Intersectionality attempts to link the openings between the several axes through which an individual may experience oppression. Crenshaw explains intersectionality as a way to observe the numerous self-categories through which women—especially Black women and women of color—experience violence and oppression, ways that cannot simply be explained by their gender or their race (Crenshaw). Crenshaw uses an intersectional lens to analyze violence against women and how women form against it and disputes that this lens is predominantly important when analyzing violence against women because “the violence that many women experience is often shaped by other dimensions of their identities, such as race and class” (Crenshaw). She directly criticizes…
Joanna Dreby, author of The Burden of Deportation, and Hyeyoung Kwon, author of Intersectionality in Interactions, both discuss the unique, yet different, challenges that non-White children of immigrants face in the U.S. Dreby discusses the challenges of forced separations, children’s families struggles, and the threat of deportation, while Kwon discusses the challenges of passing as American adults, shielding parents from racialized nativism, and posing like middle-class adults. In Dreby’s article, she partook in interviews with the mothers of the home first, then the children aged 5-15. Through these interviews, she found that the most damaging effect on children due to forced separation was the sudden shift of having two parents in the…
In reading Kimberlé Crenshaw’s article, she passionately writes about intersectionality, a call for racial injustice awareness, and a vision for social equality that is inclusive of all overlapping identities. Intersectionality is a label that is being used to define an individual’s layered identity in society. Subsequently, this term exists because intersectionality should “highlight the multiple avenues through which racial and gender oppression were experienced.” (Crenshaw, 2015 para. 4) As a law professor, Ms. Crenshaw encompasses the word “intersectionality” to address anti-discrimination problems affecting black women.…
Intersectionality is the multiple factors, which complement and compound each other to successfully suppress. Karen McCormack examines the intersectionality embedded within the term “welfare mother” in Stratified Reproduction and Poor Women’s Resistance. This simple two word term, is full of preconceived notions and intersectionality.…
I have chosen to write about intersectionality, a study introduced to contemporary feminist theory by Kimberle W. Crenshaw. The study consists of “various ways in which race and gender intersect in shaping structural, political and representational aspects of violence against women of color etc. Structural intersectionality in regards to racism contributes to the silence of violence; as in the issue raised regarding the marriage fraud provision of the Immigration and Nationalities act. This act involved immigrants who remained properly married to united citizens for 2 years in order to become permanent residents in the United States. Most endured battery, extreme cruelty and were reluctant to leave due to fear of being deported etc.…
Intersectionality is an outline that recognizes the interlocked nature of social identities and systems of oppression. It recognizes that individuals hold multiple identities and that these identities intersect to shape their experiences of privilege and oppression within society. Intersectionality highlights someone's experience of discrimination or privilege that isn't solely determined by one aspect of their identity but is influenced by the combination of various social factors such as race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and more. An example of intersectionality can be seen in the experiences of a black woman in the workplace. We may face discrimination not only based on our gender, but also due to our race.…
Barriers and Bridges to Intersectionality. Intersectionality is about how one’s race, gender, socioeconomic status, and sexual identity combine to result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. It is essential to note that these intersecting elements do not simply combine to produce independent forms of discrimination; rather, they interact in complex ways, resulting in experiences that are more profound and nuanced than their individual parts. A key to analyzing intersectionality is that the intersectional experiences are greater than the sum of its parts. Today, intersectionality serves as both a barrier and a bridge to opportunities.…
What stood out to you in this week’s content material (be specific) and why was it significant to your learning process? What stood out to me from this week reading is Intersectionality & Inequality. Intersectionality & Inequality is noteworthy for the reasons racism dormant for quite some time in America. However, it appears as if it’s in full blast, with all the police brutality and the killing in the country.…
Wade and Ferree describe intersectionality as “ gender is not an isolated social fact about us, but instead intersects with our other identities” (2015: 84). Intersectionality, quite literally, observes the intersections within individuals’ identities; what people encounter is based upon their race, gender, sexual orientation, and more. On the other hand, Wade and Ferree define gender strategy as “finding a way of doing gender that works for us as unique individuals who are also shaped by other parts of our identity and the realities of our lives” (85). These issues go together, as seen in how Asian men and women break from stereotypes. Because of the hardships Asian citizens encountered in the United States in the 19th century ― taking traditionally…
Understanding intersectionality is something that is important in the practice of social work. One must be able to understand and deal with one’s clients and their specific positions in life and understand how all of their different identities and places in society interact with each other. However, before one can understand intersectionality in others, one must examine the different areas of one’s own life and how they interact to form a unique identity. I will examine my specific roles in life and how they interact with each other going forward, specifically regarding gender, ethnicity and nationality, race, sexual orientation, abilities and disabilities, class, and religion.…
However, in recognizing multiple social identities or the confines of investigating gender while excluding other social identities, limits consideration of intersectional individuals’ life lessons as they amass disadvantages, which is the response from Black feminists and their view of intersectionality as a theoretical framework (Crenshaw,…
Most often female employees are offered a lower salary than their male counterparts for the same job position and equal qualifications. Women in Asia countries earn 54 to 90 percent less than their male counterparts. Most corporations in Asia have no female employee in the senior management. Only 1.1 percent of female across Asia hold a powerful position in corporations such as Chief Executive Officer. In Hong Kong over forty percent of companies have no female on the board of directors.…
It is true that intersectionality plays a big role in power shift. Those people who are placed at the bottom level of pyramid and occupy more than one identity category have more difficulty achieving power. These overlapping categories creates more oppression and disadvantage to the individual. And sometimes, one category may cause more problem than the other. For example, the lecture notes discussed about how Shirley Chisholm identified her intersections of identity.…
Introduction Traditional theories are important to understand as they are the foundation alternative theories come from and are the groundwork of many social work beliefs and constructions. Traditional theories were developed in a time that cultural diversity was not common, women were not seen as equals, and socioeconomic status was not considered among many other elements overlooked at impacting a person’s development. However, what traditional theories lack in is what led to the development of alternative theories.…
Taking Ethnic Studies class at Northern Arizona University, I have been show the idea of intersectionality and how historically and presently people fail to note that individuals possess multiple identities that come together to make who they are. In addition, with these multi-faceted identities come a unique blend of privileges and disadvantages that people face throughout their lives (Robyn, 2017). For example, Transgender Native American/American Indian women faces much more disadvantages than homosexual white males in American society. Although, the white male is gay, in the caste of privilege in the United States, part of their identity is still white, and male. This allows them to have an advantage in society, even though they are still oppressed (Robyn, 2017).…