party like barack star, party like barack star...

...party like barack star!

I know, it's silly...something my roommate said to me yesterday, and I thought it was goofy, but still kinda cute (dontcha think?). And since today is the Potomac Primary, I'm gonna talk politics. Well, sort of.

I started proudly wearing my Barack '08 button on Sunday, after my BF bought it off some eager canvasser in my neighborhood. But I've noticed for months leading up the the primaries, even before I could get my hands on a button, much less a sticker, folks have been approaching me in a manner suggesting they're 100-percent certain I'm a Barackian...and by "folks" I mean mostly random people who don't know me from Adam. At work: "sooooo, you're voting aren't you? Barack?" At brunch: "Do you want the Barack Pancake Special?" And of course just about everywhere else from the drugstores to my metro stop to U Street bars.

And I figure I look the part of a Barackian. I fit the 'stereotype' I suppose. It goes without saying...I'm a young (is 29.9 still considered young?), professional black (or biracial. Not quite sure what they're calling us these days) woman and I DO give off that "I'm all about change" aura. And I figure it's impossible that I'm a McCainiac, and unlikely that I'm a Clintonite. But I wanna know why? Oh screw it, it's because I'm black, isn't it?

And I'm okay with shouting from the rooftops "I'm for Barack" and "I love Barack" and "I think Barack's haircut and signature pointy hand gesture are cute," but I want it to be on my terms. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm okay with strangers asking and assuming and offering me Obama-flavored pancakes. Nevermind that it seems slightly unethical for people to assume and openly ask about my political preferences. Our director here at work announced he was "for Barack" last week in our staff meeting, and then motioned for everyone around the table to say who they were "for." Uncomfortable! It was like The Wave until it landed on my boss and she said, with her feathers ruffled, "Isn't this illegal?"

Am I being ultra-sensitive? What's my point anyway? I guess in past election years I was either too young or too indifferent for any of this campaign madness to matter as much as it does this year. No, that's not my point.

It's more personal. I loathe being neatly boxed and labeled and figured out, particularly based on my age and appearance, and the assumption that I'm a progressive, left-wing, Green, organic, eco-forward-thinking, sustainable liberal. I'm uncomfortable with strangers being "sure about" me. And ever since I was taunted in middle school about my chest being too flat and my skirt too long, I've since not been the type to need to fit in or hang with the popular kids, and why start now? And that's my point...and so i've made it all about me. HA! Well, it's MY blog.

Photo from Harper's Bazaar