A stigma is an attribute detectable but sometimes not, used to label those who don’t fit the expected standard. This use of labelling is a powerful tool of language used to make those who are discreditable and discredited based off physical deformations, personal attributes, or tribal relations feel deficient in terms of their social nature.
Goffman, in his 1963 novel, “Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity” writes: “…not all undesirable attributes are at issue, but only those which are incongruous with our stereotype of what a given type of individual should be” (3). Discredited (features of oneself that is detectable), and discreditable stigma (features that can discredit us if they are known) are an effect of our language
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Venus was one of these femme realness queens who in her early twenties worked as an escort. She described how some patrons sought her out for her unique beauty, while others became violent with her, claiming they had been tricked after her sex was revealed. Venus dreamed of having a sex reassignment so she could attain the benefits of a ‘normal’ girl, but during the film’s production she had been murdered, likely by a beguiled patron of hers lashing out at her digression from normative gender