The supermodel, whose father is Palestinian and whose mother is Dutch, reveals that she is 'made to feel' that she is 'too white to stand up' for part of her Arab heritage in certain situations.
- Jun 15, 2021
AceShowbiz - Gigi Hadid has gotten candid about being the first generation of mixed races. In a new interview, the Dutch-Palestinian supermodel confessed to lack of guidance to becoming "a bridge" for her different ethnicities.
In a new interview with i-D published on Monday, June 14, the model opened up about her different heritages. "[She and Zayn Malik] are that first generation of those mixed races, and then that comes with that first generational experience of being like, 'Oh damn, I'm the bridge!' That's not something that my parents experienced or that they can really help me through," she explained. She then admitted, "It's something I've always thought about my whole life."
"In certain situations, I feel, or I'm made to feel, that I'm too white to stand up for part of my Arab heritage," Gigi continued. "You go through life trying to figure out where you fit in racially. Is what I am, or what I have, enough to do what I feel is right? But then, also, is that taking advantage of the privilege of having the whiteness within me, right?"
Gigi elaborated further, "Am I allowed to speak for this side of me, or is that speaking on something that I don't experience enough to know?" On how the first-time mom and Zayn planned to raise their baby girl Khai, the 26-year-old beauty revealed, "We think about it and talk about it a lot as partners and it's something that's really important to us, but it's also something that we first experienced ourselves."
Learning from her experience, Gigi said that Khai "will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities." She also stated that she thinks it will "be nice" to have conversations like this with Khai someday, "and see where she comes from [with] it, without us putting that onto her." She added, "What comes from her is what I'm most excited about, and being able to add to that or answer her questions, you know?"
Gigi's father, Mohamed Hadid, is Palestinian, and her mother, Yolanda Hadid, is Dutch. Meanwhile, Zayn's father, Yaser Malik, is British-Pakistani, and the former One Direction member's mother, Trisha Malik, is English and of Irish descent.
