She’s Legit Crazy
I receive a lot of feedback for my work―both positive and negative. Some of it makes me laugh and some of it makes me cry. Somewhat recently, I received a criticism from a less than charitable reader who commented, “She’s legit crazy.”
Strangely, the comment didn’t provoke the emotional response one might expect. I wasn’t mad or angry. I wasn’t sad or even offended. I was curious. What about my work would provoke someone to consider me crazy?
I must admit I felt a hint of sexism in the comment because it came from a man. Men telling women they are crazy has been a tactic used to delegitimize women’s experiences long before I existed. To call a woman “crazy” for ideas that the prevailing majority might disagree with was nothing new or interesting. Women were diagnosed as “crazy” for wanting the right to vote, working outside the home, wearing pants, or falling in love with another woman. However, there seemed to be something more in his comment than just plain sexism.
“Craziness” as a social utility lets others know that this person is deranged and removed from what the majority calls “reality.” Craziness is often used as a diagnosis to make sure that person is not taken seriously. For example, many queer folks have been treated like we were “crazy.” Our thoughts, desires, and experiences are outside the majority. Therefore, we must be categorized “crazy” so we don’t infect the rest of the community with our “craziness.” We have even been treated as contagious, as if we are diseased. Unfortunately, many horrible things happen to the people we socially diagnose as “crazy.” After the diagnosis is settled, next comes treatment―like conversion therapy.
Social diagnosis is key. The diagnosis means that it’s possible to pinpoint “craziness,” treat it, fix it, and eradicate it. A diagnosis of “crazy” to an outlier also helps the accuser gain a false sense of sanity. If that person is crazy and removed from “reality,” then that must mean I am sane and safe from the diagnosis of “crazy.” But this is false. Pointing out someone else’s subjectivity as “crazy” does not make one’s own subjectivity any more objective. Instead, the diagnosis of “she’s legit crazy” is used as a security blanket to make oneself feel better about their own subjectivity and essentially their own craziness.
The truth of the matter is there is a craziness that resides in all of us, especially when no two people have the same subjective experience. Reality as we know it is necessarily subjective when it is perceived and experienced through a subjective lens. Anytime we experience the world differently than the person next to us that’s the “craziness” we try to push away. Humans often like to think of themselves as objective and try to deflect the fact that our subjectivities are sometimes in opposition with one another. When we haven’t developed the tools necessary to cope with these differences, we instinctually want to call the person next to us “crazy”―they are different, so they are crazy.
This happens all the time. Yes, there is a layer of sexism in the experience I mentioned above, but it extends far beyond that. People who don’t share our personal religious beliefs, culture, values, or political views can quickly be delegitimized by calling them “crazy.” However, in calling them “crazy” we have not made ourselves anymore sane.
When we call others “crazy” we have most likely alienated ourselves from the craziness that resides within―and that’s the real fear. What if I am the crazy one? If you are afraid to ask this question, it should provoke introspection as to why it is you are afraid to be crazy. Is it because you are afraid of being treated like the so-called “crazy” people you encounter? Are you afraid of how society socially alienates the crazed or deranged? Are you afraid to sincerely engage in the “craziness” of another person’s subjective experience because it makes you question your own false sense of objectivity? If so, it might be time to reevaluate our attitudes toward those we diagnose as “crazy.”
For me, a comment like “she’s legit crazy” is a sloppy way to try and delegitimize someone without having to go through the hard work of actually engaging with her work, content, claims, or subjectivity. It would be just as easy for me to point the finger at him and call him the crazy one, but neither one of us would be saner for it. Instead of running from the craziness, let’s engage in it with respect for each other’s subjectivity.
