the nagging idea in the back of my mind that I was destined to fail, because of the lack of predecessors to show me it was possible for someone like me in this industry. I was also worried about representing my demographics badly, which was a ridiculous pressure to put on myself. Read more>>
Beth Amphetamine
I believe that growing up in Southern Indiana is one of the main reasons I’ve been able to succeed even when I’ve stood alone in spaces. My hometown was very homogeneous, white and heterosexual, and being raised by an openly lesbian couple was already “different” enough- without acknowledging the fact that I am multiracial. When I moved to Baltimore in 2019, escaping that whiteness was a huge motivating factor- but even then, as a biracial Filipino-American, it was hard to find an Asian community in Baltimore. When I entered the drag scene, it was similarly isolating, but for different reasons. Read more>>
Priya Nalkur
I want to take you into a room that’s all too familiar to me. I’ve walked into countless spaces where I was the only person who looked like me—sometimes the only person of color, often the only South Asian woman. It’s not just a physical experience. It’s emotional, and at times, isolating. When you’re the only one in the room, there’s a weight you carry—a subtle, or not so subtle, pressure to represent an entire group of people, to carry the torch for diversity. Read more>>
