Intersectionality

Definition

Intersectionality is a theoretical framework that examines how various social identities, such as race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and other axes of identity, intersect and overlap to create unique experiences of discrimination and privilege. It emphasizes that these identities cannot be examined in isolation, but must be understood in relation to one another.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Intersectionality was developed by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in the late 1980s as a way to understand the unique experiences of Black women, who faced both racial and gender discrimination.
2. Intersectionality challenges the notion of a single, universal experience of marginalization and instead emphasizes the complex and overlapping nature of different forms of oppression.
3. Intersectionality recognizes that individuals can simultaneously experience privilege and oppression based on their various social identities.
4. Intersectional approaches to feminist ethics highlight how different forms of oppression, such as sexism, racism, and classism, intersect to create unique challenges and barriers for marginalized individuals and communities.
5. Intersectional feminist theories emphasize the importance of centering the experiences of those at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, such as women of color, queer and trans individuals, and those with disabilities.

Review Questions

• Explain how intersectionality relates to feminist theories of ethics.
  • Intersectionality is a key component of feminist theories of ethics, as it highlights how different forms of oppression, such as sexism, racism, and classism, intersect to create unique challenges and barriers for marginalized individuals and communities. Intersectional feminist theories emphasize the importance of centering the experiences of those at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, such as women of color, queer and trans individuals, and those with disabilities. This approach challenges the notion of a single, universal experience of marginalization and instead recognizes the complex and overlapping nature of different forms of oppression.
• Describe how standpoint theory relates to intersectionality and feminist ethics.
  • Standpoint theory, which argues that an individual's social and political location influences their perspective and understanding of the world, is closely connected to intersectionality and feminist ethics. Intersectionality recognizes that marginalized individuals and communities have a unique vantage point that can provide valuable insights into the nature of oppression and the ways in which different forms of oppression intersect. Feminist ethics that incorporate an intersectional approach emphasize the importance of centering the perspectives and experiences of those at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities, as these individuals often have a more nuanced understanding of the complex and overlapping nature of different forms of oppression.
• Analyze how the concept of oppression is understood within an intersectional framework of feminist ethics.
  • Within an intersectional framework of feminist ethics, the concept of oppression is understood as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon that cannot be reduced to a single axis of identity or experience. Intersectionality recognizes that individuals can simultaneously experience privilege and oppression based on their various social identities, and that different forms of oppression, such as sexism, racism, and classism, intersect to create unique challenges and barriers for marginalized individuals and communities. Feminist ethics that incorporate an intersectional approach emphasize the importance of understanding the ways in which these different forms of oppression interact and reinforce one another, and of developing strategies for addressing and dismantling these systems of oppression in their totality.

Related terms

Feminist Theory: A range of theories that examine the nature of gender inequality and seek to understand the ways in which gender interacts with other social and cultural identities and how these interactions contribute to systematic injustices.

Standpoint Theory:

A feminist theory that argues that an individual's social and political location influences their perspective and understanding of the world, and that marginalized groups have a unique vantage point that can provide valuable insights.

Oppression: The systemic and institutional mistreatment and exploitation of individuals or groups based on their social identities, such as race, class, gender, sexuality, disability, and others.