Gaysian

I heard the word for the first time today. Gaysian. I knew immediately what it meant. A gay asian. A hip blending of two things into one easy name. Like Brangelina or whatever. I work with people younger than me, like I could be their mom if I had lost my mind and had children at 20, younger than me. And I have to say, this word, Gaysian, bothered me. "Oh, Steve. He's gaysian." Could there be two less important things for me to know about Steve? Maybe I am being oversensitive, but it feels like a lazy attempt at humor. To "humorous" distill a human down to an easily digestible trendy tidbit.

As a descriptor is doesn't do much. Does he look like Pat Morita, or Daniel Kim, or Richard Lui, or Sendhil Ramamurthy? Those men are all Asian and they look nothing alike. You can tell me anything in the world to describe him and and this is what you choose? How about: Does Steve like Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich? Is he vegetarian or carnivore? Does he like the Atlanta Braves or the Detroit Tigers? What is his job? Does he like the outdoors? Which is the better trilogy, Godfather or Terminator? Why is it acceptable to freely share Steve's sexual orientation and his racial make up? Because it's cute? Because someone put a clever listing in urban dictionary?

We don't do this with straight people. My friend Maggie is white and straight. Imagine if I said, "Oh Maggie, she's whaight." or "Maggie's strite." Neither one is particularly catchy. This tells you nothing about her beautiful brown eyes, that she makes the best pecan muffins, likes horrible reality TV and is a Cubs fan. It doesn't tell you that she has a kind heart and wicked laugh.

Or my friend Amy, who is black and straight. Again. "Amy's blaight?" or "My friend Amy is strack?" Again, not catchy. What exactly do you get from that? What you don't get is that she is genuinely the happiest person I have ever met. That she is tall and beautiful and has a laugh that can fill a room. That she wants to be a prosecutor and that she likes romance novels and thai food and drives like a bat out of hell.

Maybe I'm too sensitive or looking to be bothered, but I don't think so. Don't we already have enough problems with pigeonholing people?