In Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs, Jan Zita Grover discusses the concept of “the burden of scarcity” (Grover, 187). When representations of a given group are in short supply, that rarity can distort the public perception of the group by overrepresenting or underrepresenting certain aspects of the group. One example cannot possibly capture an entire group of people with different identities and experiences, but society could view a single photograph or statement as representative of a large group. The burden of scarcity, therefore, is the burden of the expectation that a single object or action can meet all of the varied, and sometimes conflicting, expectations places upon it. It also refers to the pressure for members of underrepresented groups to act as ambassadors of their group and to police their actions to avoid negatively impacting the perception of their group.
The burden of scarcity still exists. Though this is obviously a small sample size, I have personally policed myself to represent groups I am a part of well. Until the last month of my senior year, I was the only openly queer person in my high school, and I felt a lot of pressure because of it.
Reference
Jan Zita Grover, “Framing the Questions: Positive Imaging and Scarcity in Lesbian Photographs”