Common narratives in the field of rhetoric surrounding vulnerability as unreliable, deceptive, and weak, only feed into anti-Indigenous and misogynistic stances on the potential for emotion as a knowledge base. This thesis presents a qualitative research study that uses feminist and decolonial theory to explore how First-Generation Latinx manage rhetorical vulnerability. This research will illuminate what this means in the context of the transfronterizx experience and how upbringing, trauma, and migration affect the way we understand vulnerability. What this study suggests is that vulnerability is uniquely experienced by marginalized rhetors as a way to protect themselves, build community, and resist settler-colonial values. The study concludes that First-Generation Latinx rhetors of vulnerability work similarly to Gloria Anzaldúa’s interpretation of La Naguala, shapeshifting through various identities based on their environment with the goal of reaching more conocimiento.
