If you went to Twitter.com today, you may have noticed the trend for names by Hilaria Baldwin.
Well, you may have been under the impression that Hilaria is Spanish. On the one hand, several articles (and Google) say that she was born in Majorca.
Her official biography on her agency’s website also says she was born in Spain.
She hinted that she moved from Mallorca to go to NYU.
She said people asked if she really is her nanny, “blond hair, blue-eyed children” – because she speaks to them in Spanish.
Hell, she can’t even remember the word for cucumber!
“I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain,” she clarified.
In the Instagram video, she addressed her accent apparently changing – saying it came from being raised as a bilingual. “It’s one of those things that I’ve always been a little bit insecure about […] If I get nervous, or get upset, then I start mixing the two. “
As for the name, she continued: “In this country, I would use the name Hilary. In Spain, I would use the name Hilaria […] I identify with Hilaria more, because that’s what my family calls me. “
“Yes, I am a white girl. Let’s make it clear that Europe has a lot of whites there. My family is white. Ethnically, I am a mixture of many, many things. Culturally, I grew up with two cultures. So, it’s really as simple as that. “
“In the past, I was very frustrated when reporters reported this or that, and I tried to be very clear – and they said, ‘Oh, you were born in Spain.'”
Hilaria then continued her story, where she said: “I am so tired. I am going back to my family because I have not been a very good mother, spending a lot of time focusing on this and I just want to be alone. So, I love you and I will end with one long time. “
Looking at Hilaria’s tweets, it seems that she made a great effort to never explicitly say that she is Spanish – but she came very close:
The whole thing sparked a conversation about why pretending to be an immigrant, especially from a non-English speaking country, is problematic:
We’ll keep you posted if there are any more updates.
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