Intersectionality

Intersectionality, also referred to as intersectional feminism, is a branch of feminism which identifies how different aspects of social and political discrimination overlap with gender. It is a non-empirical qualitative analytic framework that identifies how interlocking systems of power affect those who are most marginalized in society. The term was coined by black feminist scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1989. There are various forms of social stratification, such as class, race, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, disability and gender, which are included in the consideration of intersectional feminism and its social and cultural effects. The purpose of intersectionality is to identify that these forms of discrimination are related to one another, and take these relationships into account when working to promote social and political equity. While the theory began as an exploration of the oppression of women of color within society, today the analysis has expanded to include many more aspects of social identity. Intersectionality may also be related to the term triple oppression, which engages with similar themes. Critics have pointed out that intersectionality relies entirely on non-objective concepts such as 'systems of power' which themselves lack a material reality, and therefore empirical basis for study, making it an ideological set of ideas, and not a proper sociological concept. The concept of intersectionality intended to illuminate dynamics that have often been overlooked by feminist movements and theory. As articulated by author bell hooks, the emergence of intersectionality 'challenged the notion that 'gender' was the primary factor determining a woman's fate'. The historical exclusion of black women from the feminist movement in the United States resulted in many black 19th and 20th century feminists, such as Anna Julia Cooper, challenging the exclusion. This movement disputed the ideas of earlier feminist movements – which were primarily led by white middle-class women – such as the idea that women were a homogenous category who shared the same life experiences. Recognizing that the forms of oppression experienced by white middle-class women were different from those experienced by black, poor, or disabled women, feminists began seeking to understand the ways in which gender, race, and class combine to 'determine the female destiny'. Racial inequality was a factor that was largely ignored by first-wave feminism, which was primarily concerned with gaining political equality between men and women. Early women's rights movements often exclusively pertained to the membership, concerns, and struggles of white women alone. Second-wave feminism stemmed from Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique and worked to dismantle sexism relating to the perceived domestic purpose of women. While feminists during this time had success through the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title IX, and Roe v. Wade, they largely alienated black women from the platforms of the mainstream movement. However, third-wave feminism – which emerged shortly after the term 'intersectionality' was coined in the late 1980s – notes the lack of attention to race, class, sexual orientation, and gender identity in early feminist movements, and tries to provide a channel to address political and social disparities. Intersectionality recognizes these issues which were ignored by early social justice movements. Many recent academics such as Leslie McCall have argued that the introduction of the intersectionality theory was vital to sociology, and that before the development of the theory there was little research that specifically addressed the experiences of people who are subjected to multiple forms of oppression within society. An example of this is Iris Marion Young arguing that differences must be acknowledged in order to find unifying social justice issues that in effect create coalitions that aid in changing society for the better. More specifically, this relates to the ideals of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). The term also has historical and theoretical links to the concept of 'simultaneity', which was advanced during the 1970s by members of the Combahee River Collective in Boston, Massachusetts. Simultaneity is explained as the simultaneous influences of race, class, gender, and sexuality, which informed the members lives and their resistance to oppression. Thus, the women of the Combahee River Collective advanced an understanding of African-American experiences that challenged analyses emerging from Black and male-centered social movements, as well as those from mainstream white, middle-class, heterosexual feminists. Since the term was coined, many feminist scholars have emerged with historical support for the intersectional theory. These women include Beverly Guy-Sheftall and her fellow contributors to Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, a collection of articles describing the multiple oppressions black women in America have experienced from the 1830s to contemporary times. Guy-Sheftall speaks about the constant premises that influence the lives of African American women, saying “black women experience a special kind of oppression and suffering in this country which is racist, sexist, and classist because of their dual race and gender identity and their limited access to economic resources.” Other writers and theorists were using intersectional analysis in their work before the term was coined. For example, Deborah K. King published the article “Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology” in 1988, just before Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality. In the article she addresses what soon became the foundation for intersectionality, saying, “Black women have long recognized the special circumstances of our lives in the United States: the commonalities that we share with all women, as well as the bonds that connect us to the men of our race.” Additionally, Gloria Wekker describes how Gloria Anzaldúa's work as a Chicana feminist theorist exemplifies how 'existent categories for identity are strikingly not dealt with in separate or mutually exclusive terms, but are always referred to in relation to one another'. Wekker also points to the words and activism of Sojourner Truth as an example of an intersectional approach to social justice. In her speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?,” Truth identifies the difference between the oppression of white and black women. She says that white women are often treated as emotional and delicate while black women are subjected to racist abuse and demeaned as a woman. However, this was largely dismissed and pushed down by white feminists who worried that this would distract from their goal of women’s suffrage and instead focus attention on emancipation. In 1989, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term 'intersectionality' in a paper as a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women. Crenshaw's then somewhat academic term is now at the forefront of national conversations about racial justice, identity politics, and policing—and over the years has helped shape legal discussions. She used the term in her crucial 1989 paper for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, 'Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics.' In her work, Crenshaw discusses Black feminism, arguing that the experience of being a black woman cannot be understood in independent terms of either being black or a woman. Rather, it must include interactions between the two identities, which, she adds, should frequently reinforce one another. In order to show that non-white women have a vastly different experience from white women due to their race and/or class and that their experiences are not easily voiced or pinpointed, Crenshaw explores two types of male violence against women: domestic violence and rape. Through her analysis of these two forms of male violence against women, Crenshaw says that the experiences of non-white women consist of a combination (or, intersection) of both racism and sexism. She says that because non-white women are present within discourses that have been designed to address either race or sex – but not both at the same time – non-white women are marginalized within both of these systems of oppression as a result. In her work, Crenshaw identifies three aspects of intersectionality that affect the visibility of non-white women: structural intersectionality, political intersectionality, and representational intersectionality. Structural intersectionality deals with how non-white women experience domestic violence and rape in a manner qualitatively different than that of white women. Political intersectionality examines how laws and policies intended to increase equality have paradoxically decreased the visibility of violence against non-white women. Finally, representational intersectionality delves into how pop culture portrayals of non-white women can obscure their own authentic lived experiences.