Intersectionality

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OVERVIEW

There are many reasons you may be discriminated against in a particular society.  You may be told you are too old for a particular job, the wrong gender to play on a team, the wrong race to join a club, or the wrong religion to participate in an event.  These are parts of your identity that others can use to discriminate against you or stereotype you as an individual.   When first introduced, intersectionality was applied to issues of gender, race, and class but since then it has been expanded to include other categories such as sexual orientation, religion, physical abilities, and other characteristics used to exclude and marginalize people. Intersectionality speaks to subgroups within larger oppressed groups whose unique needs may go unmet and silenced. 

OBJECTIVES

  1. Define the term intersectionality.

  2. Understand the impact of multiple oppressive identities.

  3. Illustrate the theory of intersectionality through examples 

FURTHER READING

Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams (1989) Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist

Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics, U. Chi. Legal F. 139.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams (1991) Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence

Against Women of Color. 43 Sandford Law Review 1241 

Delgado, R., and Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction. New York University Press. 

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

  1. If an individual occupies several oppressed identities, should the effects of this intersecting reality be examined individually, all together, or something else?  

  2. When seeking relief from discrimination through the courts or through policy change, how could the intersection of oppressive identities hinder the outcome?

  3. Instead of recognizing unique experiences, should minorities work toward assimilation?  Would this be an adequate solution?  Why or why not?

ACTIVITIES

  1. Visit the United States Census Bureau webpage and research the change in the United States’s social, economic, racial, and ethnic demographics.  (Census bureau’s “Popular Visualizations” is a great place to look).  Analyze the data and argue whether an increase or decrease in intersectionality is expected.  Explain your answer.

  2. Is intersectionality about just being identified and seen?  How do multiple oppressive identities translate into access to resources and power in the United States?

  3. Take a moment to reflect on the norms and ideologies present in your community that may perpetuate the privileging and oppression of differing groups.  What changes can be made to combat these norms? How can resistance to change be addressed?