Kailey+S’s+2015+OpEd+Article

=** Twin Stereotypes **=



“So do you guys have like, twin telepathy?”

“If I punch you, will the other one feel it?”

I cannot express how irksome these ridiculous inquiries are. Especially in those instances where my earnest promise that “the other one” won’t feel it is inadequate, and the disbelieving interrogator decides to take matters into their own hands by punching me in the arm. Of course she won’t feel it. We are not one person and we do not have some kind of supernatural bond.

While these questions of transcendental curiosity are often insincere (I’m hoping?) and their obvious answers are already common knowledge, it is the genuine misconceptions and expectations that are the most vexatious of all. The most obvious example is the all too frequent assumption that twins are the same person, represented in two bodies. We are thought to have the same likes and dislikes, the same strengths and weaknesses, the same hobbies and talents, the same personality traits, essentially the same soul, while, in actuality, we are two completely separate and completely individual human beings. Sure, my sister and I generally have the same taste in books, movies, and music, but this is only because we spend so much time together and have grown up having been exposed to and experiencing the same things; it has nothing to do with the fact that we are genetically identical. This can be proved by the fact that there are certain preferences we do not share. The amount of times I have been asked “do you and your sister share all of your clothes?” is actually incalculable. However, contrary to the popular belief that everything in our closets is interchangeable, we have completely different fashion senses and wardrobe preferences. Another example of this is the notion that we have all of the same friends and stick to the same social circles. Whenever I go somewhere without my sister I am mercilessly bombarded with “Oh, nice to see you...where’s Meghan?”, as though I am incomplete without her. But, believe it or not, we are different people who have different friends and prefer to attend different social excursions. Additionally, we have different hobbies, pastimes, attributes, and personalities which I will not bore you with, but can be affirmed by anyone who knows us (or any other twins for that matter) on a personal level.

However, this clear distinction does not stop my closest friends and even family members from referring to us as “the twins”, as though we are a single unit, not two individuals but two parts of a whole. Imagine you are a female who has a brother, and in context you were referred to as “the siblings”. Does it not seem awkward and insensitive? Do you not deserve to be mentioned as individuals? Though I doubt it is intended to have an offensive impact, it is sometimes disheartening to be categorized as one person when we are so clearly two.

Am I implying that if you cannot tell my sister and I apart that my psyche is going to dissolve and I am going to suffer from crippling depression? Of course not. I understand that we look the same and seem to be similar people. But next time, before you ask ludicrous questions about a metaphysical link or assume twins share the same lifestyle, take into consideration that we are two separate, unique people who just happen to be derivatives of one egg.