Recently, I was reading an article about Adriana Ricardo, the first openly bi-national woman in Brazil. She is currently a practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighter and holds the rank of “BJJ blue belt”. In her article she talks about her Nationality and how it has affected her wrestling career. She acknowledges that her Brazilian nationality (Rastafari) did not play a part in her decision to fight in the UFC. This bothered me at first because it means that she is not one of the many women fighting across the world in MMA and not being aware of the benefits or the advantages that being a citizen of another nation brings. However, after reading her article, I realized that I too have similar nationalities – American, Canadian and Japanese.
Now as a professional wrestler I understand the advantages of being from one of these countries and having the opportunity to be trained by some of the best coaches. I also appreciate the fact that I am paid the same no matter where I live in the world. But there is a certain downside to being from one of these countries and professionally wrestling, and that is not having the option to choose my partner. Being loyal to my wife, my family and my friends have also meant that I have always taken care of them first, despite not being loyal to myself. Having a partner that is not Brazilian also means I have to learn a lot of things from someone who is not native, which does not mean that they are any less capable of learning.
In conclusion, I agree with Fernanda Ricardo’s view that you cannot base your love for someone on the nationality that they are born, but rather that you should base it on the quality of the person you are dating. If you have a strong commitment towards your partner and you value their differences than you should be OK dating someone that is ethnically a different gender. As Fernanda rightly points out, this is very important to a successful relationship, so it makes sense to base your choice on other characteristics than on size and looks alone. I hope this article has helped you to see that you do not need to have an ethnicity to find love online!