I was talking to my wife after a conference about the pain we aim to ease for our clients with our business. She shared her perspective, and I said, “Actually, it’s about diminishing the fear of rejection.”
🤯 Leonor looked at me and said, “Wow, that’s so true.”
When I started dating a woman, everything in my life shifted. But the most painful thing I lost was the freedom to show affection in public without hesitation.
I’m lucky—I have a supportive mother, sisters, and a privileged life in so many ways. Yet, I carry in my body this lingering fear: the fear of leaving someone uncomfortable, disgusted, or angry because I kissed my wife, called her “love,” or simply made it clear that I’m married to a woman.
It might seem superficial from the outside. But inside, my mind races with these thoughts: “We’re not just friends. We’re on a romantic trip. We’re two women. Will they stop being kind if I tell them?”
It’s unconscious. Just as people act on their unconscious biases and prejudices, we’re shaped by the fear of rejection—a fear deeply rooted in past experiences. We know that feeling too well, and we worry it could happen again.
I don’t feel this way all the time. But it happens when we step into new places, unfamiliar spaces, or communities we don’t know. By welcoming our guests with open arms, we help them feel secure and guide them to places where they’ll be treated with respect. And that brings so much relief.
I wanted to create images that express what it’s like to feel seen, judged, or even overly observed as a lesbian couple—many times in public objectified. That’s hard to capture in a single image, or maybe in any image at all.
But I had fun trying, exploring these feelings through AI-generated images.
Even thought I couldn’t fully represent the experience, it was a meaningful process—and a reminder of why we do what we do.
Paulá Macél
