I HATE MY VOICE - COMING TO TERMS WITH MINOR BODILY STIGMAS

This article presents a narrative, autoethnographic, theoretical accou nt of the public and private negotiation of ''minor bodily stigmas,'' which are mild physical ''imperfections'' that make us fear we stand o ut and might be rejected. To examine the situated complexity of stigma tized identity, I tell a story that shows concrete interactional detai ls of an episode in which minor bodily stigmas evolved into a signific ant topic of conversation between strangers. My personal narrative exp lores the felt experience of minor bodily stigmas from the perspective of the experiencing and interacting holder. Thus, my work problematiz es Erving Goffman's sociological approach to stigmas, which examines i nclusively all forms of stigmas from a distanced observational stance of beholder that privileges the outsider perspective of how others see us. Using minor bodily stigmas as a heuristic category, I emphasize h ow they are experienced as a double bind in interaction (to notice or not to notice) and a double bind in personal feelings (of moral charac ter as well as physical appearance). I seek to connect theoretical and categorical understandings of minor bodily stigmas to their concrete felt experience in day-to-day life in order to examine possibilities f or resisting and reframing stigmas in everyday life.