Intersectional Approach In African American Women

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 this journal entry Dr.Sarah Jackson, social movements professor at Northeastern University, reports her interview with Cathy J. Cohen an African American author, feminist, and social activist. Cohen’s answers are highlighted and observed because they help build a conclusion to the questions about the role of gender in BLM. This interview is only months old and can speak to a new generation of females who feel their stories don’t matter and can’t be heard. In the interview Cohen expresses different subjects that concern African American feminist in the racial struggles for equality. The main argument of the interview is that BLM is a growing movement and that it will address issues of gender- particularly violence against Black women while having women activist at the center of BLM strategies and tactics.

Patriarchy’s Scapegoat: Black womanhood and femininity – A critique of racism, gender inequality, anti-blackness, and historical exploitation of black women.

Being a black woman, in a “white man’s” world, is a very hard thing to encounter; especially growing up in the south where racism is still clearly evident. Georgiana, Al, the small town I grew up in, a white man owns everything. The only exception is the night club that is open only Thursday thru Saturday, but even that business is on the way of being shut down just because it is a popular business owned by a black man. Growing up I have seen first-hand racism, discrimination, and stereotyping against towards the black community.

These types of issues require not only an intersectionality approach, but re-conceptualizing our understanding of individuals. Much of the work that culminated in the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act was predicated on the idea that through legislation, barriers could be removed to allow disabled people to achieve “independence.” Just a quick persuing of the disability organizations in Wisconsin finds eight with the word “independence” right in the organization name (http://www.disabilityrightswi.org/links). However, it is important, especially for disabled people, to unpack the ontological baggage of that term and the implications in devising strategies to dismantle structural inequities. We live in societies dominated by

Katie L. Love writes in her article Black Feminism: An Integrated Review of Literature, “The experiences of African-American woman are both complex and unique, based on similarities in experiences with racism and sexism stereotyping and in a shared history”(Love 11.) Black women’s history in feminism has been infrequent. Their battle is not only with sexism, but also also race and how they are not seen as equals within white culture because of their skin color even though for centuries they did nothing but get traded, sold, and taken from their home lands. Despite this they just wanted be treated as equals, but they are invisible to the white community. “Where did my body end and the crystal and white world begin?”(Ellison 238.)

Working Title An exploration of the socio-cultural and socio-economic discriminations faced by North African American women. Disciplines: - History, Sociology, and Psychology - First, to understand the origins of those discriminations, the discipline of history will be involved in this essay. Indeed, to better understand the social issue, it is important to understand the history that creates this issue.

Although I will never know what it is like to be an African American in today’s society, I do know how it feels to be a part of a group that is victimized. Everyone does. We all belong to somewhere, where other social groups feel the urge to be hostile or violent towards in order to make their point. Some examples include but aren’t limited to: various religions, political status, race, or sexual identity. As a female in today’s society, I have heard all the horror stories of rape, murder, and kidnapping that occurs just because we are female. These stories inflect alarm in my mind, whether it is going out alone, being around men, or attending a university. Hearing the news about the latest murder also causes some unease as a Catholic. For instance, in Oregon, a gunman walks into a college campus and singles out Christians. On announcing their religion, the assassin fired his weapon, killing nine people. Now, this was just one of many religions that were attacked. However, several others will become victims solely because they choose to believe in something different

The concept of intersectionality was first introduced by American civil rights activist, Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, to explicate how race and gender intersect with each other (Crenshaw, 1989). Intersectionality is a way to understand an individual’s multiple identities holistically in lieu of separately. However, Collins (2015) argues that “the term intersectionality references that critical insight that race, class … and age operate not as unitary, mutually exclusive entities, but rather a reciprocally constructing phenomenon. In fact, the idea of intersectionality is way beyond unitary and mutual identities of an individual.

Racism is not only shown to the different cultures and races; women in America are also faced with racism. Over half the population in America is women, yet they are still fighting for equality. Women have waged an ongoing battle for equality in much the same way as other racial minorities. Women are constantly harassed on the choices they make, whether it concerns their personal life or their careers. If a woman is sexually active, she is open to censure and punishment; being called names such as loose, a tramp or a whore. Men are not

However, individuals occupy more than one identity. There are black men, native women, rich people of color, poor immigrants, and gay, middle-class, black people. Each of these multiple identities experiences their own forms of oppression. Intersectionality is when social categorizations and their implications meet together to create new types of oppressions

Intersectionality is an important facet of understanding feminism and allows one to comprehend its underlying issues that are attached to various systems of oppression. First founded by black women and later adopted by people of color, it is the overlapping of several societal aspects that marginalize and discriminate against an individual or group. These aspects include race, class, gender, sexuality, mobility, and many other categories that work together to alienate certain individuals from a society. The concept behind intersectionality applies strongly to that of feminism; however, while feminism as a general term relates to the struggle of overcoming gender barriers, intersectionality defines it as a gender oppression that is not solely

African American women, often perceived as a sexual object or the Jezebel (the stereotype of white man view of the black woman as loose and over-sexed) have struggled to eliminate images that promote sexual exploitation such as their promiscuity (showing off their breast, behind, legs, and showing much of their skin on television, music videos and magazines) through the use of feminist movements and the creation of the womanist movement. However, in modern day society, black women have accepted these sexual ideas which were once considered to be dishonorable. The acceptance of this image, a direct cause of social construction and suppressed oppression, has given rise to a disturbed vision of black womanhood for years to come. Despite this,

To be direct on Womanism, there are many opinions and misconceptions on what defines not only a woman, but what defines a Black woman. With our freedom being seen as a minority, we have always been over looked because of how America decided what classifies the “minority”: being a woman, and being Black. There are several ways womanism is approached: Traditional Feminism, Black Feminism, Intersectional attributed to Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, Womanism defined by Alice Walker, or Africana Womanism as defined by Clenora Hudson-Weems and expanded by Jaimee A. Swift. The ideology that is most comfortable for me is, Womanism as it is defined by Alice Walker. There are many principles that I favor that Alice Walker stands for.

My own view is that movements such as BLM should be doing more for black feminism to get black women the media coverage they need, such as headlines on the newspapers and nationwide protests, in order to receive justice. This is because there is a lack of cases made known by the media about black women that have been mistreated in any form by those with more power, such as police officers. In addition, in terms of other Black led movements over the years, such as the Civil Rights movement, the focus was often on black men instead of women, meaning black women were just as mistreated then as they are now presently. Finally, black feminism is being ignored and pushed aside not only because of black men but from other races of women, which has not helped their movement of bringing justice to black women. Black feminism can empower black women by giving them a voice to speak for their own issues and encourage them to stand up against institutionalized racism and sexism.