On Not Being Scottish or Australian

Thought I ought to say this upfront for some reason: I am non-binary. I don’t identify as a Man or as a Woman. That might be important later.

Hi everyone, I don’t identify as Scottish or Australian. That might be important later.

I was born in Scotland, and that’s enough for a lot of people to say they think I’m Scottish. There’s a crowd of people who say that that’s what it takes. If you were born Scottish, you’re Scottish forever, and nothing you can do or say can change that. Most people, when they meet me, they hear my accent and they think I’m Scottish, and they think that’s what makes me Scottish. Others say that I’m Scottish because I have a Scottish citizenship, and there are others that say because the doctor said “Yep, he’s Scottish” and then put it on a form, that that makes me Scottish.

But, people also think I’m Australian. I moved so young that I have an Australian twang to my accent, and when I go back to Scotland they think I’m Australian. One of my parents is Australian, so I have an Australian citizenship. I wasn’t born here, and my birth certificate says I’m Scottish, but it turns out that in my day-to-day life that’s not what people look at when they’re trying to determine if I’m Scottish or not.

But, there’s a few people who argue that the important thing about being Australian is that you were born here, and they say you can’t be Australian otherwise. They say that there’s something about the experience of being always Australian, that because the doctor took a look at you and said “Australian” or looked at your organs and said they look Australian, that you know what it is to be Australian. If they do that, then people interact with you in that way people do when they interact with Australians. Its those people interacting with you from day zero that make you truly Australian.

They also say that even if you exist in the world and people say you look Australian, and you got Australian put on all your documents, and you had a XXXX stubby every morning to make your organs more Australian, that you’ll never know what its like to really be Australian. This group of people call themselves “Society Explainers”. Now, not all Society Explainers, and definitely not the broader group of “Explainers” think its impossible for someone to become an Australian, and they definitely think it’s possible for Explainers to be from Scotland, even though Explainers tend to focus on the Australian experience. Many Explainers recognise that someone can become Australian, and also then have experience of what it is like to be Australian, and not only meaningful Explanations to give, but also need and benefit from the work of Explainers.

This may be controversial but I’ll call these “Society Explainers” that exclude new Australians, “Australian Reactionary Society Explainers” or ARSEs. These people think it’s not possible to become Australian, particularly if you’re Scottish. They’ve heard that some people may not be either Scottish or Australian, or that some Australians want to become Scottish, but they don’t really focus on those people. They’re upset and angry that immigrants are saying they were once seen as Scottish, but are now Australians.

ARSEs don’t have particularly consistent beliefs about what makes a person Scottish. A lot of them think its because you were “born Scottish” but aren’t super clear about whether that’s defined by the Doctor at birth, or is more difficult to determine. This is because sometimes it is hard to tell if someone is Biologically Scottish, rather than just appearing externally Scottish. The ARSEs typically wave this away, saying its an anomaly, or doesn’t constitute a new Nationality or whatever, but sometimes Nationality isn’t clear.

The kicker here is that the ARSEs don’t believe that any of the other signs, like your citizenship, or how people percieve you, or where you grew up, are important to Nationality at all. Once your Nationality is fixed, it can never change, and so any changeable aspect of Nationality is suspect. In fact, while they believe Nationality is real, they don’t believe the cultural aspects of being Australian or Scottish are. Culture, to them, isn’t real. They believe that the lines drawn on a map that define the borders of Scotland mean there’s definite places you can point to and say “if someone was born here, they’re Scottish”. To be fair, those lines were drawn earlier than the really fuzzy lines that define the culture of Scotland. Mind you, the map of Scotland was drawn arbitrarily and not that long ago. Many of the traits that constitute Biological Scottish-ness weren’t even named or known 200 years ago. For me, this makes the Scottish nationality, as unreal as the Scottish culture.

In fact, I don’t identify as either Scottish or Australian. I recognize that I was born “in” Scotland and the doctor said I was Scottish, and yes, I did move to Australia, but not willingly. I don’t recognise that my cultural identification really changed, I just know I sometimes sound and act and feel Australian. I think it’s more accurate to say I don’t really want to be related to either Scotland or Australia. Many ARSEs will hear this and say “AHA, the cultural aspects aren’t REAL anyway, NOBODY truly fits the mould 100% of being Australian or Scottish!!!” But my response to that is that I welcome and affirm people that feel Scottish, and I don’t think many people, when they say they’re Scottish, think that it truly defines them in a fixed way. An ARSE will say they think society imposes on them their Australian culture, based on their fixed biology, and while they identify as fixed Biological Australians, that destroying the idea of Culture, is needed. The difference between me and an ARSE is I don’t believe the map of Scotland helps us identify Scottish people any more than a Scottish accent does.

I’ve found that Scottish immigrants in Australia often know this more than anyone, and often do more to break down the idea that there’s such a thing as a Cultural Australian. I support immigration, and I support people living in Scotland and saying they are Scottish. I recognise that this in itself will change the character of Scotland culturally, and I like that. You needn’t be born in Scotland (which was just defined as “objective” lines on a map that actually changed in 1999) to be Scottish. I think if you want to be Scottish, there should be an easy path to Scottish citizenship. ARSEs say this doesn’t really make you Scottish, but, why do they even care, given this is what they’d call a Cultural aspect?

An interesting thing is that Explainers generally recognize that the oppression of Australians that happens day to day, is based on how people are percieved as Culturally Australian - the biological aspects of Australians are often not visible. An Australian name on a resume may lead to a rejection. It’d seem in this way, Australians, immigrant or not, benefit from the struggle of Explainers and Society Explainers alike.

What’s even more interesting is that your biology can be changed if you drink enough Buckfast tonic wine, so that you look and sound like you were born in Scotland. It used to be that doctors would point at some of these traits and say “yep, this baby is Scottish” but the ARSEs have since said, no no no, those Biological things aren’t the TRUE Biological things that make you Scottish. The truth is that Biology often has fuzzy edges, and you only need look at how species are defined or whether viruses are alive to know this.

ARSEs say the Scottish are a violent people, which shouldn’t be allowed into Australia. The truth is that Scottish people do commit a lot of horrific crime that must be addressed. What’s interesting is that ARSEs say that Scottish people shouldn’t be allowed into Australian prisons, but they focus on the Scottish people that become Australians, rather than the Scottish people that work in Australian prisons. Many ARSEs seem utterly transfixed by the idea that…