Hilaria Baldwin, who was forced to declare “I am a white girl” in December after it was revealed she’s not of Spanish descent as she had claimed for years, is now waxing philosophical about multiculturalism.
And she has some thoughts on how people who “don’t have your life experience” should behave.
“We need to normalize the fact that we are all unique-our culture, languages, sexual orientations, religions, political beliefs are ALLOWED TO BE FLUID. No two of us are completely alike,” she wrote on Instagram.
After spending time with her relatives for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the New York wellness personality and yoga studio owner, who’s married to actor Alec Baldwin, came away feeling ... validated. Very validated.
“We talked about how we grew up, our languages, our cultures-multi& very valid. We discussed belonging& how there are people who want to deny others their right to belong,” she explained.
“When you are multi, it can feel hard to belong. You are constantly going back and forth, trying to be more this or more that. You feel you have to explain why you are the way you are, trying to fit into a world of labels when there might not be one that perfectly defines you. You will never quite fit in because the other parts of you shape and influence all your parts.”
Baldwin, who has six “Baldwinitos” with her husband, was born in Boston and grew up spending time in both Massachusetts and Spain — hence the name Hilaria, instead of her birth name, Hillary. And her changing accent. And that claim that she was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
“I’ve seen chatter online questioning my identity and culture,” the 37-year-old said on Instagram in December. “I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain.”
But on Thursday, she wrote that multiculturalism is “not a light switch” a person can turn on and off, calling it “more of a sliding dial that simply shifts through a rainbow of colors.” (Where is the gentle-sigh emoji?)
She lobbied for the right to individual expression but then had a few, ahem, suggestions for people who are not her or her family.
“People who don’t have your life experience can: 1. Accept it at face value & move on 2. Be curious & want to learn 3. Connect & find similarities to relate to,” she wrote. “What they shouldn’t do is devalue. You are valid, worthy &you don’t need to explain or get into the uncomfortable ‘prove it’ conversation. You don’t owe that to anyone.”
Hilaria and Alec Baldwin are expecting a baby boy, their third child together.
“People will try to find reason to invalidate you, therefore their attacks seem justified in their eyes. They can hate, poke fun & shame-because you ‘asked for it’ through your audacity to be you,” she wrote, possibly still miffed about having to take a month off from social media in the wake of last year’s brouhaha. “What I had to learn through a very painful experience is that many people relate.”
She added: “You don’t need to be this and then that, switching, dancing to the beat of someone else’s drum. You can be 100% you all the time. Ebb &flow, in your brilliant fluidity, as your very legitimate you.”
So it sounds as if Baldwin has made a decision to present herself as herself. Whoever that self may be.
