Our Shared Shelf discussion
Aug/Sept '20 Antiracism
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What is intersectionality?
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Judy
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Oct 01, 2020 11:24PM
Excellent points. I've been reading a lot about racism lately, and this is a new word for me. But I see the point, that the intersections are critical and inform how we see others and how we experience the world. It is so difficult for people with privilege to realize how much those intersections can compound each other.
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so very true and I think racism is wrong on any scale! I have many friends from different cultures and to me they are like precious gems. Rare and hard to find. God created us all equal and no one is better than another and the sooner we realise that it will be a better world. God Bless you !
It is a concept in sociology that helps to show that oppression and social identity are not always one oppression and one social identity. It is a very useful theory coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw to help us analyze the multifaceted nature of both social identity and oppression, and the symbolic violence that arises and is produced and reproduced from the systems that oppress and exploit folks, such as capitalism, racism, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, etc. https://youtu.be/yWa63FLEYsU For instance, when we talk about feminism, intersectional global feminism that includes Black women and BIPOC is essential in analyzing how hard it is in the United States to be both Black and a woman. Those identities interact together as well as oppress folks in their interaction. It is not effective enough to analyze our identities as just one identity or oppression.
One of the best examples is violence against Black trans women. Their 3 identities of Black, trans, and woman interact together and each of those oppressions cumulatively add up. Social identity is also important to talk about with intersectionality. Black, trans, and woman are 3 social identities that interact together and can be empowering although we must also acknowledge the systemic and symbolic violence inherent in the systems that oppress Black trans women.
Judy and Abhishek, I agree! Awesome explanations :)
Sofia, enjoyed your comments, they helped my understanding of intersectionality.
