Pass Over

This summer I visited my friend Jonathan who recently moved to New York. He lives in Harlem and each day we took the train to Manhattan to sight see and check out the city. I have never been to New York or seen been to a city as fast-paced and crowded. I tried to fit in as smoothly as possible so I dressed a little edgier than usual, wore my camera slung around my side rather than around my neck, researched my directions prior to hitting the streets and tried not to drop my jaw at the sight of breathtaking sky scrapers.

I tried to pass as a native New Yorker. I attempted to swim in the sea of business commuters and fashion forward individuals who filled the underground train system and swept the busy streets.

The class discussion that compared passing and covering made me immediately think of my New York trip and my attempt as passing as a local. I was constantly reminded that I was hiding my slight Texan accent and my excited physical reactions.

People do it every day: hide a stigmatized trait in order to pass as something they are not. A pale black woman passing as white. A deaf man reading lips and nodding along in order to pass as being able to hear. A lesbian passing as straight in a room of conservative people. A born and raised Texas passing as a New York native.

Passing can occur anywhere. If you walk into a high-end department store looking for an expensive item, you don't usually wear old flip flips and a torn-up shirt. If you go to a rock concert you probably won't wear a cowboy hat and wranglers. If you are going to a football game you won't wear the business suit you wore to work. You want to be treated as you belong there so you dress, act and talk like you do. You are passing as a buyer, a rocker, a fan, even though you may not be.

These are just simple examples, but passing occurs in more serious situations dealing with race, sexuality, religion and so on. Due to the limits and standards that our society has created over time we create an outer image that we want others to read, even if it doesn't match up internally.