Welcome

by Rebecca Dutta

I was attempting to explain the importance of visibility during one of our blog’s staff meetings last week, when one of our snarkier (and much-loved) bloggers pointedly reminded me that our magazine was, after all, entitled [in]Visible. I laughed it off after a rather pregnant pause; however, it reminded me that despite working with [in]Visible since my first year, I still had not truly taken the time to appreciate the title of our magazine, and now blog.

The different manifestations of our title are endless: I know this because I’ve made the mistake of mistyping the magazine’s name many times. We could have just been Invisible, and that would have been straightforward, albeit a little strange. With the brackets, we might have chosen [In]Visible, [In]visible, or perhaps even [IN]visible. One interesting interpretation that I rather liked was [in]Visible. The specificity in choosing to lowercase the ‘I,’ capitalize the ‘V,’ and bracket the ‘in’, however, was certainly not accidental on the part of our founders. Determined not to begin a year of blogging without understanding why, I hit the magazine archives with the hope of explaining “[in]Visible,” and found this excerpt from the staff of the very first issue of our magazine:

“The name [in]Visible is open to many interpretations. For us, the brackets surrounding the “in” are meant to imply that “in” is inserted and optional. On the one hand, this can symbolize how our choices determine whether we see ourselves or others as invisible or visible. We ask: “Why are some people recognized while others are drowned out? How can we give recognition to those we perceive as invisible?”

In another sense, we suggest that it is a choice to make invisible qualities visible. The Prince from Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s book The Little Prince learns the importance of seeing with the heart, not the eyes. As his friend the fox explains, ‘It is very simple: one sees well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.’”

It is in these nuances of our name that I believe the heart of our blog’s mission lies, and I encourage both our readers and our writers to keep them in mind as we begin our first year publishing a blog. I am so pleased to be working with a group of passionate, diverse, and intelligent women who are certain to not only embrace the founding ideals of [in]Visible, but whose perceptivity will bring even more nuance and complexity to our mission. To all our readers, I hope our blog encourages our community to emphasize hidden qualities, appreciate individuality, and acknowledge uniqueness. We look forward to extending this conversation with you as we continue to spotlight that which is believed to be [in]Visible.