Fotografo de Bodas, Santiago

August 23, 2007

I whine and complain all the time about being blond in Chile. I hate the fact that when I walk down the street I can’t look any man in the eye, much less smile, without him taking it as an open invitation to harass me. I don’t like lewd comments (ok, sometimes they’re funny, but on the sole principle of the issue, I hate them). I still have not gotten used to being stared at constantly. And Chileans have serious staring issues. You know how in the US if you catch someone staring he or she will usually look away all embarrassed? Not in this country! I’ve gotten myself involved in some full fledged staring contests because I’ll notice a man looking at me, I’ll meet his gaze thinking that will shame him into looking away, and two seconds later I’ll look back up and he’ll still be staring brazenly. At that point I am forced to say something along the lines of, “Que chucha estas mirando?!?” (What the heck are you looking at?!?). Chileans hate a public scandal so that usually makes the culprit turn red and start pretending to be really, REALLY interested in staring at the ads above the doors of the metro.

I don’t understand why Chileans are still so fascinated by blonds anyways. I know being blond with blue eyes is like their standard of beauty and all that, but being thin with fake boobs is the beauty standard in the US and that doesn’t mean that when I’m back home I openly gawk at every toothpick sized girl with fake tata’s that walks by. And I know back in the day blonds in Chile didn’t used to be so common place, but in this day and age their are tourists from all over the place running around Santiago. Blonds, blonds, blonds everywhere! Yet, they still continue to stare at the fair haired girls like we’re freaks of nature.

But, I have to admit that being blond here is way better than being black here.

I sometimes forget how racist Chileans can be. I forget because this country is so damn homogeneous.

See exhibit A (of homogeneity, not racism):

Notice how almost all the people are dark haired. The population is mostly short, with black/very brown hair and eyes, and medium color skin tones (they’re obviously not white as a baby’s butt, but in general I don’t think they’re as dark skinned as people typically think of when Latino comes to mind).

There are not a ton of different races living in Chile. This country definitely isn’t what you would call a “melting pot.” Those foreigners that do live here generally stay on the outskirts of the society. Anyone with slanty eyes is a “Chino,” or Chinese, and anyone extremely indigenous looking is an “Indio,” Indian (yeah, I probably didn’t need to translate those words for you did I?) without distinction as to where they’re actually from.

I have heard so many Chileans proudly tell me that racism doesn’t exist in Chile. I never point blank contradict them by saying, “Umm, yes it does.” All I have to do is just steer the conversation towards Peruvians and Bolivians and it usually doesn’t talk long until the racism rears it’s ugly head. The prejudices that some Chileans have towards those that come from Peru and Bolivia are much like the prejudices that some people in the US have against Mexicans or other Latino groups.

Anyways, my point being is that racism in Chile is still a hidden agenda because most Chileans don’t even think there’s a problem. But then again, most Chileans still haven’t even recognized how discriminatory their own country is to themselves! To get a job here you still have to attach a picture to your resume. And TONS of jobs will specifically request somebody with “buena presencia,” or good presence…aka you need to be attractive, aka you can’t look at all indigenous or they won’t hire you. Well, that’s tough since I’m sure like 99% of the population has indigenous blood.

Getting back to the matter at hand, racism does exist in Chile. When I was riding the metro yesterday a black man got on same car as me. There are far fewer blacks in Chile than blonds…judging by people’s reactions you would’ve thought this guy had like 7 arms or something nutty like that. But no, alas, he was not a human octopus, he was just black. When he hopped on the metro next to me, two people in the same general vicinity looked at him and then pointedly moved away. Sure, they might have moved away because that made their spot too crowded. But the whole metro was crowded. It was one of those things where I just knew by the look on their faces that they moved away because he was black. Just like when you can hear people whispering and you walk up and they stop. Even though you didn’t hear any exact words that they said, sometimes you just know they were talking about you.

As soon as the black man got on the metro nobody even paid any attention to my yellow head. They were too busy ogling this guy as if he had come from another planet. I smiled at him and he smiled back (aside from the fact that he was black, that’s how I know he was foreign too. Chilean people think that you’re going to rob them if you smile at them). I felt uncomfortable for him as people continued to stare and whisper.

And then I realized being blond isn’t all that hard.

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15 Comments

It is the same in Mexico city. only there it is Indios and JudÃos. Mexico has a huge Jewish population and even my own in-laws…specifically my cuÃ±ada who is very racist against them. How very sad that no one can remember that we are all individuals. That we all should have a chance to prove ourselves on our own merit. It definitely goes both ways since some of Edgard's "friends" said I was "la pinche gringa" and anything that I did that they didn't like was chalked up to me being white. Very frustrating!!

Comment by Rachel — August 23, 2007 @ 3:28 am

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This happens in a lot of places. Though it is still annoying to me…a Black woman.Just yesterday a co-worker mentioned that back in Ireland, her niece made some family members stop the car because a Black person was walking on the road. Apparently her niece had never seen a REAL Black person before. I was really amazed and speechless – very rare for me!I think the co-worker felt bad for the situation after having mentioned it to me so she then added that this happened about ten years ago, but still…I was amazed.

Comment by The Big Saver — August 23, 2007 @ 7:00 am

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I think it must be something about our biology expressed socially that makes us form groups and exclude those that are different. But, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to be better than our biology.

Comment by ordinarygirl — August 23, 2007 @ 7:05 am

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I need a black friend to ride the metro with me, seems to be the only thing that’ll make the passengers move out of the way.

The Spanish alternative “stare bear” is mirÃ³n tiburÃ³n, you are witnessing it’s debut appearance HERE. It’s gonna catch on baby.

>>>I don’t understand why Chileans are still so fascinated by blonds anyways.

This is a stereotypical hispanic fetish, and there have been blonds in Chile for centuries, it’s not going away anytime soon. Keep harping on it, though, if only to remind us that Chile is NOT a misplaced slice of Scandinavia.

>>>”buena presencia”

I saw dulzura as a requirement for a nanny job
…and the photo-on-resume thing happens in Spain as well.

Comment by Chileno — August 23, 2007 @ 8:18 am

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Another “fun” way to turn that conversation is to ask what ism they do have a problem with. In my experience Chileans will tell you they are not racist, they are classist. So then you ask how you can tell someones class, and you get back to skin color. Sometimes it takes going around in circles about this several times for the implications of this to set in.

The other reaction I have to this brings me back to a dialog about what is racism. As a white woman with blond hair you are set aside for your skin and hair color– but you are never in danger because of it. You are put up on a pedastal due to race, but it is not negative attention that you are attracting. You continue to have the social power in this hierarchy.

On the other hand, the black gentleman on the metro was on the other end. He was the target of racism as his race, his features, his skin tone put him lower down on the poll. He was left powerless, and although moving away did not intrinsically damage him, the truth is that racism both here in Chile and at home in the United States puts him at risk of violence and disempowerment.

Comment by Clare — August 23, 2007 @ 2:13 pm

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Also, re: ordinary girl’s comment.

I actually would say that it has nothing to do with biology. Look at babies and toddlers. They do not self-segregate.

This is a learned behavior. And it is so simple to learn as it is what we are presented with as the way things are. Let’s take TV for an example. There are extremely few shows that show integration. If it is a black family (for example the cosbys) then they are black as are most of their friends and others on the show– a few token white people. If it is a white group (for example 90210) then its all white kids and the one minority is always portrayed as different as an outsider.

The same thing happens in the US through how the school system segregates people. How neighborhoods and churches split up.

Her in Chile this is exacerbated by the racial portrayals through media and television. Not to mention the jokes used in everyday situations.

Comment by Clare — August 23, 2007 @ 2:18 pm

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Nine out of 10 Chileans feel they are discriminated against

Comment by Chileno — August 24, 2007 @ 1:40 pm

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It’s just the rarity of even seeing a black person. I lived three years in Chiloe and didn’t see more than 2 or 3 black people on the island, maybe the sam in Puerto Montt and a few in Stgo.

Comment by wareq — September 2, 2007 @ 9:19 pm

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I think this post has also to do with being very light-skinned. There are a good number of natural blonds in Chile but they are almost never light-skinned.

Comment by Anonymous — September 27, 2007 @ 9:52 pm

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hahah ok, do you speak spanish? eres otra imbecil gringa que se cree el ombligo del mundo como todos en este pais, cuando los mismo americanos encuentran feas a sus mujeres , flojas y frias, te vas a chile y te crees super estrella porque tienes los ojos azules y aqui nadie te pesca.si tanto te molesta chile vente a tu pais en decadencia , y asi nos harias un favor, lo mas probable es que te miren por fea o tonta, no por rica,yo no se en que parte de stgo vives o si no tienes amigos pero yo nunca tuve amigos negritos ni ojos oscuros todo el tiempo , hay mucha diversidad de gente, obviamente aqui en tu AMERICA, solo ves blancos sin gusto ni gracias, lamentablemte el hombre chileno es un tonto que siempre le ha gustado las rubias cola de guagua y nunca han apreciado lo que tienen. llevo viviendo 1 ano en tu pais y me estoy enfermando lo unico que quiero es volverme mi esposo es americano pero solo por nacer aqui ya que el es total mente distinto a ti y amillones de otros …. que viven aqui, que creen que son lo mejor cuando no pueden mas con sus obesidad, su enfermedades y su bajo calor humano, que no saben que es un amigo , ni menos lo que es caminar en la calle porque aqui la gente no lo hace, y las mujeres son terribles feas flojas no atienden a su esposo no son femeninas ni delicadas.
gringa nadie te quiere en chile

Comment by Anonymous — April 25, 2008 @ 12:45 pm

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racistaaaaaa!!! sorry the american people are no racist !!!!!!!
hahah they love mexican and latin people
actually the got a party for me to say : welcome to USA!!!!!!!! hahhaa

Comment by Anonymous — April 25, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

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HI I MIGHT JUST GO TO CHILE FOR A HOLIDAY R THEY THAT SCARY ….BUT THE WAY I M A SINDHI THAT MEANS NORTHERN INDIA …YES I M PROUD OF MY SKIN COLOUR …I HAVE THREE KIDS ….WILL THEY GET AFFECTED PLS TELL ME M BOOKED TO BE THERE IN FEB THKS

Comment by Anonymous — January 7, 2009 @ 11:57 am

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You realized that being blonde is not bad at all? What kind of sh*t is this to say, and some of your info is correct but some is not at all. I am black and this will be my second time going back to chile, I have live all around South America and experiences racial profiling, but in Chile, I was recieved like a KING! Yes they do harbor racist attitudes, chile is a very classist society. They speak of peruvians and bolivians with the same disdain that racist whites do blacks in the states. But Chilean women lovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeee black men, they sincerely adore us, trust me, my fiance is chilean. The only reason why they are so fascinated with “rubias” is because they want to be white and don’t like themselves. Their ideal of beauty is of a race of people who conquered their country and consider them to be inferior. So you are recieving false affirmation from a group of people who don’t like themselves, if many chileans were confident in their own identities, this lie would not fly. I have nevvvvvvvvvvvvvvver recieved any racial profiling there, especiallllllllly riding the train, if anything there stares of curiosity, so I have no idea what you are talking out. Blonde better than being a black american in chile, never in a million years. I can’t wait to get back!!

Comment by Anonymous — February 9, 2009 @ 12:01 am

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chileans have a whole inferiority complex, well latin americans in general (not all) but most.

I think media has to do a lot with this since it brainwash people everyday.

Comment by Rodrigo — March 22, 2009 @ 2:21 pm

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In Valparaiso, Chile, I can definitely tell you that it is an advantage to be a tall blond blue eyed american boy in this touristy town that has such beautiful resources, coastline, and great nightlife here in valpo. And if anyone complains of being harassed for being scandanavian looking, listen here, we have it easy. Some of my best asian friends came to visit me now that I am happily residing here.

I repeat my 2 asian friends, who are korean, and obviously they got the whole “Chino” thing. But man they did not get great vibes. Cashiers or bartenders would really only pay attention to me and wouldn’t even care about my friends. They were impressed by my korean-american friends ability to speak great spanish, but in subtle mannerisms did not respect them. How so? Ignorance, and it can really hurt people.

And this second to last post being a black guy in Chile? You know how much racism there is towards black people, it makes me sick. I’m not the one to be talking about this, but it is very sad. Do you know how many fuera negros grafiti signs there are in valpo or in santiago? It is horrible. Here is a sad example, I went to the chile argentina game 15th of october in santiago. (Chile won the game by the way :O ) but there is a half black midfielder playing for Chile, and whenever he messed up with the ball, Chileans would harass him with racial slurs and profanities. I would say just as horrible as in spain where they would do monkey chants to black players (cough: thierry henry of france). But they would hate on this half black guy, using expletives like culia negro, roto, a lot of horrible words.

Where I’m getting at, in Chile its pretty tough if you are black, asian, or just different looking in general. LIke the posts above, Chileans do have a blond haired blue eyed fetish, yes a fetish. They want to be white to say the least, great country with beautiful sites to see, but this is one thing the country needs to work on. I hear in Argentina its just as bad in the outskirts, but not as bad in buenos aires or cordoba.

Jason G.

Comment by Anonymous — May 3, 2009 @ 12:50 am

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