Tag Archives: Fairest

The meaning of Fairest

With Fairest coming to an end in chapter 17 (no title), the audience is met with an even more curious Meredith Talusan, who is seen reading for The Vagina Monologues in October of 2001. After having read aloud to a group of undergrad women, one of the producers had bluntly asked her what reason she had for participating in this show, which Talusan had answered honestly. This experience led her to be more open with strangers, although, not everyone appreciated her honesty. For example, when discussing with other transgender women in an online chat room called, “TGForum”, she noticed that most women there believed that if they passed as a woman (physically), then they should be shut about being trans, which Talusan did not concur with. “A lot of the girls there took that as judgment of their choices, which left me isolated even among trans people. But I couldn’t help feeling that withholding my history not only implied I was ashamed of it but also sacrificed too much of myself and my life,” (Talusan, 2020). Though her stance wasn’t taken in with open arms by others in that part of the trans community, the way Talusan expressed herself in that brief moment was integral to the meaning of transgender. This read was definitely worth while, and while I don’t feel the same way they do, I respect them for what they are.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/18/plume-is-building-a-healthcare-service-specifically-for-the-transgender-community/

Separation and Distance in Fairest

As we enter chapter 13, “LADY WEDGWOOD, 2000–2002,” Meredith Talusan discovers a predicament that occurred by not having gone back home in 10 whole years. When she returned to the Philippines, she was greeted by bittersweet tears from her family, especially from her grandmother. Although this was a fond memory to take note of, Talusan realizes how long she hasn’t kept in touch properly with her family, and what effect it could have on their relationship. “It was Nanay Coro’s voice I picked out among the relatives who called my name, and my grandmother greeted me with a gush of tears, lamenting that I had not seen my grandfather before he died. As we hugged, I wished I’d kept in better touch, but I was too busy earning the life she wanted for me, too focused on notches of achievement instead of sentimental letters or expensive calls.” (Talusan, 2020). After being told of the news of her grandfather’s passing, Talusan could see how distant she was, but as it goes without saying, nothing comes without risks. I’ve had quite a few distant relatives of my own, and as tenacious as they were, they all ended up severing ties with me and other relatives of mine. Obviously, this doesn’t compare with Talusan, but with the right mindset, this type of action can have positive effects that outweigh the negative in life, even if it means not keeping in touch with one’s own family for a while, I’ve definitely been there myself.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/technology/coronavirus-how-to-live-online.html?smid=url-share

“Fairest” of them all

Moving onto chapter 7, “Harvard Man, 1993-1997,” Talusan is headed towards Harvard Square, and starts with an interaction with a taxi driver. While she is speaking to him, she begins to realize that he may be from a foreign country. Interesting enough, Talusan is able to speak French with the driver, and tells the reader about her ability to comprehend other languages. “It was true I had a good ear and didn’t need much practice to make sounds like those around me, whether in English or French.” (Talusan, 2020). Personally, as a bilingual person, I feel as though she makes a point, though it may come with a risk of being judged by others, such as people saying, “You sound white,” or something similar. In the following paragraphs, the interaction gravitates more towards her personal life, which the taxi driver is curious to know about. As the interaction comes to an end, Talusan is ready to explore the Harvard area, and hopes to feel welcome there.

After reading this paragraph, I began to realize that it feels as though I was living these experiences alongside her, and now that she is getting to the point where she is able to move forward with her life, it inspires me to do the same.

http://www.themistrading.com/

Meredith Talusan’s, “Fairest”

At the start of the book, we’re introduced to the first chapter, “Sun Child, 1980-1990,” and I noticed that the title is connected to the first paragraph, which speaks of a child who’s born with pale skin. Though, this was not seen as a good thing, as it was usually a warning to mothers not to stay in the sun for too long.  Miraculously, Talusan wasn’t completely blind, which was what allowed Talusan to read, which is why she enjoys reading to begin with. Later in the text, she quotes her grandmother, who had felt much appreciation for her granddaughter, and somewhat discontent with the skin she was in herself. “‘This is because you are fair and beautiful,’ she said, ‘not dark and ugly like me.’” (Talusan, 2020). This would imply that her grandmother has a different view of people compared to those around her, and challenges the idea that a child with pale skin is not something that should be labeled as ‘taboo’, but rather should be revered as part of one’s community. While this can be seen as discrimination towards oneself, I feel as though it’s more related to the idea that she was tired of the views her people had, and forced onto others, because of her ‘normal’ skin color.

After getting a brief look into who Talusan is, it’s safe to assume that she’s gone through much struggle within the start of her life, and will most likely have issues to overcome in the future (which will be seen in later chapters of the book). 

How it all started

Talusan, Meredith. Fairest: A Memoir. Penguin, 2021. Print.

Racial Justice Reads

In Fairest, one quote that stood out to me was ¨ Pregnant women were therefore advised not to spend too much time in the sun for fear that their baby would be born a sunchild ¨. I’m not sure if I’m interpreting this correctly, but I made the assumption that the term sunchild is another word for albinism. It seems that it is a part of Talusan´s culture to care deeply about one’s appearance. The simple fact that myths like this exist and are passed down from generation to generation shows that Talusan would face obstacles regarding her looks for the rest of her life. This may give reason to why she doesn’t want her book cover to have anything to do with her looks. She says in ¨The Cover of My Face¨What’s more, one of the greatest luxuries of being an author is that I can separate myself from my physical presence¨(Talusan). Her appearance has been such a huge part of how others perceive her therefore being an author finally gives her the chance to exist outside of her looks and escape the famous myths she’d heard about albinism. In ¨Ordinary Girls¨ one quote that stood out to me was ¨It wasnt the haircut she said chuckling, it was my bad hair. Your fathers fault. Your father and his black family¨ (Diaz). Jaquira seems to be someone whose family plays a large part in her identity. In this moment, her grandmother inflicts negativity on her by making her think her fathers black traits are not beautiful. Even in ¨La Otra¨, she says I knew that these were things meant for girls, and that I was supposed to like them. But I had no interest in my mother’s curtains, or her tubes of red lipstick, or her dresses, or the dolls Grandma Mercy and Titi Sandy sent from Miami¨ (Diaz). Jaquira determines a lot of her identity, what she does like, and what she does not like based on different ideas presented to her by her family.  I predict that the theme of self hatred and confusion will show up a lot in this book.One moment that stood out to me from Kiese Laymon’s excerpt of ¨Heavy¨ is the part of the book where his grandmother is wanting him to be sympathetic toward white people during the Rodney King riots. He expresses ¨ I wanted to fairly fight white folk and I wanted to knock them out¨(Laymon). In this moment, he is so hurt that he has become insensitive to White people all in all. This may stem from when he was much younger and he experienced his grandmother working for a white family. He says in ¨Quick Feet¨, ¨Stealing their food felt like the only way to make the rotten feeling in my belly go away¨(Laymon).He wanted so badly for that white family to feel pain and suffering because that was all he knew and he was jealous that he had never seen white people struggle. For this reason, he did not feel pity for white people during the riots because he figured it was what they rightfully deserved. I expect this book to talk a lot about the little things that tell a profound story about the difference between white and blacks living in America. I expect for it to be filled with the author coming to sudden realizations of just how much inequality really exists.

Laymon, Kiese.¨ Quick feet: When Counting to Ten Isn’t Enough ¨. VQRonline. (2018).https://www.vqronline.org/memoir-articles/2018/10/quick-feet