> As an immigrant and woman, I have often felt like a lone barometer in gauging the importance of a lot of issues around gender, race and culture. This really

> As an immigrant and woman, I have often felt like a lone barometer in gauging the importance of a lot of issues around gender, race and culture. This really stains the author's credibility (a statement which would, I'm sure, be met with shocked incredulousness from her). One's imagined "identity" has precisely zilch to do with any discussion where truth is being investigated. If you want to relate an experience ("I was harassed on the job"), then by all means do so; your gender (or any other attribute), if part of the story, will be just that: part of the story, without any signaling or fuss. Its importance to the related experience will be baked right into the significance of the story itself. If, however, you're trying to zero in on a bit of objective truth ("What does Apple do to handle harassment reports from employees?"), then your own attributes do not play a role. Only evidence matters, and by loudly signaling up front that you are more qualified than anyone else to analyze a question because of your "identity", you are shredding your trustworthiness as a rational analyst.