Episode 5: What’s Going On? A Hair Affair
Released on June 3, 2019
Sherron: Singular?
Anthony: Yes. So I think part of that in terms of what I downplay in that is the gender queer
identity and how I express it, right? So my appearance, my expression, because
it's so masculine presenting, that oftentimes people assume that I may be part of
the LGBTQ community. But they may not necessarily think that I'm anything
beyond that. They may not assume I'm gender queer or use they, them, their
pronouns. And so I think that's something I definitely downplay. Haven't really
thought about why, but I think a large part of it is just for my own kind of safety.
Also just in terms of professionalism and what that is, how that is loosely defined,
right? I try to kind of conform to the norms in many ways. And not that I would
dress otherwise, but it is something that I think about a lot is my masculine
expression versus my gender queer, internal gender identity.
Sherron: Oh, that's a really good question and you did tip on something. You mentioned
something that we're going to be talking about later on in terms of what is
considered professional. But before we go there, I'm going to answer the
question as well. Something that I downplay while I'm at work. I do a lot of code-
switching. And when I'm in certain environments I behave, I speak and present
myself in certain ways. Mostly through speech than anything else. Because my
behavior is pretty consistent and it's pretty off the wall, but that's another story.
So I do a lot of code-switching with my speech. I'm Caribbean, I'm actually from
Jamaica. So I have a heavier Jamaican accent when I'm speaking with people
who are from Jamaica or I'm comfortable with. And then there are times when I
have this more street lingo. A lot of Ebonics come out in that. And I find that to be
very comfortable and soothing for me to have opportunities to let that out.
Sherron: And then there are times where I don't do that. I sound the way I do now. And
that's okay. And it's not that I'm hiding any part of me. It's one of those situations
where I feel like I have to fit in where I can and just blend in to some degree. And
I'm still myself. I'm not denying any part of myself, but I definitely downplay the
other ways of communicating with the world. So, thank you for answering that
question, I appreciate it.
Anthony: No, and you bring up a good point too. I think about just having grown up in
Chicago too, and how location and where you're born plays a huge role what you
hide and how you show up in the workplace. And so when I'm back home in
Chicago with my friends, I speak the lingo of the city, of where I grew up. I don't
have to explain people what juke means or what all these other different terms
mean. And so that's another piece I would probably add to my answer.
Sherron: All right. So you touched on saying that how you present yourself speaks to
professionalism. Why don't you go ahead and share with our listeners what we're
going to talk about today, some new and exciting things in the area of diversity
and inclusion.
Anthony: Yeah. So something that has come up in kind of some recent news and
headlines around diversity and inclusion, hair discrimination. And how employers
sometimes discriminate people based off of their hair texture or look or
appearance. And so this kind of came up, particularly with California being one of