Invisible Things

by Mat Johnson

Nalini, watching at home, was certain the female host was not biologically blond, but fastidiously performing blondness as a loyalty display, to demonstrate allegiance to the power structure, membership in which was dependent on subservience. It required making a concerted effort to bleach her hair weekly to the exact shade of blond that visually signified she accepted both the benefits and limitations of being a Beneficiary woman in the patriarchal Founders Party. To take her adult hair and strip its melanin until it was reduced to an artificial shade that harked back to the transitory pale hair of Northern European children, simultaneously accomplishing both an ethnic alliance and an embracing of prepubescent-level status signaling. Compared with her male counterparts, the woman’s vocal tone was more aggrieved and uncompromising, which Nalini identified as a key indicator of Opportunistic Overcompensation, yet another term she had coined while watching Bob sell his soul for personal gain.