Gender dissent [and resistance]. An intersectional approach to the patholo-gization of difference

This paper reviews some of the social constructs associated with the sex-gender-desire system from which power, knowledge and the social body in Western societies draw support to define the figure of the mentally ill person. This analysis takes, as its point of reference, a medical report, which is used to illustrate the complex web of elements associated with sexuality and gen-der standards that come into play when making a diagnosis. From there, the biographical accounts of three people classified as schizophrenic make it possible to draw some coordinates in which hetero-patriarchal violence and the pathologization of difference come together and mutually reinforce one another. The subjective impact of these multiple forms of violence suggest that a complex, intersectional understanding of psychological suffering is necessary, placing the focus on the resistance strategies of those subjected to the affliction against the taxonomic and punitive viewpoint of the regime of normality.