Call for Stories 2024

Show Some Skin: Shine!

 

Last year, we faced a pushback. As hard-won rights and opportunities began to unravel, we voiced our anger and frustration with the regressive attitudes and policies that have emerged in the post-COVID world. We have challenged the narratives that sought to push us down, and we will continue to fight against injustices.

In the last 13 years, we have come to know Show Some Skin as a crucial space where we can share our deeply personal stories of being different, of feeling like we aren’t good enough, that we don’t belong. These stories are often painful, but giving voice to marginalized experiences has been a way to push back against efforts to silence our true selves, and a way to face our fears of letting others know who we truly are.

As poet Marianne Williamson has suggested, perhaps “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? …  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.”

We deserve to shine!

This year, we ask you: What do you love about your identity –  your culture, your gender, your body, your hair? When have you felt celebrated and respected in your identity? What have you achieved when you went against the grain, defied the stereotypes?

What makes you brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?

And, centered in this confidence in ourselves, how can we illuminate the darkness that we face? How can we change our institutions to celebrate the spectrum of human identity? How can we transform Notre Dame so we all belong? 

We rejoice in every aspect of our identities, and we are bursting with hope and determination to build a better world. Our moments of pride and affirmation give us the fortitude to forge ahead. Tell us: What will you do with your light?