Its obvious they do feel invisible. Firstly, its well documented (books, movies, studies). They respond as if startled, sometimes stammer and have trouble responding. As opposed to other folks who respond fluidly, as if social contact is not unexpected.

I'm not opposed to anything you say. But the conversation can't be had without saying this stuff out loud. And hindering conversation is an order of magnitude larger problem, than pedantry about terminology.

agreed that hindering conversations is counter-productive. hopefully that wasn't the received intent.

here are my observations living in a diverse neighborhood: white folks, black folks, east asians, mexicans, central americans, south asians, pacific islanders, etc. the black folks observably feel hyper-scrutinized. east/south asians tend to be reserved. mexicans and central americans are congenial, though sometimes guarded because of language/immigration issues. in nearly all cases i can think of, no one feels invisible, but rather visibly, palpably different, like a spotlight is shining on them everywhere they go. they're sometimes nervous because they're trying so hard to fit in, not because they feel invisible.

I could be interpreting it wrong - folks are nervous because they generally don't have favorable conversations with 6'4" white guys. I used the 'invisible' label because its how some folks, notably older women, describe how they feel. But that's a reach and I apologize if I got it wrong.

yes, certainly older women feel more invisible on average across all cultures. and it's totally possible that many of the people you meet do feel invisible; i was only suggesting not to presume it, given the diversity of experiences.