the.com/stigma
A scarlet letter nobody assigned, that everyone reads anyway.
means A mark of shame or disgrace society pins to a person, trait, or condition.
from From Greek 'stigma,' a literal brand burned or tattooed onto slaves and criminals — disgrace you could see from across the room, now invisible but just as sticky.
PluralStigmata, same word behind religious wounds.
BotanyA flower's pollen-catching tip shares the name.
SociologyErving Goffman wrote the field's defining 1963 book.