GRSJ224/intersectionalfeminism

Intersectionality

Though the word “intersectionality” has only been added to the Mariam-Webster Dictionary just a few short months ago, the general concept surrounding it has been around for decades. The term refers to “the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism and classism) combine, overlap or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups”. In other words, the term "Intersectionality" states that not every person experiences the same effects of discrimination or the amount they receive.

How It Relates to Feminism

With intersectionality feminism, the goal is to consider all other aspects of identity such as race, ethnicity, social class, education, religion and sexual orientation and how they all intertwine with feminism. It takes in consideration all of these aspects and how it impacts women’s Oppression. For example, a feminism advocate who is of Caucasian ethnicity feels oppression due to her being a woman and feeling inferior to men. But an African American woman who is also bi-sexual feels oppression due to women inequality and discrimination due to her skin colour and sexual orientation. When you combine such identities that a woman is comprised of, it impacts women differently depending on how much discrimination they face and the extent to which they identify with these identities or rather hide and feel ashamed of them.

Where Did it Originate?

The term “intersectionality” was first defined many years ago from a professor named Kimberlé Crenshaw. The original use of this term was meant to describe how race and gender impacted how African American women were treated and discriminated, particularly in the justice and law systems. While a law professor at UCLA, Crenshaw fought for human rights, gender discrimination, racial discrimination and much more. While many different events impacted Crenshaw to become such an activist, a particular court case was essential in her discovery of intersectionality. In the case of Degraffenreid vs General Motors, five women of African American race were suing this company on the grounds of both racial and gender discrimination. At the time, intersectionality was not a widely known concept and because of that it was difficult to prove that there was a combination of different types of discrimination and there were no laws or correct punishment regarding the overlapping of discrimination. This is where Crenshaw decided that there needed to be some realization of this overlapping discrimination and this is where the term “intersectionality” was created. Since then, the term “intersectionality” has made itself a staple term when referring to the identities of women. Not only is it about how multiple aspects of the identity affect how women are treated and the impact it has on them. But by acknowledging, rather than hiding these identities women can reach full potential.

Problems With Feminism Today

The Wage Gap

The wage gap is a good example on why intersectionality feminism needs to be paid more attention to. Everyone has heard that women make 79 cents for every dollar that a man makes. But this statistic does not properly account for all of these other aspects of identity. For example, Hispanic or Latina women make 54%, Native American and Alaska Native women make 59%, Pacific Islander women make 62%, and African American women make 63% of what a white man makes. While women with disabilities make 65% and Transgendered women are paid a third less when they transition (American Association of University Women). Many people around the world know the wage gap as women making 79 cents for every man’s dollar, but not many know that this is different for women of colour, class, disability and/or sexual orientation. This is why intersectional feminism is so important because nowadays, we tend to ignore these people rather than understand that these qualities affect them in different ways or in different amounts compared to white women for example.

Women With Disabilities

Women who have a disability, whether it is a physical, mental or a learning disability are much often ignored in the fight for gender equality because again, many people do not understand that their experiences with gender inequality are different and much more severe then those without a disability. For example, from a study done by Handicap International, women with disabilities are twice as likely to be victims of domestic violence. They are also at increased risk of being sexually abused. Women with disabilities are often very dependent of other people (family, friends, hired caretaker) and these people who are there to help, often take advantage of these women due to the fact they may not be able to physically stop the sexual abuse or they just don't know any better. Disabled women are also forced to abort pregnancies due to their genetics and inability to care for their children. In a study by the United Nations, they stated that 6% of disabled women in India have been sterilizedagainst their will. They are also isolated when it comes to their education and have a lot of difficulty finding employers that will hire them due to their "limited and lack of" abilities.

White Feminism

In society nowadays, we tend to follow a phenomena called “white feminism”. White feminism is basically the thought that the idea of feminism today is from the perspective of white women. You see in social media the typical white woman of middle class economic status fight for their rights as women. It makes it seem that feminism is one idea and one problem that affects everyone the same amount, which is not the case. There are so many different layers to feminism that we don’t see, especially when watching these white feminists. Some even believe that transgendered women shouldn’t have the right to fight for gender equality because of the sexual identity they identify as. Instead of fighting against dress codes that allow girls to be able to wear spaghetti strap tank tops and short skirts, we should be fighting for Muslim women to be able to wear their hijab whenever they want without feeling scared of facing racial slurs or perhaps even violence in some cases.

History

This form of feminism (or so-called "white feminism") dates back to as far as the late 19th centuries and the early 20th centuries. Around this time women were suffering immensely. Women were not allowed to vote, they were forced to stay within the home to take care of children and clean and they had ultimately no freedom of speech. This was a prime time for women and feminism. During this time, women fought and gained many of the rights we are so lucky to have today including the right to vote and the right to obtain a job outside the house. But despite the fact that the women of this century were able to gain such important right and freedoms, they were subject to the phenomena of "white feminism" even though this phenomena (or mostly this term) didn't exist until recent decades. Just like today's society, it was the white women who were seen with more power and therefore they were the ones who took to the public eye in this fight. Leaving other women like the African Americans, Hispanics, other non-white women and those with a different sexual orientation to spectate. Keeping in mind, the LGBT community at this time wasn't factored in due to the fact that there was a harsh discrimination towards them at this time and most did not admit to their sexuality. Since then, it has always been these white feminists who are seen with the power and it has been these women who continuously take to the public eye to fight for women's rights. And to their demise, they fail to see the perspectives of other women.

Today's Need For Intersectionality

There are many reasons as to why intersectionality must be considered while talking about feminism. Because without including everybody in a movement for equality, is it really an equality movement? We see white women on social media and television fighting for equality, which is a great thing. As women who advocate for our rights, our first move shouldn’t be getting rid of dress codes in school, it should be to equal the wage gap entirely meaning that women (no matter the race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status etc.) get paid just as much as men. If we focus too much on raising the 79 cents pay to a dollar, we will forget the fact that some women don’t even get those 79 cents. We will be left in a world where we may think women have achieved equality because all of the white supremacists have gone away, happy and content because they believe they have won the war against gender inequality. But in reality, we will be left in a world with an even greater discrepancy in rights between men and women.

References

Dastagir, Alia E. “What is intersectional feminism? A look at the term you may be hearing a lot.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 25 Jan. 2017, www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/01/19/feminism-intersectionality-racism-sexism-class/96633750/.

Hawk, Taylor. “What is "Intersectional Feminism"?” Denison University, 26 July 2016, denison.edu/academics/womens-gender-studies/feature/67969.

“Intersectionality.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/intersectionality.

Jue, Laura. “Feminism 101: What is Intersectional Feminism?” FEM, 12 May 2016, femmagazine.com/feminism-101-what-is-intersectional-feminism/.

“What does intersectional feminism actually mean?” IWDA, 3 Jan. 2018, iwda.org.au/what-does-intersectional-feminism-actually-mean/.

Modie, Shailee. “We Need To Bring Toleration Back Into Our Lives.” The Odyssey Online, 16 Mar. 2018, www.theodysseyonline.com/bring-toleration-back.