A Mediocre EXAMINATION
OF INCREDIBLY Talented WOMEN by
Emma Dent
WRIT 1133: Writing & Research | Professor April Chapman-Ludwig
I CAME OUT BECAUSE MY MOM WAS SICK. MY MOM WAS diagnosed with terminal esophageal cancer and given an impossibly short amount of time to live when I was fifteen. I was gay, and my mom was dying. I wanted her to know. I was also the daughter of a Catholic woman—not a terribly ruthless Catholic woman (though that may be redundant), just a Catholic woman. In my experience, religion and love have shaped much of my family’s cruelty. You want your children to be safe, intelligent, respected, successful, and saved. You also want your children to abide by the morality you were taught was right. My mom could be a bitch, but she was because she loved me, because she thought she was doing right by me. Coming out when you’re a sophomore in high school is weird because nobody believes you, including yourself. Despite how right you may be, youth comes with a funny kind of imposter syndrome. You are too young to know who you are but old enough to fall under the guise of an assumed heterosexuality. I had an especially hard time because I came out as bisexual. You know, the stepping stone sexuality? The same one where bisexual men are considered gay, and bisexual women are considered straight (because god forbid someone isn’t attracted to a man). At the time, my mom was less than accepting. I’m a little surprised VOLUME 9
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