Kenji Yoshino

As it turns out, there's nothing you can do to eliminate it, but you can mitigate the motherhood penalty if you engage in behavior that is work devotional, where you never ever talk about your children and you constantly talk about your infinite capacity to take on more work. That, in my terminology, is coverings.

That was an incredibly painful irony. And one of the richnesses of that anecdote that you just told is that if you were to ask somebody who the most famous disability rights advocate was, they would probably say Helen Keller. So you would imagine that she would lean heavily into her disability and her identity as a person who was blind, among other things.

That was an incredibly painful irony. And one of the richnesses of that anecdote that you just told is that if you were to ask somebody who the most famous disability rights advocate was, they would probably say Helen Keller. So you would imagine that she would lean heavily into her disability and her identity as a person who was blind, among other things.

That was an incredibly painful irony. And one of the richnesses of that anecdote that you just told is that if you were to ask somebody who the most famous disability rights advocate was, they would probably say Helen Keller. So you would imagine that she would lean heavily into her disability and her identity as a person who was blind, among other things.

But the fact that she engaged in this cosmetic adjustment to appear more kind of normal and mainstream testifies to the fact that none of us ever evolve away from the force of these covering demands. I also want to make really clear that in all these instances, I'm not victim blaming. I'm not saying that, oh, FDR or Margaret Thatcher or Ben Kingsley or Helen Keller did

But the fact that she engaged in this cosmetic adjustment to appear more kind of normal and mainstream testifies to the fact that none of us ever evolve away from the force of these covering demands. I also want to make really clear that in all these instances, I'm not victim blaming. I'm not saying that, oh, FDR or Margaret Thatcher or Ben Kingsley or Helen Keller did

But the fact that she engaged in this cosmetic adjustment to appear more kind of normal and mainstream testifies to the fact that none of us ever evolve away from the force of these covering demands. I also want to make really clear that in all these instances, I'm not victim blaming. I'm not saying that, oh, FDR or Margaret Thatcher or Ben Kingsley or Helen Keller did

were self-hating or that they should have had more pride in their identity. I'm actually not interested in that at all. What I'm interested in is looking at the societal demand that in order to be seen as a full, equal, dignified member of society, that you would need to downplay or edit these aspects of your identity.

were self-hating or that they should have had more pride in their identity. I'm actually not interested in that at all. What I'm interested in is looking at the societal demand that in order to be seen as a full, equal, dignified member of society, that you would need to downplay or edit these aspects of your identity.

were self-hating or that they should have had more pride in their identity. I'm actually not interested in that at all. What I'm interested in is looking at the societal demand that in order to be seen as a full, equal, dignified member of society, that you would need to downplay or edit these aspects of your identity.

And that to me shows how much further we have to go in achieving full equality alongside these stigmatized traits.

And that to me shows how much further we have to go in achieving full equality alongside these stigmatized traits.

And that to me shows how much further we have to go in achieving full equality alongside these stigmatized traits.

I always answer that by saying, yes, there are all forms of covering, but not all forms of covering are problematic. So if I came to work alongside you and I was rabidly obnoxious to everybody in the workplace, and you finally took me aside and said, Kenji, knock it off. You're driving everyone to distraction. And I said, well, wait a minute, Shankar. This is my authentic self.

I always answer that by saying, yes, there are all forms of covering, but not all forms of covering are problematic. So if I came to work alongside you and I was rabidly obnoxious to everybody in the workplace, and you finally took me aside and said, Kenji, knock it off. You're driving everyone to distraction. And I said, well, wait a minute, Shankar. This is my authentic self.

I always answer that by saying, yes, there are all forms of covering, but not all forms of covering are problematic. So if I came to work alongside you and I was rabidly obnoxious to everybody in the workplace, and you finally took me aside and said, Kenji, knock it off. You're driving everyone to distraction. And I said, well, wait a minute, Shankar. This is my authentic self.

This is who I am.

This is who I am.

This is who I am.

I just happen to be an incredibly obnoxious person. And you told me that you valued authenticity in the workplace. And so this is what you get. I would offer to you that that is covering that you're requiring of me, but that a world in which I win that argument with you is a world in which none of us want to live. So that means that there are some forms of covering that are