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Being a female in my Dominican household meant I was responsible for cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family's needs in the house, but the males were the breadwinners and did nothing but work. I never grasped the notion as the youngest of three children, and I still don't. However, as I grew older, I realized it was a partnership arrangement where my father worked to pay bills, and my mother took care of everything at home. My parents realized that segregating gender roles wasn't the best idea until my brother, sister, and I were adults. Especially for my brother, because it would mean he would have to rely on someone else to look after the house instead of doing it himself. Everyone does the cleaning in my mother's now, regardless of gender.

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Growing up, I had a hard time understanding my race. All I knew was that my ethnicity is Latinx/Hispanic. I remember hearing a family member say a racial comment about black people and I would be confused because to me they looked black as well. I told them “you know you’re black right?” and they turned to me and say “no soy Indio” (no, I’m Indian-colored) Society has taught them that being black means, violence, ugly, bad hair, and any other negative thing you can think of, but then they would call me morena/morenita (dark-skinned girl). In high school, I was open more to different races and ethnicity at the beginning of my freshmen year, I thought every person of color was Latinx. I learned more about my friend’s backgrounds and including my own. Now, I identify as Afro-Latina to represent my roots and ethnicity. I remember thinking about how I could be both Hispanic and Black. When I heard someone express themselves as Afro-Latina, I knew I felt the same.

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Discrimination based on age exists in all societies. Society tells us that at a certain age, we should have checked certain boxes. It tends to expect everyone else to follow the same path such as attending college, obtaining a decent job or career, married, having children, and purchasing a home. Our shared revelation underlined a societal belief that the finest elements of our lives, personalities, bodies, occupations, and identities should be crammed into a single decade, the short window between the ages of 20 and 30. Me, now after my 30s, I know who I am, I moved out of my parent’s house, got my apartment, returned to school, and even if I haven't done these things now, that's ok, because I am still trying to figure out where will life lead me based on my own experience rather than what society says.

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Our accent is how we express ourselves as people; it truly helps us articulate our individuality. Others can infer a lot about you from your accent, and people may treat you differently because you sound different. My first language was Spanish, which I used with my family but switched to English or Spanish with my friends and at school. When I spoke English with my friends, they mocked me for sounding "white," saying things like "you sound so proper as a teacher." I used to argue that just because I had a clear pronunciation didn't make me "sound white." Although it's amusing when a possible date says to me over the phone or in person, "you're Dominican right?" "You seem to be." It makes me wonder, "How do I sound?". We should be attentive to what we say and make an effort to evaluate our assumptions and honesty. While we may find it amusing to point out how someone's speech is related to their color, socioeconomic status, or other factors, the concepts that those comments implicitly reinforce are what allow certain groups of people to be marginalized in the first place.

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Physical appearance stereotypes have a detrimental impact on people's perceptions of their roles in the workplace, with family, friends, and even with oneself, resulting in discrimination."You don't believe you should lose weight?" said one of my family members. "You don't want your body to be done?" "Everything about you looks huge, from your hair to your butt!" I only recall telling them who permitted them to speak to me in that manner. It took me a long time to embrace myself since society often urges us not to be ourselves and to look like someone who is the total opposite. However, we are all created differently for a reason, and stereotyping must be resisted at all levels to prevent discrimination in society.