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INTERSECTIONALITY, UNCATEGORIZED

Intersectionality – a Definition, History, and Guide Posted on July 27, 2016 by Claire Intersectionality has been a common theme in feminist theory, writing, and

activism for the last few years. It has even become something of a buzzword. And

yet there remains a great deal of misunderstanding over what intersectionality

actually means and, subsequently, how it is supposed to manifest within the

feminist movement. This confusion has resulted in a degree of backlash, claims

that intersectionality distracts women’s energy from the key aims of the feminist

movement – dismantling patriarchy, ending male dominance and violence against

women – when in fact it is only through a truly intersectional approach that these

goals become possible for all women, not simply the white and middle-class. And

feminism is about uplifting all women, a goal which becomes impossible when

only those aspects of women’s experiences relating to the hierarchy of gender are

considered. This is where intersectionality becomes essential.

What is intersectionality? Intersectionality is a framework designed to explore the dynamic between co-

existing identities (e.g. woman, Black) and connected systems of oppression (e.g.

patriarchy, white supremacy). The term was created by Kimberlé Crenshaw and

challenges an assumption continuing to undermine the feminist movement – that

women are a homogeneous group, equally positioned by structures of power. In a

feminist context, it allows for a fully developed understanding of how factors such

as race and class shape women’s lived experiences, how they interact with gender.

Intersectionality is actually a pretty straightforward idea: if forms of prejudice have

the same root, growing from the dominant power structure of “white supremacist

capitalist patriarchy” (hooks), then challenging one aspect of structural power

alone is almost entirely ineffectual. Opposing one facet of systematic oppression

also requires a degree of selectivism, treating one form of structural power as a

bigger threat than the others, e.g. when white middle-class feminists argue that

gender is the primary means of oppression in all women’s lives, disregarding the

realities of working class women and/or women of colour. For an effective

feminist movement that tackles the very root of persisting inequalities, in the words

of Audre Lorde, “there can be no hierarchies of oppression.”

The lens of intersectionality allows for the overlap between identities of race, sex,

class, sexuality, etc. to be fully incorporated in structural analysis, thus providing

feminist analysis with the perspective to encompass the true range of all women’s

lives, the scope to understand all women’s experiences. Intersectional praxis

prevents marginalized women from being further side-lined within the feminist

movement. It also defies the expectation that feminists of colour ought to prioritize

sex in our analysis:

Although racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real

people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices. And

so, when the practices expound identity as woman or person of

color as an either/or proposition, they relegate the identity of

women of colour to a location that resists telling. (Crenshaw)

Where did intersectionality come from? Despite the concept of intersectionality being relatively new, that mode of

connecting forms of oppression together in structural analysis can be traced back

throughout the activism and liberation theory within modern history. For example,

when the abolitionist Frederick Douglass championed women’s suffrage during the

mid-19th century, he did so in the belief that women (both of colour and white)

were every bit as entitled to participate in democracy as Black men – unlike

numerous suffragettes, Douglass resisted prioritizing the struggle of the group to

which he belonged above the struggles of others, a commitment to universal

equality that ultimately strengthened the position of both women and Black men

pursuing suffrage.

Intersectionality also manifests in Black feminist writing from the 1960s onwards.

Michele Wallace was a pioneering thinker in this respect, her criticism of

misogyny within the Black Power movement highlighting the dynamic between

misogyny and racism and, subsequently, the nature of oppression faced by Black

women. The writing of Angela Davis was pivotal in unveiling the racism and

classism of the women’s liberation movement, analyzing the history of Black

women being further marginalized within feminism. Her work gave a clear

demonstration of the relationship typically existing between race and class, and

explored the role played by both in the oppression of women. bell hooks too

asserted that racism and sexism are inherently connected forms of structural

oppression, that Black women are positioned in such a way that makes that link

undeniable.

Kay Lindsay postulated that as Black woman are relegated to the sidelines by both

the misogyny within Black liberation politics and the racism of feminism, we find

ourselves as outsiders in both movements despite being the object of the

oppressions they seek to address. This position of marginalization twice over is

what Frances Beale first termed a “double jeopardy“.

It was this context from which Crenshaw drew on in providing a comprehensive

description of the relationships between identities and oppressions. Patricia Hill

Collins built upon her theory, arguing that multiple forms of oppression connect to

form a “matrix of domination” – just as identities overlap, so too do the hierarchies

by which structural power imbalance is maintained.

Part of the ongoing feminist resistance of intersectionality stems from the

marginalization of Black women’s scholarship, where the theory has

predominantly been developed – dismissing it as jargon is easy as it requires no

critical self-reflection from white feminist women, whereas engaging with an idea

with the power to radically alter praxis and deepen understanding of structural

power demands a significant level of honesty both in dealing with yourself and

others.

How does intersectionality work?

Intersectionality proposes that the greater a deviation from the Cartesian subject –

the standardized ‘norm’ of a white, wealthy, heterosexual male – the more layers

of prejudice the individual in question must face, those prejudices combining to

form a matrix of domination. Looking through the lens of intersectional feminist

theory demonstrates that there is not one fixed reality to be lived by all those

sharing a single umbrella identity (such as woman), but rather a multitude of

realities, the experience of which is determined by co-existing identities (hooks). In

other words, a Black woman and a white woman will both experience womanhood

differently owing to the vector of race. One is not “more” woman than the other.

Treating white womanhood as a definitive standard, particularly during structural

analysis, erases Black womanhood and propagates racism within the feminist

movement.

Separating identities, and indeed the experiences that arise as a consequence of

those identities, is highly implausible. As Audre Lorde said, “there is no thing as a

single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

An intersectional approach to feminism considers social inequality beyond that

which is part of your individual experience. The discomfort of acknowledging that

you, in some hierarchies, belong to the dominant class is essential to the

redistribution of structural power. An intersectional approach also requires a

thorough consideration of power – how it operates as a dynamic on both an

individual and collective basis. Intersectional thought rejects the binary assumption

that a person must belong to either one group or the other (e.g. woman OR person

of colour). The relationship between multiple identities is acknowledged and

considered in feminist praxis. An intersectional approach to feminism is also

mindful of context, conscious of how comparative privilege can shape and even

limit perspective. (Hill Collins & Bilge)

Intersectionality extends the reach and relevance of the feminist movement. This is

because intersectional praxis has the power to dispel the misconception that

feminism is simply “a white thing”, by and for white women. Intersectional praxis

is crucial if feminist sisterhood is to exist. It has the power to foster solidarity

between women – all women – and make our movement stronger.

Bibliography ed. Cade Bambara, Toni. (1970). The Black Woman: An

Anthology.

Davis, Angela. (1981). Women, Race & Class.

Hill Collins, Patricia (2000). Black Feminist Thought.

Hill Collins, Patricia. Bilge, Sirma. (2016). Intersectionality.

hooks, bell. (1981). Ain’t I a Woman? Black Women and

Feminism.

hooks, bell. (1982). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center.

eds. Moraga, Cherríe & Anzaldúa, Gloria. (1981). This Bridge

Called My Back.

Wallace, Michele. (1978). Black Macho and the Myth of

Superwoman.