A Double Life
Forewarning: I'm salty today and just needed to write this post.
So, I was watching Orphan Black and suddenly I hear something. A character said, "twins are just creepy" and it got me thinking, why are twins creepy? There's an underlying trope of twins within scary stories and movies, twins are just creepy, right? Wrong. Freud's The Uncanny addresses the familiar as being a source of the uncanny (eerieness) which results in an unsettling feeling. So, the familiarity and naturalness of twins are what makes them creepy? Maybe. I don't really know. I'm just pondering as I write this blog post because twins are the most natural thing on earth, just like any other human, but are inherently different. I can't say why this is, but I can address some common misconceptions about twins because us twins are tired of the same old BS. So, listen closely while I spill the tea.
Here's me (left) and Tammy (right).
Prepare to see the stupidity of non-twins.
Exhibit A:
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| Source: found on tumblr. |
Common twin misconceptions:
- You will be called by the wrong name at some point in your life. Yes, it happens and it's annoying. Your family will do it, your friends, your teachers even if you don't look that alike and it's horrible.
- People will refer to you as 'twins' or 'the twins' instead of calling you by your names because it's easier and more convenient for them to say that even if it invalidates your existence as separate human beings.
- You'll get cards with both your names in because it's too expensive to buy two cards. And don't even get me started on joint presents. You wouldn't do it for siblings, so why do it for twins? We already share a birthday, why do we have to share your gift?
- You will get asked, "what's it like being a twin?" like you know any different. I wouldn't ask "what's it like having a sister two years older than you?" so why are you asking me something I can't physically answer. I've always been a twin. I don't know what it's like to not be a twin, so there's my answer.
- People automatically assume you're the same person with the same interest as opposed to different people who can like different things.
- They also assume that you know everything about the other.
- People will point out all the similarities and differences between you even though you're fully aware of them having grown up together for twenty-two years.
- You get asked if you have twin telepathy and can read each other's minds. It also really freaks people out if you then say the same thing at the same time.
- "Which one of you is the evil one?" Because one must be good and the other evil.
- People assume you do everything together.
- BE PREPARED. THIS IS THE WORST ONE. Somebody will ask you if you'd 'ever have a threesome with your twin?' Do I even have to say it? That's incest. It's gross and illegal and just no. Do not project your fetishes onto us. Would you sleep with your sister or brother? No. Pipe down.
No, we're not all like the girls from The Shining. We're normal human beings that just happened to share a womb, yes, so let's stop acting like idiots and treat twins with the same respect as any other human being.
Sorry for being so salty, I promise I'll try and make a happier post next time. I just needed to get this off my chest. Thank you for reading.
