If you are not white and male whould you change your sex or ethnic origin if you could?

[thebeave]

They do get in the way sometimes, yes. I find a wheelbarrow to be most handy.

 

[bilby]

They do get in the way sometimes, yes. I find a wheelbarrow to be most handy.

 

[aupmanyav]

A white male can afford to pay Indian kids to spell for him.

I do not know for how long.

 

[NobleSavage]

Not to hijack the thread, but I think it would be a very interesting social experiment if one had a portable holographic projector or something (and universal translator) to become whatever ethnic/sex combination desired. It would be enlightening penetrating various cultures. Um, that last sentence didn't come out right, but I am a white male...

You could simulate this by making fake profiles on various social media sites. I think it would make for a fine Sociology experiment. I wonder if we could get grant money? I wonder if it would be considered unethical to create fake profiles?

 

[WAB]

I'm a white male, but I still like the idea of changing into a white male. Can I be Johnny Depp?

 

[Unbeatable]

For this hypothetical, can I ignore the practical complications of completely changing my appearance in a way that conflicts with photographs, the race section of various forms I've filled out over the years, the memories of people who've met me, etc.? Can I put aside the fact that my family would no longer recognize me, and that even if I could convince them I was the same person, it would be awkward to suddenly be a different race from them? Can I put aside the psychological baggage from having spent my formative years as a minority?

If I can put all of those things aside, then yes, I would absolutely become white if I could (I'm already cismale, fortunately). If the bottom line here isn't, "would you use a bizarre sci-fi device to alter yourself?", but rather, "would you rather be a white male than what you are now?", then my answer is a definite yes, I would rather be white than black.

 

[NobleSavage]

For this hypothetical, can I ignore the practical complications of completely changing my appearance in a way that conflicts with photographs, the race section of various forms I've filled out over the years, the memories of people who've met me, etc.? Can I put aside the fact that my family would no longer recognize me, and that even if I could convince them I was the same person, it would be awkward to suddenly be a different race from them? Can I put aside the psychological baggage from having spent my formative years as a minority?

If I can put all of those things aside, then yes, I would absolutely become white if I could (I'm already cismale, fortunately). If the bottom line here isn't, "would you use a bizarre sci-fi device to alter yourself?", but rather, "would you rather be a white male than what you are now?", then my answer is a definite yes, I would rather be white than black.

Thanks for the honest reply Unbeatable.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Misread thread title.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

Hm, tough one. I'm diluted and "pass" so it won't have much effect on me.

 

[Draconis]

This sounds like a Star Trek transporter accident storyline.

 

[RavenSky]

Hm, tough one. I'm diluted and "pass" so it won't have much effect on me.

It's funny to me how wrong I can be when I imagine what people look like from just their words. Definitely never thought of you as anything other than a dayglo white dude.

 

[tantric]

Question - do you consider a person's culture fixed or can he change it by immersion in another culture?

 

[crispy]

Can I use the device on other people? I know a couple of persons who would benefit from seeing a new perspective....

 

[EricK]

Changing oneself throws open a lot of issues (as others have pointed out). But perhaps we can sidestep them by asking a similar question: If you could choose the sex and race of your child-to-be would you?

Certainly in the sub-section of society in which I live, women (who presumably have some idea of what it's like to be a woman in this society) do not, generally, hope that their child is a boy (obviously some do, and some hope for a girl, but most don't seem to care). This suggests that, at least as far as gender is concerned, there's not much to choose - at least compared to the sort of society where women do hope to conceive a male child.

Race is a little trickier as people generally don't comment on what race they hope their baby turns out to be. But my feeling is that mixed-race couples do not, generally, have a preference as to which parent their children most resemble.