If you see Inequality as a “Them” problem or “Unfortunate other”
Kimberlé Crenshaw (Women, U.N., 2000)
problem, That is the Problem.
What is Intersectionality and Intersectional Feminism
Intersectionality refers to a framework for understanding oppression (Gharib, 2022). The concept of intersectionality holds that social injustices are interconnected and inextricably linked to one another. It is claimed that “race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age operate NOT as unitary, separate entities but rather as reciprocal building phenomena” (Christoffersen & Emejulu, 2022).
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Today, There is much more to ‘intersectional feminism’ than the newest feminist catchphrase. Many feminists still refer to this phrase from decades ago when they discuss ways to make the feminist cause more inclusive and diverse (Dastagir, 2017). If feminism is the movement for women’s rights and gender parity, intersectional feminism is the study of how women’s multiple identities, such as race, class, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation, affect how they are subjected to discrimination and oppression (Dastagir, 2017). Thus, by including the concept of “intersectional” in “feminism,” the movement becomes truly inclusive, allowing all women to have their views heard.
Let’s understand this term and its concept through an illustration provided by Gharib (2022). Women in the US make 83 cents for every dollar that men make. When additional identities are taken into account, this ratio quickly shifts, with Black women getting just 64 cents for every $1 earned by a white male. If we only looked at this from a gender perspective, we would ignore how racism perpetuates this disparity, similar to how we would ignore how gender influences Black women’s oppression if we looked at pay inequities from the perspective of race. This is why the intersectionality paradigm is so helpful because it emphasizes how discrimination and exclusion are complex problems that require multiple approaches to overcome (Gharib, 2022).
Origin and Roots: Who is Kimberlé Crenshaw?
Kimberlé Crenshaw, famously known as the intersectional feminist, was a lawyer, a civil rights activist, and a professor who coined the term “intersectionality” in 1989. A graduate of Cornell, Harvard University, and the University of Wisconsin, Crenshaw has mostly utilized the idea of critical race theory in her research (Coaston, 2019). Critical race theory is important to understand Crenshaw’s premise of intersectional feminism. Critical race theory (CRT) is an intellectual and social movement that holds that race is not a biologically based characteristic of physically distinct subgroups of humans but rather a category that is culturally and socially constructed that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia, 2023).
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When Crenshaw was still a law student, she began to wonder how the legal system handled instances involving sexism and racism. In Crenshaw’s opinion, studying them separately from one another was a significant intellectual limitation of the courts and missed the very obvious reality that black women were both black and women and, as a result, were vulnerable to discrimination based on both their race and gender (International Women’s Development Agency, 2018).
The term first appeared in a 1989 paper by Crenshaw titled “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics”. Asmelash (2023) sheds light on one of the three cases Crenshaw turned to illustrate this point in her paper, which was the 1976 United States case of Degraffenreid v. General Motors. The case centred around five black women suing General Motors for a policy against both race and gender discrimination (Brewer& Dundes, 2018). They said that seniority-based layoffs at the corporation had prioritized Black women, continuing the negative consequences of historical racism. The claims were refuted by General Motors. The court ruled that charges of racial and gender discrimination must be evaluated separately, citing legal precedent (Brewer& Dundes, 2018).
In that case, the court declined to accept a claim of discrimination based on a group of “Black women,” as opposed to claims based individually on race and/or sex, that is, claims based on being Black or being a woman. The court was unable to recognize that the women experienced prejudice because of both their colour and their gender (Asmelash, 2023).
When Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term more than 30 years ago, it was a relatively obscure legal concept. However, it has since gained the attention of the masses.
Intersectionality Today
Asmelash (2023) ponders “Is intersectionality a legal concept then?”.
The Answer to this is both “Yes” and “No”. Yes, the word was initially introduced by legal professor Crenshaw to highlight how courts in discrimination cases were failing to recognize the interconnections of various identities. However, The phrase has now been used outside of its initial context, mostly to demonstrate how different intersecting identities have varied effects on how society as a whole affects individuals (Asmelash, 2023).
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Despite Crenshaw’s creation of the term, she was quick to acknowledge that she was not the first to define its actual meaning, pointing to women like notable political activist, philosopher, and author Angela Davis as well as 19th-century Black liberation activist Anna J. Cooper (International Women’s Development Agency, 2018). Modern feminists have built on Crenshaw’s work, much as she did; today, intersectionality refers to more than just the intersections of race and gender. It is currently frequently used to demonstrate how many forms of discrimination interact, including those based on gender, colour, age, class, financial status, physical or mental ability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or ethnicity (International Women’s Development Agency, 2018).
Intersectionality as a concept has gone beyond the realm of gender studies and is now employed by scholars in sociology, education, environment, anthropology, political science, and many more disciplines to deal with social inequalities and identities (Lutz, 2015). Feminists often say that the “Future is Female”, but so are climate awareness, energy efficiency, and sustainably produced foods (Stein, 2022). Hence, intersectionality and intersectional feminism explain that viewing an issue only in one dimension will not be sufficient. Hence, The goal of intersectional feminism, as Crenshaw meant it to be, was to acknowledge how various components of an individual’s identity may interact to alter how they perceive the world and the obstacles they may encounter as a result.
However, Intersectionality is still a challenging, misunderstood, and occasionally contentious term.
Critique: The Battle Over Intersectionality
Christoffersen & Emejulu (2023) explain that the definition and significance of intersectionality have been the subject of a protracted dispute among researchers (for example, Lutz 2015; May 2015). Three debates are going on right now regarding intersectionality:
- What did scholars like Crenshaw truly imply by the word intersectionality?
- How are activists working to close gaps among organizations?
- How are conservatives, in particular, reacting to the application of intersectionality by those activists?
In the eyes of many conservatives, as Coaston (2019) explains, Intersectionality means “you get special standards and treatment because you’re a minority.” It favours social division and solipsism at the individual level. It stands for a type of feminism that “labels you.” The result is that intersectionality is “really dangerous” or a “conspiracy theory of victimization” (Coaston, 2019).
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Coaston (2019) further explains that many conservatives find its use, and not the term, objectionable. To them, intersectionality isn’t just a description of a system of oppression; in reality, it’s an inversion of it. However, Crenshaw does not intend to establish a black, female-dominated top rung of a racial hierarchy. She is trying to eliminate all racial hierarchies through her work (Coaston, 2019).
Conclusion
Although the debate about intersectionality is certain to go on, the idea itself is enduring. As Kimberlé Crenshaw herself said, “Intersectionality is about capturing dynamics and converging patterns of advantage and disadvantage. Those are going to change from context to context” (Moffitt, 2021). This means that intersectionality is a dynamic concept that will need to be constantly revised and updated as society changes. This means that, as a society, this idea will require ongoing revision and updating.
There has been significant discussion surrounding the concept of intersectionality, which is intricate and multifaceted. It cannot be ignored that Intersectionality is a potent tool for comprehending and addressing social inequity. It is possible to build more inclusive and egalitarian societies by recognizing the connections between various identities.
However, the ideas behind intersectional feminism remain the same: The interaction of various identities to produce certain oppressive patterns is known as intersectionality.
References-
Asmelash, Leah. “Intersectionality’ has become a hot-button topic in recent years. Here’s what it means”. CNN (2023).
Brewer, Sierra, and Lauren Dundes. “Concerned, meet terrified: Intersectional feminism and the Women’s March.” In Women’s Studies International Forum, vol. 69, pp. 49-55. Pergamon, (2018).
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. “critical race theory.” Encyclopedia Britannica, (2023). https://www.britannica.com/topic/critical-race-theory.
Christoffersen, Ashlee, and Akwugo Emejulu. “Diversity Within: The Problems with “Intersectional” White Feminism in Practice.” Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, vol, 30, pp. 630-363. (2022).
Coaston, Jane. “The intersectionality wars”. Vox (2019).
Dastagir, Alia E. “What is intersectional feminism? A look at the term you may be hearing a lot.” USA Today 19 (2017).
Gharib, Sarab. “What Is Intersectionality and Why Is It Important?”. Global Citizens (2022).
International Women Development Agency. “WHAT DOES INTERSECTIONAL FEMINISM ACTUALLY MEAN? (2018).
Lutz, Helma. “Intersectionality as a method.” Digest. Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies 2, no. 1-2, 39-44. (2015).
May, Vivian M. Pursuing intersectionality, unsettling dominant imaginaries. Routledge, (2015.)
Moffitt, Kelly. “What Does Intersectionality Mean in 2021? Kimberlé Crenshaw’s Podcast Is A Must-Listen Way to Learn”. Columbia University in the City of New York, (2021).
Women, U. N. “Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now.” UN Women 1 (2020).
Authorship Credits
Ananya Atri is an International Relations student and currently interns at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research at her university. She has been part of Global Youth India and right now serves as the Director of Communications at NGO Cultural Diversity for Peaceful Future in Georgia. Her interest in writing for Mandonna stems from her belief in equality and inclusion.
