Eyes and ‘I’

Eyes and ‘I’ is about, making visibile invisibilised elements of seeing and identity. From the perspective of a second-generation Chinese Canadian self-identifying womxn, this story hopes to unpack layers of making sense of identity as it relates to the experience of seeing and being seen. It explores the myriad of steady internal meanings that can be unseen in disparity with the ‘confident certainty’ of how others see us. What does it mean to see what we see? What is beyond that which meets the eye? What is behind the ‘I’ that we see? I (Karen) reflect/s on the intersecting elements of carrying multiple identities that point towards a middling standpoint that affords a privileged agile latitude of accessing opportunities and therefore perspectives. I reflect upon what it can mean to self-identify as a Han Chinese-passing Canadian, born attending to how beings call to attention dissonant narratives that reflect differently felt on the inside.