I chose this dress because it is something that I have tried to dispose of for the longest. My heritage is something I have never been satisfied with. For the longest time, I felt both dishonor and uncertainty because those around me felt nothing but pride for their culture - but I didn’t. As time has gone on, I have learned to accept my reality. I am not proud of my heritage because of the burden it carries for many Dominican men and women, the norms and stereotypes that cast people into housewives and abusers, for instance. I have learned that despite my heritage, I will not conform to the normalized perceptions people from my culture have embraced. I chose to show a traditional Dominican dress being worn by a Dominican man, something that is very untraditional in Dominican culture and is usually met with cruel remarks and being called “Pajaro” (gay). I took this view and decided to make it my own. My way of living and way of thinking is very untraditional compared to my parents’ generation and I wanted to show that even though the tradition of ridiculing difference persists in the Dominican Republic, I will not let that represent me. Instead, I will shatter that pattern and learn to create my own. I decided to leave just the dress and his body in the frame so other people can also relate to the struggles they face within their own cultures.