How are we supposed to know who we truly are if we’re peer-pressured by some to label ourselves in a way that makes it more palatable for others?
Use of rhetorical question explains the more conceptual issue in a more understandable way
21 Matching Annotations
- Apr 2021
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www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
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“Straight passing” can protect us from discrimination. But it comes at a cost. A hatred that builds inside of us, scarring us. That can only be mended by telling our own truth. Otherwise, we are neglecting part of our identity.
The tone of this paragraph is really dramatic
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Many of us leave our closet of safety only to be met with skepticism and denial by the very community that was supposed to accept us.
isn't just a lecture to the straights, it's also diagnosing a problem within the LGBTQ+ community that hasn't gone away with time
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“Don’t play games, Christian, if you like dudes, you’re definitely just gay!”
Strategic hook – the reader most likely understands why this sucks and is immediately empathetic to this personal story. If not, the reader is either like "oh no I'm not woke" and wants to keep reading or will simply not read it. However, the story feels like it's a little more for other queer people to relate to instead of for educating non-bisexual people (even though the title makes it sound like it's going to be prescriptive)
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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Her husband was 21 years her senior and abusive.
The organization of these subjects' stories gives the reader heartbreak after heartbreak and pulls them into the more analytical/explanatory follow-up
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have dedicated years of their lives to activism, either by registering voters or by joining the Black Panthers to fight for racial justice.
More value assumptions: that the reader cares about these same social issues (and is aware of them)
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help more people come to a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of older L.G.B.T. people.
Gupta is operating under the assumption that the reader cares about these personal stories and is willing to re-frame what they think they know about LGBT identity
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In other words, they often age in isolation.
These short paragraphs explain little pockets of realities in a punchy way and are chosen carefully to be the descriptions that get emphasized like this
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It has, after all, been less than 50 years since the American Psychiatric Association changed its view of homosexuality,
References: this provides more cultural context specifically for younger readers who might not realize how recent this change has been.
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12 older adults
provides scope: queer older gen
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Paulette Thomas-Martin, left, and Pat Martin.
Providing context: contrasting these really sad stories with joyful and tender portraits reminds the reader that these people are more than just their queer trauma
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Or, one lifetime.
Gupta re-contextualizes facts that can seem kind of cold/distant to make them hit the reader harder.
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How do we measure the emotional and social costs of discrimination?
Framing in the intro – makes readers start to consider the exhibit and the essay with the same question before they've even seen the content
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hiding from prejudiced eyes
diction: "prejudiced eyes" instead of "prejudiced people". humanizes the subjects instead of their oppressors.
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www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
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lotto
prose
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His first day was Sept. 10, 2001.
Prose: Miller loves these short impactful sentences
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“just an angry black man, mad about a choir.”
I like this transition a lot, because it checks the readers who still don't "get it" at this point and also shows you how aware KJR is. He knows how things look to other people, and also when to care about optics.
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When I asked him if his age ever posed a problem for him, he asked me, “What do you think was worse, my age or my race?”
What a transition. I think that Miller's inclusion of this interaction despite it hurting his credibility really emphasizes how people take KJR's racialized experience for granted but it was extremely formative for him.
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He recalls his mother cutting squares of cardboard from discarded boxes and using them to teach her son how to fold his shirts neatly.
This is so haunting and a really impactful choice to include in this telling of KJR's life story. The way this paragraph talks about the loss is going to be how the audience interprets KJR dealt with it (and continues to deal with it through his art). I think one of the most interesting aspects of this profile is that so much of who KJR is as a person is difficult to put into words, but specific examples of stuff he's gone through and things he's said/done hit you in a deeper emotional way.
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Seeing the smallness of Jean-Raymond’s operation
Interesting contrast with the "outgrowing" theme the author wrote about in the first paragraph. Miller really emphasizes how big KJR's gotten, but the imagery of the operation's smallness reminds the reader that he's still just a person.
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“If you are just learning about Pyer Moss we forgive you.”
The use of this specific example of one of KJR's designs is really intentional – it reveals a specific part of his personality that's hard to verbalize but is easy to show.
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