Margins of the margins? In our categorically functioning society and world where all of us are put in to groups, and then smaller groups, most of us are marginalized, or subcategorized in some way. Not everyone is aware of their marginalized status because it does not effect their daily lives. But those of us with sensationalized categories, which for many reasons our culture causes us to publicly identify with in the beginning of our identification, e.g. I am a lesbian, woman, friend, daughter, student; e.g. I am a transgender, black, female, lover, friend, daughter. The more sensationalized and intensely marginalizing the category, the farther up the list of identity traits it goes. What I mean by margins of the margins is that many of us are in more than one marginalized groups, or are marginalized by the one we think we are part of. For instance, I am a female, that automatically puts me in a marginalized group because although we have come leaps and bounds toward gender equality women are still treated as less than equal. I am also a lesbian, which is an obvious marginalized category. Within the lesbian category, I am considered a femme, or feminine presenting, which can cause discrimination within my own lesbian community, causing double marginalization within this community; in the margins of the margins.

This blog was created in order to make a space for people in the margins of the margins to express their thoughts and feelings. Some of the posts will be fiction and some non-fiction. I am especially interested in the margins of the queer identity, lesbian, gay, transgender identities and the smaller subcultures within these that create more people within deeper margins. I am concerned with the rigidity of some of the sub-cultural identities and how they effect the occupants of those groups and double margins.

Margins of the margins was started for an assignment, catalyzed by a thoughtful book on identity, Queer Latinidad, where author Juana Rodriguez analyzes what having an identity really means. She proposes several arguments and gives detailed example of the fluidity of identity and analyzes the use of it within the self, culture, and society.

I have taken some of Rodriguez’s examples of the people who are at the margins of the already marginalized and imagined what they might have said about being marginalized from their marginalized community. Any of my personal posts are completely fiction and have no relation to Juana Rodriguez or the actual people in her book, they are just an imaginal extension created by me. This type of imaginary extension of a story was also inspired by the book Remedios, by Aurora Levins Morales. In this book the gives voices to the feminine historical heritage especially as it relates to the progression of Puerto Rico and her specific ancestral heritage. She does this to revive their power and experience the healing of sharing the trauma of feminine history by exposing it and caring for all the pieces of women’s history that have been swept under the rug. This is what I am also attempting to do by creating voices for the human examples in Queer Latinidad. 

I have created a section to add any media portrays and expresses perspectives and stories of those who live in the margins. I hope that others will suggest more media for this.

I hope that other will add their stories of living in the margins, and in the margins of the margins. No matter how small we all traverse margins in our lives. It would be wonderful to get true personal stories and fiction stories.

Thank you for participating!

Be proud of your margins!