A Wild Tongue
Becoming Numb to the Pain
To get to know each other better, we were supposed to do “life mapping.” We drew diagrams for critical moments in our lives (up to that point) that we were going to share at the end. We shared stories that consisted of a lot of pain, but my friend, who I had known for years, and I laughed together at experiences we had shared in a way that was probably confusing to the other people in our group who didn’t know us well.
How to Train a Wild Tongue
Gloria Anzaldúa speaks on her own experiences as people tried to stifle her voice as a lesbian Chicana. They tried to tame her wild tongue. The pressures around me did the same. I found it was too much effort to try to speak up. If I didn’t say anything, I couldn’t be ignored. My shyness stuck with me as part of my personality as I limited my words to close friends and need-based situations.
