Kevin Guaman
Department of English, City College of New York
ENGL 21000: Writing for the Social Sciences
Professor Timothy K. Dalton
September 25, 2021
Writing a memoir can be a challenge. The author is exposing themselves through their stories, which can be difficult to experience, and they must also make their stories interesting enough for readers to want to buy the memoirs at all. Heavy by Kiese Laymon, Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Diaz, and Fairest: A Memoir by Meredith Talusan are examples of memorable memoirs that audiences could relate to and enjoy reading. Out of the three choices, the book I choose to read is Talusan’s memoir. I would like to read “Fairest” because it will help me know more about being transgender, race, and immigration.
The topic of becoming transgender is one of the focal points in Talusan’s memoir. After looking at the cover of the book in one of our activities, the book was bright, rainbow colored, and had a large eyelash in the front. The rainbow represents the LGBTQ+ flag due to her story involving the community. The blurb confirmed that she transitioned from a boy to a girl. This interested me because it relates to my past. I considered transitioning just like she did. I can relate to the process of figuring out if transitioning is the best option. For example, in her article “The Cover of My Face”, Talusan brings up how the thought of how her looks would be perceived if she did transition was a factor in her decision (Talusan, 2020). This is an interesting thought because I thought the same thing. I went through the same process. It helps me know that it was not just me experiencing this. However, I never ended up going through with it. The part where a person must decide what to do with this revelation is where our paths diverge. I decided not to go through with it while she decided to transition. Reading more about the journey she went through as she transitioned and the changes that came from her decision makes for an interesting story that puts me in someone else’s shoes. I can also learn the difficulties that come from joining the LGBTQ+ community. There are still those that have a problem with anyone being anything other than straight. I grew up hearing the negative comments about being gay and the word being used in a derogatory way. I believe reading about her experiences would help me better understand the challenges and the lives of those who decide to transition from one gender to another.
Race is another factor in Talusan’s journey that she discusses in her book. According to “The Cover of My Face”, She mentions how albinism made her appear whiter and how that gave her more advantages (Talusan, 2020). The usual stories involving race are about the discrimination they suffer due to their skin color and culture. I can’t relate to this as much as many people growing up as minorities. Race is a topic that can become uncomfortable for people, but I want to learn more about the issues with race to be able to understand everyone who suffered from this discrimination. However, the difference between the usual stories and Talusan’s story is that Talusan went through a unique situation where she was perceived as white because of her condition. This brought benefits to her that she may have never received if she looked Filipino. This is a unique perspective that no one can really experience. It makes me want to read the memoir to know more about what the advantages were, how it started, and how she handled it emotionally.
Finally, immigration is a topic Talusan had to experience that is a part of her memoir. Talusan had to leave her home in order to go to the United States. During an interview, she discussed how it was difficult leaving her home and her family to have more opportunities in the United States (CNN Philippines, 2021). This doesn’t directly relate to me because I was born in the United States. However, my family is full of immigrants that had no choice but to leave their homes at a young age in order to get the opportunities they couldn’t find back home. I heard the stories and the struggle of having to grow up quickly and learn how to survive while also providing for the rest of the family back home. The emotions and problems faced as an immigrant is something I can never truly know because I wasn’t born outside the United States. However, I do believe knowing the stories of immigrants is important because understanding the experience can help everyone understand their point of view. Also, there was a part of her memoir where she discussed leaving the Philippines and how even with the opportunities, would she be happy if it meant leaving all she loved behind (Talusan, 2020, pp. 99). This is a perspective that I never would have learned if I didn’t read this page from her memoir. She doesn’t want to leave and believes that she is leaving behind happiness by immigrating to the United States. Everyone thinks getting the opportunities will make anyone want to go with no regrets. Instead of that, she thought about not going and staying in her home country to be happy. I can learn more about the experience of others and reading about her experience is a good way to learn it.
Therefore, Fairest: A Memoir by Meredith Talusan is the book I choose due to it helping me understand immigration, race, and being transgender. Her memoir goes through each of these topics and I can relate to them due to my experiences growing up and I want to learn more about the topics. Her memoir can help me understand the topics through a different point of view. This is significant because learning about different points of view and different experiences will help me be able to learn about different challenges, benefits, and be able to understand experiences others go through in their lives.
Citations
CNN Philippines. (2021, July 12). Fil-Am author Meredith Talusan talks about her memoir “Fairest” | New Day [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBPKGQVJx0&t=11s
Talusan, M. (2020, March 10). The Cover of My Face. Guernica. Retrieved from https://www.guernicamag.com/the-cover-of-my-face/
Talusan, M. (2020). Fairest: A Memoir (pp. 99). Penguin Books.
Original: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C6UmdjcWUkqLmjmLcTsEACW7BF5-Vti0eY9xoxACiNo/edit
