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"Yesterday, a photo of an interracial couple in our Would You Rather post sparked a bit of conversation in the comments, and I&amp;#x27;d love to chat a little more about it today. My parents were (they&amp;amp;#8217;re divorced) an interracial couple and as a kid I was pretty bothered that the parents on television never looked like mine. Even now, it&amp;amp;#8217;s not often we see interracial couples on TV shows or in movies. And when we do, their different ethnicities are often used as a plot device. It&amp;amp;#8217;s pretty frustrating; these portrayals suggest that the biggest conflicts interracial couples face arise from the color of their skin. It&amp;amp;#8217;s surprising to think about the small number of interracial couples featured on shows and film when considering the people around you. Quite a few of my friends and family members are in relationships that are likely labeled as interracial. And then there&amp;amp;#8217;s the word &amp;amp;#8220;interracial.&amp;amp;#8221; Does it ever rub you the wrong way? For me, it feels strange to place a label like that on the word relationship. Sure, there&amp;amp;#8217;s a &amp;amp;#8220;serious&amp;amp;#8221; relationship, a &amp;amp;#8220;long-distance&amp;amp;#8221; relationship, even a &amp;amp;#8220;casual&amp;amp;#8221; relationship. But interracial feels almost clinical, as if we&amp;amp;#8217;re describing something devoid of emotion. Chris and I are often asked about our ethnicities, and while I don&amp;amp;#8217;t think people mean any harm by it, we&amp;amp;#8217;re still put off about the forwardness of complete strangers. I think the curiosity these strangers have is that we almost &amp;amp;#8220;pass&amp;amp;#8221; for white. Have you heard of that term, &amp;amp;#8220;passing?&amp;amp;#8221; I first learned about it years ago in a LGBT class and then later in an African-American Literature course. Essentially, it refers to the way an individual is perceived by others, for example a gay man might &amp;amp;#8220;pass&amp;amp;#8221; for straight or someone with fair features might &amp;amp;#8220;pass&amp;amp;#8221; as white, even though he or she identifies with a specific ethnicity. So while my husband and I are both of the children of interracial couplings, we often pass for white. Yet, when an inquisitive stranger notices something, perhaps the shape of my eyes or the warm color of Chris&amp;amp;#8217; skin, they&amp;amp;#8217;ll feel compelled to approach us and ask us if we&amp;amp;#8217;re the &amp;amp;#8220;same.&amp;amp;#8221; Seriously. My sweets, I&amp;amp;#8217;d love to discuss interracial couples with you. Is it still an issue in 2010? Do you think there should be more interracial couples featured in shows or movies? If you&amp;amp;#8217;ve ever been in an interracial relationship, did anyone ever give your grief for it? P.S. Thanks so much for sharing your feedback yesterday. For the record, I think all couples who care about each other are beautiful. Further reading&amp;amp;#133; * A new study finds there are more interracial marriages than ever! * Does race matter when it comes to love? * Here&amp;amp;#8217;s where to find interracial cake toppers for your wedding! More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photos from top: Creatas and Jupiter Images"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2010/10/get-serious-lets-talk-about-in>