Intersectionality was one of the few terms I was aware of before beginning this class. I always understood it as trying to include everybody, and an understanding that each person faces unique discrimination that is a result of them as a whole being not as just 1 demographic. Around the same time that I came across the term intersectionality, I also came across the term privilege (usually in the context of either male or white privilege). At first privilege was a frustrating concept for me as it felt like I was being accused of living life on easy mode and all the privileges I was accused of having were nowhere to be seen. However part of what got me to come around was when I started understanding intersectionality, which allowed me to identify that a lot of the areas I was suffering in were due to belonging to other marginalized demographics like LGBT people, autistic people, lower class people, etc.
This course (and other WGS courses) has allowed me to expand my understanding of intersectionality. The learning module defined intersectionality as “a way of thinking about how our social identities intersect” This fits in well with my own worldview I try to view everybody as an individual that faces a unique struggle. There are 3 main aspects of intersectionality. The first is intersectionality views at the individual level (which I described a little bit above) which helps us to think about ways in which a person can be marginalized in 1 category and privileged in another for example white women who are privileged by their ethnicity but oppressed as a gender. The second aspect is intersectionality as a framework for analysis which is when you look at a subject through the lens of a marginalized demographic such as looking at the medias hypersexualization of women. Lastly there is intersectionality as a social justice movement, which is when you view equality as meaning not just equality of gender but equality of races, classes, abilities, etc.
In the project muse link (Ethic and The Environment: Intersectionality and the Changing Face of Ecofeminism by AE King) we look at the ways in which intersectionality has combined with Ecofeminism and influenced it. To quote Kings “ecofeminism has always concerned itself with understanding the unique experiences of those who face discrimination”. Despite my many criticisms of Ecofeminism it definitely is extremely inclusive as I’ve heard more mention of women in the global south and Asia than in any other feminist ideologies I have come across.
Works Cited
https://muse-jhu-edu.libproxy.umassd.edu/article/660551
Hi Nick,
I here you! I think when it comes to privilege we have to define that term to fit the person or situation. What I think of as privileged could be different than what others thing (and visversa). I think intersectionality breaks this down because it show that classism includes oppressions as well. For instance, people that are wealthy might not be happy just because they have money. Also, there are wealthy black women who are still being discriminated against regardless to their wealth. Another instance is being born into money and not realizing how your money influences the decisions you make (privilege). Just like a white person may not see their privileged with their race, because they were born that way, but in society white is seen as the superior race (sad but true) and blacks are oppressed simply for the color of their skin they were born in.
Another reason why I think Crenshaw wanted to break down barriers of oppressions with the word “intersectionality” is so that we could bring forth our differences with oppression. This holds us accountable for how we view others, as well as helps us understand our own level of uniqueness to oppressions we face. This is because she understood that black feminism is different from white feminism as, just the same way duality has its differences in ecofeminism.
Mary
Hi Nick,
I appreciate that you have developed a really good sense of feminism, of women’s issues, and now of intersectionality. So many men fear feminism, and women’s strength. Ive never been able to understand why that is. Thank you for educating yourself in this area and for becoming a male supporter of equality. I like your explanation of intersectionality. I think you used clear concise language and terms that are easy to understand.
I too was aware of intersectionality prior to this class. I’ve done a lot of research on Kimberlé Crenshaw. When I first learned about intersectionality it really brought into focus how other groups are oppressed in ways that I hadn’t even considered before. For example, in a previous WGS class, in a DB by a black female student, she explained how she was raised in a pretty affluent family. Her father a doctor and mother a business owner. She grew up with an intact family of educated parents, and carried herself as a strong educated woman, still she is followed while shopping in stores because of the color of her skin. I have never in my life experienced that in a store while shopping. It hit me that day, how upset and offended I would be if that happened to me. This is the kind of behavior black people face on a regular basis. That’s the day I realized my privilege.
There’s an excellent video that explains intersectionality in simple terms. It’s pretty informative and is the video I shared with my husband during a precious class to explain the concept to him. I think that if more people learned the concept of intersectionality that there would be more understanding and acceptance. That video link is here: https://youtu.be/X5H80Nhmn20
I think it’s interesting that you bring up the topic of privilege. Privilege is something that I’ve been learning more about as I’ve learned more about feminism. I think it is something that is very relevant with environmentalism as well. Often times, things that are suggested in order to be considered eco-friendly are only accessible for a privileged person. For example, eating a vegan diet. While there is a lot of vegan junk food that is available cheap, things such as meat substitutes, fake dairy or even jars of nuts can be very costly. Another example of things that are touted as environmentally friendly but cost money are buying reusable bags or reusable dishware, or installing solar panels. The concept of being zero waste or low waste is often touted, but that is a privilege as well. Lots of grocery stores that have things like bins of seasonings or coffee or other refillable things are often in ritzier areas, and less in low-income areas. It can be not cost-effective or even an option to travel out of your local area in order to grocery shop. While not everything that helps the environment costs money (for example, not littering is free) it can still be very privileged to be majorly eco-friendly, and that is something we need to think of with interactionalism as well.
Hello Nick,
Your blog for this week was easily explaining your understanding of intersectionality and looking at privilege. I think the concept of intersectionality was imperative to black women and black women standpoint in particularly when you look at feminism and feminist theory. I myself in the beginning when taking WGS 101 struggled with the idea of privilege and what it meant. I remember being called out often for my privilege in the course. At first I did not understand why everyone assumed I had an easy life but then I had to take a step back like yourself and learn a little more about it. I realized that I do have privilege being a white woman, however I grew up in a very poor area and my family was on state benefits just to feed us and survive so I struggled within our class system, and of course the sexism that comes with being a woman. Even with these struggles I had access to many things others did not. That is why we were taught in my course that you are not able to compare oppressions because there is no ranking. There is a very interesting youtube video on privilege it was an experiment done in Singapore. I have attached it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hvibGdg4w