Abstract
This paper aims to explore how (in)visibility is constructed and deployed in the construction of normalcy by using an intersectional approach to queer and disabled experiences. In the first part, the focus is on able-bodiedness and heteronormativity as similar systems of compulsion in the production and the definition of normalcy. In the second part, the challenges posed to the presumptions of systems of compulsion are discussed: inhabiting a grey zone of indefinite readability, these cases subvert common assumptions on visibility and embody the possibility of framing invisibility as a political choice. In the third part, the figure of the acousmatic subject is presented: a subject that produces voices from a position of invisibility, challenging the idea of passivity often connected to oppression and marginalisation. The final aim is to critically discuss some of the issues connected to (in)visibility and to overcome its limits through expansion towards a more encompassing metaphorical figuration.
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Notes
“My jaw is set, the word is ready, every letter pointed, it’s at the crest of the wave, no pain and no glory, I’ll write this story, It’s not about falling, getting up is the victory […] Free yourself of all the shame, Take hold of the reins, Don’t give into your oppressor, Walk tall and without fear. Breathe, and raise your voice” (translation by the author).
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Funding
This study was funded by FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia with Ph.D Grant No. PD/BD/114078/2015.
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Pieri, M. The Sound that You Do Not See. Notes on Queer and Disabled Invisibility. Sexuality & Culture 23, 558–570 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9573-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-018-9573-8