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Because we’re never just one thing
What It Feels Like To Be Seen: Intersectionality In Mental Health
Exploring how the layers of our identities shape our challenges, our resilience, and our paths to healing.
Imagine carrying the weight of who you are, and then having others try to tell you who you should be. That’s been my life, and it’s exhausting. Intersectionality, for me, is about seeing all the pieces that make up who someone is — not just the parts that are easy to categorize. It’s understanding that people aren’t one-dimensional, and neither are their struggles. I think about all the ways my identities intersect — being Latina, white-passing, and a lesbian — and how they’ve shaped the way I navigate the world.
Growing up in Brazil, I didn’t think much about these labels. I knew who I was, and that was enough. But moving to the U.S. added layers I wasn’t prepared for. Suddenly, my identity became something others wanted to define for me. I wasn’t “Latina enough” because I didn’t speak Spanish, and I wasn’t “white enough” because I didn’t fit the cultural expectations tied to whiteness here. And when I came out, I had to wrestle with what being a lesbian looked like for me — not what stereotypes said it should be.
