Interesting in paragraph 2. I had always thought of "is it good for the Jews?" as being about advancing the Jewish agenda (whatever that might be—I guess I thought of it as being in the eye of the questioner), not "is it good PR?". But when you put it that way, it certainly makes sense.
Maybe "otherness" is about whether bad PR for your group has to reflect on you or whether you can shrug it off. I worry to some extent about J Lo or the Pope making me look bad, but my group(s's) image is not as much of a concern for me as it is for some.
That said, as long as hearing my name leads people to change their behavior toward me I won't feel like I can pass. I'm inclined to say that if you have to worry about passing, you've got a problem. One of my biggest fights with my now-ex who wanted me to move to the sticks came when he said, "But why does it bother you so much [that there wouldn't be people like me there]? It's not as if you can't pass." Just the fact of having to worry about it is a burden.
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Date: 2009-02-11 05:20 pm (UTC)Maybe "otherness" is about whether bad PR for your group has to reflect on you or whether you can shrug it off. I worry to some extent about J Lo or the Pope making me look bad, but my group(s's) image is not as much of a concern for me as it is for some.
That said, as long as hearing my name leads people to change their behavior toward me I won't feel like I can pass. I'm inclined to say that if you have to worry about passing, you've got a problem. One of my biggest fights with my now-ex who wanted me to move to the sticks came when he said, "But why does it bother you so much [that there wouldn't be people like me there]? It's not as if you can't pass." Just the fact of having to worry about it is a burden.