I Don't Exist: Conflicting Communities and the Nature of Sexual Belonging

Abstract

Through the usage of academic autobiography, this paper examines the difficulties inherent to embodying seemingly incongruous identities outside of the mainstream. Examining metrics for inclusion often utilized in the black, feminist, queer, and BDSM communities, I attempt to locate where women with intersecting identities find and build networks that enable them to both “belong” and to fully express the complexities of their subjectivities without compromise.