{"id":1444,"date":"2025-09-29T22:26:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2025-09-29T22:26:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T02:26:01","slug":"eli-clares-mountain-as-a-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/2025\/09\/29\/eli-clares-mountain-as-a-scale\/","title":{"rendered":"Eli Clare’s Mountain as a Scale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eli Clare uses a metaphorical mountain as a representation of the goals and obstacles one meets throughout their life, finding their ultimate success at the top of this mountain. This mountain, however, is made up of what is deemed true \u201csuccess\u201d or \u201cwealth\u201d by a capitalist, patriarchal, hereronormative, ableist society. In this section, Clare writes \u201cOur wheelchairs get stuck. We speak the wrong languages with the wrong accents, wear the wrong clothes, carry our bodies the wrong ways, ask the wrong questions, love the wrong people\u201d (Clare, 1). These different aspects of identity affect how far we can move up the mountain because it depends on what is considered \u201cdesirable\u201d by this society.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also imagine or interpret this metaphor as a balance scale, similar to the \u201cSex Hierarchy” or \u201cCharmed Circle\u201d models that demonstrates how society categorizes or ranks sexual behaviors. I imagine this scale with one side holding the \u201cmountain\u201d and the other side with a person. It begins with both sides being balanced, until slowly aspects of our identity with different weights applied to each based on how \u201cgood\u201d they are are added on. It is difficult to move up the mountain or maintain balance on the scale because these aspects of our identities that \u201cbring us down\u201d don\u2019t fit into a society that values capitalism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and ableism. Thus, the gap is widened between who or what is deemed \u201cnormal\u201d and the \u201cother\u201d or \u201cexiled\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

The metaphor of the mountain connects to the theme of class because aspects of our identities and how they intersect with each other impact our place on the mountain. My interpretation of the mountain as a scale further emphasizes the identities society perceives as desirable and the ones that are disregarded. However, my interpretation of the mountain as a scale also tells us that maybe we don\u2019t need or even want to be on this mountain or balance this scale. Maybe we learn that we can each create our own mountain or scale that is made up of all these aspects of our identities that make up our personal obstacles, goals, and dreams. And at the top of the mountain, or the perfect balance of this scale, is us accepting and loving ourselves for who we really are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n



<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eli Clare uses a metaphorical mountain as a representation of the goals and obstacles one meets throughout their life, finding their ultimate success at the top of this mountain. This mountain, however, is made up of what is deemed true \u201csuccess\u201d or \u201cwealth\u201d by a capitalist, patriarchal, hereronormative, ableist society. In this section, Clare writes … Continue reading Eli Clare’s Mountain as a Scale<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5723,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[344663],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall-2025"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5723"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1444"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1445,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1444\/revisions\/1445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/lgbtqlit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}