I Am Applying Intersectionality And The Sociological Imagination

Intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences. This framework synthesizes and complicates oppressions and marginalization’s. In the article, “Why Intersectionality Can’t Wait” Kimberle Crenshaw talks about how the purpose of intersectionality has been lost. Intersectional somehow creates an environment of bullying and privilege checking. This society cannot afford to have movements that are not intersectional because all races need to be embraced and have equality.

An intersectional approach is an approach which seeks to demonstrate how race, class, gender and sexuality make certain experiences different. Intersectionality is the overlapping of social categories such as race, class, gender and sexuality that leads to further discrimination against a certain individual or group. To take an intersectional approach to understand race, class, gender and sexuality, is to consider hardships not as a similar element for all individuals without regards to race, but instead consider where in a specific hardship different races, genders, classes and sexualities are affected different. According to Crenshaw, “many of the experiences Black women face are not subsumed within the traditional boundaries of race or gender discrimination as these boundaries are currently understood, and that the intersection of racism and sexism factors into Black women’s lives in ways that cannot be captured wholly by looking at the woman race or gender dimensions of those experiences separately” (Crenshaw, 357). Crenshaw explains that the personal experiences of women of color cannot be fully understood by looking at race or gender discrimination as two separate factors, but in fact can be understood if both aspects are looked at together. When race and gender are examined separately, this causes for women of color to be “erased”. Crenshaw says, “ And so, when the practices expound identity as “woman” or “person of color” as an either/or proposition, they relegate

In order to analyze the memorable events of Fannie Lou Hamer’s life using intersectionality, we must first define it. Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw. In her work Crenshaw says that “The basic function of intersectionality is to frame the following inquiring: How does the fact that women of color are simultaneously situated within at least two groups that are subjected to broad societal subordination bear on problems traditionally viewed as monocausal – that is gender discrimination or race discrimination?” (Crenshaw 1997, 552). Her point here is that minority women, in this case black women, are subject to multiple levels of discrimination and these forms cannot be separated. When discriminated against, it is not simply on the basis of one identity – both of her identities work together. She is looked as a black woman, not just black and not just a woman. The idea of intersectionality is broken down into three different subcategories: political intersectionality, structural intersectionality, and representational intersectionality.

In the memoir “Two or Three Things I Know for Sure”, Dorothy Allison recites stories from her life that ultimately depict the oppression and liberation seen in gender, sexuality, and social class. Intersectionality is a theme that can be seen throughout the book. Intersectionality is the overlapping of characteristics (such as sex, gender, race, class, and sexuality) that forms a person’s identity. Although people may have similar traits and characteristics, they are distinct from person to person. They can depict different features about different people throughout society.

Intersectionality is a term that describes the ways which oppressive institutions such as, sexism, homophobia, racism, classism etc interact. Categories such as gender, ethnicity, poverty and mental illness reinforce each other in ’‘Women on the Edge of Time’’ and they overdetermine a negative outcome. Piercy put Connie in positions where she came to understand sexism, working class opression and white supremacy in both her personal life and in Mattapoisett.

Intersectionality refers to the idea of the overlapping social identities that one might have. This article explores the problems that arise when not having intersectional awareness. For example, it describes a situation in which a woman was turned away from a shelter for domestic violence victims due to her inability to speak English. Often times in history and still to this day, social movements advocate for progress in their area of interest while simultaneously stepping on other groups.

As many women struggled to retain their values and traditions, there were existing male dominated conceptions of race and white dominated conceptions of gender. Kimberle Crenshaw describes the concept of intersectionality where race and gender interact in various ways to shape multiple dimensions experiences for different groups

Intersectionality has a significant impact on the feminist movement for several reasons; first is recognition of varying oppressions, second the inclusiveness of others facing oppression, and third how the recognition and inclusiveness can help reach equality. Intersectionality and the growing recognition of it has provided a better look at the amount of different oppressions that exist Through the understanding of intersectionality it becomes clear that race and sex are not the only factions that experience oppression, this awareness has led to the desire to “address a whole range of oppression.” (Combahee, pg. 4) Race and sex are no longer the sole focus of

Intersectionality is a term that was introduced by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, who is known to be an American civil rights advocate. The term itself helps one explore identity beyond race and gender, and more into concepts such as racism or oppression. The term also discusses further critical insight on race, class, gender, ethnicity, and so on, and how they all shape social inequality (Collins, 2015, p. 2). One cannot escape what is taught by large institutions such as educational or police sectors as it has become a collective way of understanding. Intersectionality helps us gain an insight to as why certain things are the way that they are when it comes to our own identity.

Up to now, I do not what think about intersectionality. I understand the usefulness of it as Collins phrases it (as an academic field, as a strategy and as critical praxis). However, many intersectionality scholars tend to ignore the asymmetries across “races”/classes, genders, and so on. A good example of this, is Crenshaw’s article; I would not argue that black women, are being oppressed by a) their gender b) their color. However, focusing exclusively on “violence perpetrated by men under the same race”, leaves aside the rest of factors of systematic oppression and structural discrimination. For instance, the violence exercised by white women or white men against them. It seems that by solely using intersectionality we are reproducing the

I hate this question. However, I have been asked to disclose my “preferential order of causes” by black men, white women, and white men. I hate the question because it assumes that black causes are solely male and women causes are solely white. However, there is a whole bunch of gray and women of color fall right in the middle of it. Intersectionality is defined as the study of the interconnection between the discriminative or oppressive systemic practices of disenfranchised groups or minorities. It examines the oppressive institutions, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia, and determines how they related and affect one and other.

For example, a high income, homosexual, Hispanic male describes his intersectionality. Bowleg (2012) discusses the need to further define intersectionality in terms

Kimberle Crenshaw, African-American legal theorist used intersectionality for the first time while discussing unique position of black women in anti discrimination law and arguing that the experiences of black women have both race and class and in this way challenged the universal gendered experience (Monk, 2011, p. 88 and Edna, 2012, p. 2100). Intersectionality is a method, rooted in black feminism and critical race theory and an analytical tool that can move according to time, disciplines, issues and boundaries for gender and economic justice (Devon, et al, 2013, p.303; Samuels and Sheriff, 2008).

In order to establish a dialogue between women of color and white women, it is necessary to understand what intersectionality is. Intersectionality theory accounts for the levels of oppression a person has to confront (Ramsay, 455). For example,

Kimberlé Crenshaw is an esteemed civil rights advocate and law professor. Crenshaw introduced the concept of “intersectionality” to the acclaimed feminist theory close to 30 years ago in a paper written for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, describing the “intersectional experience” as something “greater than the sum of racism and sexism. (Crenshaw)” She wrote in terms of intersectional feminism, which examines the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that women face, based not just on gender but on ethnicity, sexuality, economic background and a number of other axes. She speaks on it in a sense that the term intersectionality provides us with a way to see issue that arise from discrimination or disempowerment often being more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion because of the protected clauses they may possess. Crenshaw speaks on the “urgency of intersectionality” in her Ted talk. This as well as her spreading awareness for the #SayHerName campaign drives a tie between the necessity for intersectionality advocaism and the the occurrences of neglect and violence present in societal happenings today. The question that stands in the forefront of her work is how can we effectively apply an intersectional methodology to analysis of violence and other acts against people who are often being neglected of any sort of recognition in social issues today? Intersectionality is one of the better known concepts within the