IAMA 21 year old Asian girl with Albinism. AMA

Albino or not, still hawt.

Kewl, thx!! :>

how does it feel when people stare at u? (being an average height brown guy, i clearly dont stand out). Does it make u feel good? bad? nothing?

I've gotten used to it, I barely notice it nowadays.

Usually the people I'm with will be the ones to point it out if at all.

People used to make and ask some pretty ignorant comments and questions, but that was when I was younger and had completely white hair. It offended me at first, but even after a while I got used to that too.

"Why are you so white?" "LOOK! An Asian blonde!" "Is she real?" Blah blah.

Are you able to get tan?

Nope. I just burn. :(

Japanese? I assume this would be a really big deal in Japan, don't they really value light skin?

Taiwanese. :)

Yeah, I think a lot of Asians actually envy it. I remember being in Asia and overhearing girls talk about how light my skin was, and almost fawning over it. Here in the US, it seems that I tend to get the most looks from fellow Asians as well. I think they're just curious, maybe confused.

I'm a pale Irish girl and I lived in Taiwan for a couple of years... The women there LOVED my skin. I'm sure you'd be envied in Taiwan.

Wow, awesome!

That must've been a pretty great experience. :D

Has it actually effected your life very much in a negative way? Was it hard to make friends going through school?

I think your very beautiful by the way, your uniqueness is very attractive.

I think most of the negative impact has been self-imposed. I gained a pretty cynical perspective on many things and I think that made me close myself off to many opportunities, such as making friends.

I'm getting better about it though. I'm learning more and more about myself and my tendencies, and growing from it each day.

well i wish you the best of luck! it seems you have tons of support coming from reddit. And if your ever in the hollywood area and want to make a new friend just drop me a pm!

Thanks!

I'm always down to make new Redditor friends! :D Take care!

DO A GW! Ive never seen an albino gw

HEH...

Been there, done that. Don't go looking for it though. It's not posted anymore. :S

Do you have any photos of you with no dyed hair? I know you have one below in a photobooth, it's pretty small.

I'm blonde myself...but I'm white, curious to see how it is on a Asian person

No others that I can get a hold of at the moment. Sorry!

Do you feel like your condition has negatively influenced your quality of life at all?

Copied & pasted from other comment:

I think most of the negative impact has been self-imposed. I gained a pretty cynical perspective on many things and I think that made me close myself off to many opportunities, such as making friends. I'm getting better about it though. I'm learning more and more about myself and my tendencies, and growing from it each day.

How many times a day do you get told that you're gorgeous? Because I don't think it's enough.

Haha, aw, that's so sweet.

Definitely not on a daily basis!! I do get compliments on my hair and eyes pretty regularly. Not unexpected though, I mean, it's a pretty unique thing for an Asian.

What do you think of the movie 'Powder'?

Hm. I don't really have an opinion. I've never seen the film.

It's about an Albino boy with superpowers right? And everyone ostracizes him? I think its kind of weird that movies like that would portray people with Albinism to have superpowers or demonic. But I guess Hollywood just feels that our appearance really suits characters like that.

I do know that the Albinism community tends to get pretty offended about the way media portrays us. Like DaVinci Code or Malfoy from Harry Potter (which I personally dont understand, because I don't think they ever implied that he had Albinism).

Do you ever want to be as other Asians?

Other Asians? Not really. I actually kind of like the fact that I stand out from other Asians.

From time to time, I do wish I was more "normal" though. For example, I'd like to have decent, or at least correctable, vision like everyone else. I'd like to stay outside for long periods of time without sun protection, maybe if I didn't have Albinism I'd have more confidence and self-esteem. Etc etc.

what is wrong with your vision and why can't it be fixed like everyone else's?

I remember reading somewhere that the difference in vision in people with albinism is lacking detail e.g old cellphone cam (320 x 240) vs 1080p. People with correctable vision still have 1080p with the lens out of focus. That lens can be refocused using laser surgery, glasses, or contacts. You cannot increase the pixel count on a low res image though. This is caused in albinos by the eye not developing correctly due to lack of melanin.

That is what I understand of it, if anyone is an expert, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I think you're pretty much spot on about it. :)

I'm no science expert. I don't know much more about the genetics of it all.

Say you meet a wizard in downtown Chicago. The wizard tells you he can make you more attractive if you pay him money. When you ask how this process works, the wizard points to a random person on the street. You look at this random stranger. The wizard says, "I will now make them a dollar more attractive." He waves his magic wand. Ostensibly, this person does not change at all; as far as you can tell, nothing is different. But--somehow--this person is suddenly a little more appealing. The tangible difference is invisible to the naked eye, but you can't deny that this person is vaguely sexier. This wizard has a weird rule, though--you can only pay him once. You can't keep giving him money until you're satisfied. You can only pay him one lump sum up front.

How much cash do you give the wizard?

I'll keep my cash in my pocket. :>

Some complain about the place down there looks like roast beef on Asians, as the outside is brown, the inside is pink. I don't recommend this, but you are prime age, size, gender and whiteness to get into J-porn.

Hm. Interesting. Thanks for letting me know. O_O

Why did you get a nose piercing?

I like nose piercings.