October 26, 2014 - 16:59
Samuel’s essay discusses similarities and differences between non-normative identities. She compares lesbians who present femininely as people with an invisible impairment similar to people with invisible disabilities. One major similarity is the shared trade off of being able to fly under the radar without regular discrimination while also having a harder time joining communities of people with the same identity. Samuel discusses the pressure to prove to the world that you fit into an identity when it’s not immediately clear, and the privilege that comes with not having to prove yourself as anything. She also discusses the act of coming out as anything but an assumed normative identity as a continuous process rather than a static and singular event that takes place and ends.