Episode 24.

How to handle being a token in the workplace or social groups you find yourself in.

Being a token means your representation in a group masks policies or beliefs that contradict your equality in that group. In terms of sexism or racism, a woman who is a person of colour could disguise sexist and/or racist policies in the workplace or a community.

I discuss four signs of a group that indicate tokenism is present and how these signs reflect certain beliefs and behaviours. Directly looking at what these beliefs and behaviours mean can provide a way to view and handle being a token.

Further, I use the wisdom from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in his book, How to be an Anti-Racist, to evaluate your relationship with tokenism. There is an immense amount of unconscious burden we can put on ourselves when dealing with tokenism. And recognising the behavioural constructs in a group can help alleviate it.

I’m T. Vyas (she/her), you can call me "T" because most people do. I’m, as you’ve guessed, a person of colour who looks forward to chatting with you about some things identity, some things colour and ALL things Love! Tune in Tuesdays for a new episode! In the meantime, you can find me on Instagram @bareinmind.podcast or at the blog: bareinmindpodcast.com.