(1999) - Exile and Pride - Eli Clare

In Exile and Pride, writer and activist Eli Clare reflects on how slurs like “freak,” “cripple,” and “queer” were used against him to shame his body and desires, marking him as unnatural and broken to justify exclusion and control. In Exile and Pride, he describes how reclaiming these words became a way to transform shame into anger, strength, and joy, a fundamental act of resistance against internalized oppression. He writes that calling himself “queer” and “crip” does not erase the harm those words have done but undercuts their power to wound by naming himself on his own terms. This act forces others to confront the fragility of able-bodiedness, which he calls a temporary state of being enabled, and exposes the violence hidden in assumptions of normalcy. Reclaiming these words does not make them safe or easy but replaces silence and self-hatred with dignity, solidarity, and defiance.