Because I have a learning disability, it is assumed that I can't manage my own affairs without constant nagging and reminders.
Because I have a chronic illness, I have been discouraged from physical activity, even though physical activity within our limits is good for people with my chronic illness.
Because I have a chronic illness, I have been restricted from performing tasks that were within my ability at jobs illegally.
Because I have a chronic illness, I was ignored in gym class as a kid.
Because I have a chronic illness, going to the pharmacy is always a source of anxiety for me: Will my insurance cover them or will they randomly decide to deny them again, even though I've been on these medications for over a year in some cases and as much as all my life in others? When it is denied, I then have to pay out the nose for it (as these are life-saving medications; I could die without this stuff), fight for the better part of two weeks with them, and then submit my claim by mail and when they reimburse me, they do not reimburse me for any of the expenses for fighting their decision, so it can put me back the better part of $100. But if I don't fight it, I get put back by around $700/mo, so I can't not fight it.
Because I have an intermittent degree of disability (ranging from fully able-bodied to significantly disabled depending on how bad my breathing is), I am thought of as an inconsistent employee and as physically lazy if I show up to work when I'm flaring. If I don't show up to work when I'm flaring, I'm unreliable.
Because I have a chronic illness, people take it upon themselves to protect me from things I don't need protection from and 'desensitize' me to thing that are quite dangerous to me. They do this without consulting me about what's best for me because they assume that since they're currently able-bodied, they know more about healthy living than I do.
Because I have a chronic illness and a learning disbility, I have to spend $2000 a year on medication and medical supplies to keep myself functional. However, this is not taken into account on any financial assessments for assistance with school or medical costs, and instead when I complain about financial difficulties, I am given lectures on money management and frugality - because having a learning disability that makes attention regulation difficult obviously means you can't manage money.
Because I have a chronic illness and a learning disability, it is assumed that all my flares are the result of non-compliance by doctors who don't know me, so when I go to get the medication I need to address a flare, I often come away with a lecture instead. When this inevitably results in the flare getting worse, I am then blamed for non-compliance with my action plan, even though the doctor didn't give me the medication I needed to address the flare in the first place!
Because I don't get paid much, I sometimes have to choose between breathing and eating.
Because I don't get paid much, I am thought of as lazy, ungrateful, and degenerate despite working more hours in a week at harder and more dangerous work than those calling me lazy, ungrateful, and degenerate.
Because I am a woman, I have been discouraged from physical activity.
Because I am a woman, I have been restricted from performing tasks that were within my ability at jobs illegally.
Because I am a woman, I was ignored in gym class as a kid.
Because I am a woman, it is assumed that I am less competent than my male peers. Even when I'm the senior employee with better job performance and more experience.
Because I am a woman, I often see my ideas voiced by male employees and credited as their ideas - even though I brought it up earlier in conversation with the exact same wording and was brushed off.
Because I am a woman, natural functions of my reproductive system are treated as disgusting and shameful.
Because I am a woman, the validity of my emotions is always under question ("You're being over-sensitive." etc).
Because I am a woman, the validity of everything that I have achieved is always in doubt.
Because I am a woman, every bad thing that ever happens to me is considered to be my fault. If I am sexually assaulted, it is because I wasn't careful enough. If I am abused by my employer, it is because I didn't stand up for myself enough. And so on.
Because I am bisexual, people think I'm an attention-seeker.
Because I am bisexual, people assume I'm open to propositions by strangers.
Because I am bisexual, people assume I'm into any kink under the sun.
Because I am bisexual, people assume I'm into threesomes and like being offered them by complete strangers.
EDIT: Want to add support to this one:
Alyss wrote:Because I fall into one or more of these categories I will be expected to be excessively civil with people who have engaged in discrimination and/or bullying with me, rather than being allowed to vent frustration or anger regarding my experiences: I will be expected to keep a lock on any uncivil expression of emotions in reaction to being harmed by people within dominant groups
Also:
Because I am "gifted," it is assumed I'm faking my learning disability for drugs, laziness, or attention.
Because I am "gifted," it is assumed that any difficulty I have in any subject ever is due to laziness, not due to actual misunderstanding (yes, I'm very booksmart, but I can have difficulty with stuff, too! Case in point: Force fields were something I had huge problems with translating problem to math and back again mainly because I'm very visual and found it hard to visualize the problem, and I couldn't get help from profs because they thought I was too smart to really be having that much trouble with it - despite spending 30 hours a week on it for a whole semester, I never did get it in first year physics. It was third year before I had it click).
Because I am "gifted," I was bullied in school.
Because I am "gifted," my social difficulties in school were not addressed by anyone. It "comes with the territory," and they're "just jealous," after all. Any attempts to seek help were punished for tattleing.
Because I am "gifted," my pain over being bullied was minimalized ("it's not that bad!" and "won't you have the last laugh when you're successful and rich!"), and my desire to avoid further pain was met with ridicule ("You don't want to let them win, do you?")
Because I am "gifted," I was expected to act as old as I could talk. By grade 2, my vocabulary was on par with that of a grade 10 student. Because of this, my attempts to defend myself from bullying as best as I could figure out to with my emotional age were met with disproportionately severe punishment. Often, if I got into a fight, I as the victim was given a more severe punishment than my assailants. Because I should have been smart enough to figure out a non-violent way out of being jumped by a half-dozen other kids.
Because I have a chronic illness, I have to be more careful with certain activities because messing them up can harm me more than it can harm other people. Case in point: drinking. If someone without my illness inhales tea accidentally, they cough and splutter and are fine in ten minutes. Me? I might have an asthma flare that lays me up for three or four days.
Because I have a chronic illness, minor mishaps can impact me more than other people. When my microwave died in a cloud of electrical smoke, I was out of work for a week because of the asthma flareup the smoke inhalation caused.
