Don't say that.

[It grates. And there's a softer and more worried look about those word choices than there should be. (She's still right about the clothes though.)]

I never want you to be anything less than equal. Or cast yourself as other or exotic or...that nonsense.

[The world will do it for her, after all. He'll hiss and threaten and disapprove, but this is the only thing he has a power to comment on.]