Being Ourselves: Examining Our Experiences of Authenticity and Multiplicity

One of the benefits of so-called “Queer spaces” is that they provide us with room (or they’re supposed to provide us with room) to “be ourselves,” to exist authentically in a world that does not make doing so safe. But what does it mean to “be yourself”? What does it feel like? When and where do you feel most like yourself (or your selves)? Is that connected to your queerness, and if so, how? What else is it connected to? If you want to, how can you give yourself the experience of being fully you more? Come to Bampot on Wednesday, December 17th to spend time reflecting together on these questions, and hopefully, building community through doing so as our messy, contradicting, unpolished, magical selves.

*To say a little more: We hear a lot thrown around about “authenticity” these days. But “be your authentic self!” can feel like a hard ask if you’re a little (or more than a little) confused about who that self is people are instructing you to be. Maybe you don’t know yourself that well, maybe you’re still trying to find her, or maybe you’re still trying to build her (idk, is the self discovered or built? Maybe both?). Alternatively, maybe you don’t have just one “self”-- instead, perhaps there are many versions of you that come out in different settings around different people-- and none (okay maybe some, but the point is: not just one) feel more or less authentic than the others when considered outside of their contexts. In my experience, the question of whether I was “being authentic” or “being myself” cannot be answered merely by appealing to my own actions and intentions, but must instead include careful consideration of my circumstances-- where I was, who I was with. Or maybe… maybe my own authenticity is not something I can assess by considering myself in the third-person at all, but rather comes along with a particular feeling or set of feelings (Alive? Free? Present? Unboxable? Safe?). Anyways, these are the kinds of brain thoughts I have on the subject of being me, and I’m excited to share more of them with you and listen to yours and converse about it. <3

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Some stuff to know about how this works:

• This event is facilitated by me, Sophia Whicher. I use she/her pronouns, and I’m queer, and yes, for me queerness is deeply political. I’ve been doing stuff like this for a few years and I think I’ve gotten pretty good at making discussion spaces feel safe (but maybe not too comfy), inclusive, and warm.
• This event is intended to be a queer space, for queer people and only queer people, to build community through discussion.
• No photographs will be taken at this event without the explicit permission of the people in the photographs first.
• You will be rotating between small and large groups, and the aim is for you to share and learn about your own and others experiences.
• More accessibility info below :)

Accessibility Info:

• There are four or five steps or a ramp that is (unfortunately) not wheelchair grade to get in. From that entry point, there are no further stairs to the bathroom located beside the bar.
• The bathroom at Bampot is gender neutral.
• This event involves verbal discussion. There will be a handout with the questions we will be discussing printed on it.
• There might be some background music before and after, but we’ll try to keep background noise at a minimum during the structured discussions themselves.
• The space is not super scent heavy, but sometimes staff wear scented perfume.
• Should you be accompanied by a support person, please contact me ([email protected]) in advance so that I can add them to the participant list. Their ticket will be included, for free, as part of yours.

This list is far from comprehensive. Please reach out to me at [email protected] if you have a concern that’s not listed here.

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