Thanks for the questions, VD.

Does it happen everywhere I go? Less so in groups of Millennials of colour; mostly in interactions with older Gen X newcomers from west Asia. I think it's something about my buzzcut and mad taste in hoodies and steel-toe boots. There's an intersection of sexism and racism that makes it difficult to see me as an Asian woman.

Do people of my own race look past me? All sorts of people look past me, each for their own set of reasons, but newcomer Iranians stare. They ask questions. They want to know what made me like this. They just don't understand why a pretty girl like me would cut her hair and wear such boyish clothes. Presumably, I am an Iranian unicorn.