Intersectionality Reflection

Intersectionality Reflection
The first similarities I noticed within all four of my lists is that there were multiple words that saw me as someone who achieves, works hard for,
and is resourceful about meeting goals. I also noticed that many words related to who I was as a family member and as a student. The differences
that were noted within these lists are how some people saw me as an individual, whereas as others placed my characteristics as part of a group. I
noticed here how many different words, from different people, who knew me in their own ways came together to describe one thing. This is where I
believe intersectionality comes to show how humans are shaped and molded by numerous interactions, not just one. I am not a cookie cutter mold, so I
will not be exactly
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Intersectionality Essay
Berlyn Valdez
WGS 150
October 16, 2017
Midterm Essay
Intersectionality
The term intersectionality is a very complex word with room for an open range for multiple definitions. Intersectionality is used to understand
numerous types of oppressions and discriminations against people. Although, intersectionality wasn't used as a term until the 1980's by Kimberle
Crenshaw, an american civil rights activist and feminist, as a label for the types of oppressions women of color experienced. This is crucial for our
understanding of US womxy's history. The term reflects to the reality that we all have multiple identities that intersect to make us who we are. The
concept of feminism doesn't just include activism for women's rights but for the rights...show more content...
This analogy can be used to educate those who don't quite understand the abstract concept of intersectionality. Throughout history women of color have
been double discriminated due to their gender, race, and sexuality. The notion of intersectionality brought forward the oppressions women of color
struggle with into mainstream society. Now that these injustice acts have reached attention it can better the lives of those oppressed.
Being an immigrant can be an "intersection" of intersectionality. An example of this notion would be Gloria Anzaldua's "Borderlands/La Frontera".
Anzaldua is a queer immigrant women with many identities. She writes about her struggles as a queer immigrant in the united states. As Anzaldua
begins to discover herself she creates new identities for herself which lead to new oppression or "intersections". Immigrants throughout the United
States will continue to face the idea of intersectionality throughout their lives. Society needs to realize the wronging in this to fit in all of different race,
gender, and sexualy orientation.
The upcoming analysis of intersectionality threatens the hetropatriarcy society we live in. The idea of hetropatriarcy falls back to colonization by the
Europeans. The colonization created the notion of gendered conquest. The Europeans created stereotypes and disregarded

Thesis On Intersectionality
1.5. Intersectionality
For the purpose of this thesis, the term, intersectioanlity will be discussed in this subchapter. Intersectionality, a feminist sociological theory, is a term
coined by a famous researcher KimberlГ© Crenshaw in her essay entitled Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique
of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics (1989). The notion is connected with different forms of oppressions
experienced simultaneously by African American women. In her essay, Crenshaw compares discrimination to traffic. She states that women can be
victims of discrimination and its consequences that may come from many directions, which she called in her research as an intersection of gender,
...show more content...
Yet, Crenshaw admits, "it is not always easy to reconstruct an accident" (1991). The reason behind this statement is a need to categorize the two
dimensions of racism and sexism because the two terms are closely intertwined. And "the intersectional experience", according to Crenshaw, "is greater
than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in
which Black women are subordinated" (1991). The scholar argues a black woman has an intersectional identity because of two key factors: she is
woman and she is black which shape her life from the very beginning and, more importantly, she may be marginalized within them. Crenshaw divides
intersectionality into three main categories (1991). The first, structural intersetionality refers to the experiences of black women in terms of domestic
violence. Crenshew states at this point that there are many women of color who are excluded from their societies in terms of education and work. Apart
from that, they often become victims of the class oppression and hierarchy that situate them at the bottom of the community structure. The second,
political intersectionality depicts a problem with violence against women who are often marginalized. According to Crenshaw, it stems from the fact
that women of color are often torn between political groups presenting conflicting agendas. On the one hand, they still have to opt for their rights as
women in the male–dominated world and, on the other hand, they have to confront themselves with white women. At this point, the intersectionality
between race and gender is visible. The third, representational intersectionality is directly related to the representation of black women in a culture that
is often biased and,

The classifications of race and gender have intersected and caused conflicts with the lives of those close to me, shaping the social world in which I have
grown up. Intersectionality is the junction of many factors like sex, gender, race or class that bring forth oppression, domination or discrimination. It
attempts to present the multiple factors that structure one's experiences and explains that each individual is not the same. Everyone comes from
different backgrounds so one cannot assume that everyone shares a commonality due to their characteristics. The white upper–class women have been
the dominant feminists, although they create oppression while generalizing and assuming that everyone has the same experiences as they do. An
example...show more content...
As the year went on I noticed that he was quiet and alone quite often. I did not know him too well but later in the year I became friends with him and
got to know him better. He told me the things that I, as part of the privileged majority, did not notice because they were not affecting me. He explained
how uncomfortable he felt not fitting it and how it really bothered him. As he was both Asian and American, he didn't feel accepted into each culture
separately. He was 'too white' to be considered Asian and be part of the traditional Asian lifestyle and since he looked Asian he wasn't fully accepted
into the American culture. Also, because he was an Asian–male he was raised a bit differently than some 'normal males' at my school. He wasn't
brought up to be athletic or muscular, he had a good sense of fashion, and he was very intelligent, so therefore was seen as 'less masculine'. In my
opinion, these are all positive qualities. Now, he has met some friends with the same Asian–American intersection who share the same physical
qualities as him but those should just be a small part of the people he is accepted by. Just because people look a bit different physically does not mean
that they don't share the same interests socially or mentally. An African–American male and an Asian–American male could share more similar
experiences than two males that that are

Intersectionality Importance
If I were to say "intersectionality", most people I know, besides the ones outside of this geography course, would have no idea what I meant. As a
matter of fact, I myself had never heard of intersectionality before the guest lecture. So, what exactly is intersectionality, why is it important, how does
it affect identity, and how does it fit into the context of a geography class? I will be answering all these questions in my essay. So, to begin to
understand intersectionality and its importance, it might be easier to introduce intersectionality with a dictionary definition. Intersectionality, as
defined by the Oxford Dictionary is "the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating...show
more content...
Intersectionality is also important in a movement front. The more we as a society can recognize that there are marginalized groups who may be
marginalized in more than one way, the readier we are to make an everlasting change on the way we treat those people. Intersectionality's relationship
with perceptions and conceptions of identity is rather complex. First, it may be easier to explain their relationship with intersectionality by defining
perception and conception. Perception is how others view someone, while conceived is how someone views themselves. Intersectionality affects first
perception both negatively and positively. It could be said that intersectionality limits us to observing people by their physical characteristics, as that's
what intersectionality's primary focus is – marginalized race, gender, sex, religion, etc. The way people and society sometimes perceive others based
on these physical characteristics is not always correct. As an incredibly extreme example, some people may perceive a Muslim man speaking in
Arabic on an airplane to be a terrorist threat, as has happened before. Simply, the way we perceive others just isn't always how the person we are
perceiving identifies themselves. It is because of this misperception that things like stereotypes and misunderstandings arise, simply because we as a
society may be making judgements about

Critical Intersectionality
"Making My Head Spin; Critical Intersectionality" : The Characteristics of Inequality Depending on the individual who is pondering around the
complexity of "Intersectionality" may cause a dispute of what they believe is the definition. Victoria L. Bromley, the author of Feminisms Matter:
Debates, Theories, Activism illustrates a feminist view of how intersectionality is the root of oppression, which is all interconnected to our identity.
Bromley, refers to this as "identity markers" this is how we categorize or describe individuals in a society. That being said, identity markers are bias,
and not factual, they are used and believed to maintain the status quo. For example, with minimum knowledge, you see a white man on the street who
is dressed...show more content...
If not met to the status quo, our sex,gender, ethnicity, able–sim, and class can cause us to be seen as less in society, thus effecting our multiple
identities, the amount of power we have, and empowerment we feel or give; which ultimately excludes or includes our privileges. In conclusion,
intersectionality is a growing problem in our society today; it continues to enforce oppression and enable people to truly define

Intersectionality Speech
Students,
Today we are going to talk about black women, racism and sexism, but first we are going to talk about cars.
Imagine you are at an intersection. Traffic is free to come and go in four directions, and you are standing in the middle. Discrimination, just like an
intersection, can flow in many directions and an accident can occur from any to all of them. Similarly, if a woman of color is hurt because she is
standing in the middle of an intersection, her injury could result from sex or race discrimination, or even both. However each are a constant threat, just
as the moving cars are. Intersectionality lies in understanding that multiple oppressions are not each felt separately but rather as a single, unified
experience. Black women

Intersectionality
Intersectionality of Gender Inequality
Name:
Institution:
Intersectionality of Gender Inequality For many decades, women have experienced all forms of oppression and constant violence that threatened their
existence in the male–dominated society. Various forms of discrimination and oppression have been directed to women for decades. Violence directed
at women such as rape and battery were seen and treated as isolated scenarios. However, as the need to foster gender equality took pace, such
oppressive actions are now perceived as elements of a wider system of dominance in the society that that needs to be addressed as a whole rather than
in singularity...show more content...
I had a firsthand experience with the intricacies surrounding the issue of gender inequality in the workplace in Asia. I had a placement in one
corporation in Hong Kong, and there was no female employee in the senior management. Although there exist legal apparatus to accord female
employees equal opportunities at the workplace, many corporate risk legal suits for denying female employees their fair share of the job opportunities
in the fear of losing their market. Social constructs and religious doctrines are so entrenched in Asian societies to the extent that accompany with many
female senior employees can lose their market. Therefore, tackling the issue of gender inequality in the workplace should entail the analysis of all
oppressive institutions in that society rather than tackling the problem of the inequality in isolation (Crenshaw et al., 2013).
Reference
Crenshaw et al (2013). Toward a Field of Intersectionality Studies: Theory, Applications, and Praxis. Chicago: The University of Chicago

The notion of making the invisible visible is this concept that recognizes the forces of power because they highlight how experiences and certain
identities get constructed and normalized into the dynamics of society. For instance, being a poor person of color, or a queer person allows those
people to be subjected under different layers of power, such as gender stereotypes, economic expectations, which are ultimately social control
mechanisms that place humans on this spectrum of who deserves success and who does not. Intersectionality, in regards to Honduran Americans
references the different layers of forces which are subjecting them to be discriminated inside a white dominated nation. For instance, white males are at
the top of the spectrum while poor black queer women are at the bottom of latter thereby indicating how oppression is reactionary toward subjective
identities. According to Vivian Mays article Intersectionality, her article highlights the narrowness within her range of intersectionality, in which is has
constructed a binary of analysis, so that liberation frameworks get silenced from power dynamics. Power dynamics ensure the restriction of autonomy,
because of the ability to narrow the foundation of liberation in order to sustain the status quo. May writes, Intersectionality exposes how conventional
approaches to inequality, including feminist, civil rights, and liberal rights models, tend to: mistakenly rely on single–axis modes of analysis and redress;

Essay On Intersectionality
The idea of intersectionality is that all of our identities overlap and are also constantly affecting our privileges and oppressions. People do not always
think about their interactions despite them playing a pivotal role in our human experience. This is what causes some writers to feel the need to put
them into words so that maybe more people will look at themselves and do some thinking about their own intersections. Some of the authors that I
believe have done this well are Patricia Collins in her work titled Black Feminist Thought. Another work that discussed intersectionality well is titled "A
Black Feminist Statement" which is powerful in the way it discusses how race interacts with womanhood. The final piece I feel as though needs
discussed is Women, Race, and Class which is a piece written by Angela Davis that discusses the intersections that can be seen in...show more content...
In the early women's right's campaign there was not much focus on the intersectionality it was more based on the issues that white women were facing
at the time. This lead to many issue involved in the feminist movement, due to the lack of intersectionality. As Davis points out this lead to the racist
undertones throughout the feminist movement one of the issues Davis mentions is when Fredrick Douglass, a member of the feminist movement, sent
his daughter away to a white school and she was denied access by a woman claiming to be an abolitionist. These issues were rampant in my opinion
due to the lack of a more intersectional attitude. The first feminist movement wasn't all bad as Davis points out. Many white women put their lives on
the line to fight for the rights of their African American sisters. As Davis explains a white woman refused to let he school be segregated, therefor fought
for the rights of young African Americans to receive the same education. As Davis states "the

I will try to explain intersectionality. First of all you need to know what intersectionality is. Intersectionality is a theoretical framework which
explains violence or discrimination against humans. Now I will give you an example and then try to connect it to intersectionality. I will use an
example of spider web to explain this theory. This example will give you some idea about intersectionality. Think about a spider web. A Point in the
centre and all threads connected to each other. If we remove one thread from the spider web, it will fall apart. Now consider yourself. You have some
identities and these identities are connected just like spider web and we cannot remove any identity from you. If we remove any identity from you, then
...show more content...
I liked one definition of intersectionality which I would like to put here. "Intersectionality seeks to provide a tool for analyzing the ways in which gender
, race, class and all other forms of identity and distinction, in different contexts, produce situations in which women and men become vulnerable to
abuse and discrimination."(1). When we try to study how the intersection of race, gender, social class, effects humans and how are they connected
then it means we are using intersectionality theory. For example what are the problems of white, young, female and what are the problems of black,
young female. What will happen if we remove young from the equation and replace it with old? Inequality of gender is clearly defined but inequality
of same sex is complicated. If we want to know the problems of women and man then we might just find some sex related issues. But when we talk
about just men or women then it's a different story. I heard that all men are created equal but people use different lens to see it. For example, some
time man is called black man or white man, Muslim man or Christian man. They are all men but their gender intersects with other identities and makes
them different from one another. When somebody is discriminated on the basis of color, we know this exist. Intersectionality tells us about other kind
of discrimination. For example black man with different religion. It means same gender, same color, same language but different religion.

Intersectionality In Family
Until quite recently, the traditional view of family that has predominated society has been comprised of gender roles. The "ideal" family in the past has
consisted of a white, middle–class, heterosexual couple with about 2.5 children. In this heteronormative nuclear family, the father is the head of the
household and the breadwinner of the family, while the mother is the one who cares for the children and completes household duties. Of course, most
families do not fit into this mould and those who do not fit have been repeatedly marginalized due to their differences. It is no question that race, class,
sexuality, ability, and many other identity markers intersect in how forms of family may vary. As explained by the concept of intersectionality, gender
must be analyzed through a lens that includes various identity markers which contribute to how an individual experiences oppression. It is through the
use of intersectionality, the discussion of patriarchy, and the deconstruction of "family" that bell hooks (1990) and Michelle K. Owen (2001) paint
family as a site of belonging and contestation.
In her article, bell hooks (1990) argues that the home is a site of resistance for black people. She recalls being raised with the mindset that women,
particularly black women, took the lead in running the house. According to hooks, the home was a place that provided warmth, comfort, food, and
nurturing. It was a place that taught the young about dignity, integrity, and faith. Black

Intersectionality Reflection

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