Intersectionality is a sociological and critical theory about how an individual can face multiple threats such as oppression, domination and discrimination when their various biological, social and cultural identities overlap such as gender, race, sex, wealth, age, ability, sexuality and many other characteristics. Intersectionality maintains that oppressive institutions such as racism, classism, ageism and countless more “isms”, are interconnected and do not act separately of one another. The idea of intersectionality applies to both genders but is traditionally applied to women. Victoria Bromley, author of Feminism Matters: Debates, Theories and Activism expresses intersectionality by explaining how power is utilized in various forms to empower …show more content…
In Feminism Matters, Victoria Bromley analyses the use of power and how it intertwines with intersectionality and the feminist culture. There are two different ways that power is visualized in our society. The first branch she discusses, is empowerment. Bromley defines empowerment as a power that permits people to live more accomplished lives. Empowerment is an important aspect of feminism as it promotes power to be shared and be used for good instead of evil. Bromley believes that empowerment is “collective, expansive, and beneficial…Empowerment increases the social, economic, political and spiritual strength of individuals and their communities” (Bromley 50). The other side of power that Bromley mentions is the power that focuses on the systems of inclusion and exclusion, hierarchies of privilege and the system of domination and subordination. This type of power is what defines the struggle of intersectionality and what feminists want to eliminate in our society. It defines the fact that women are all the same and share the exact same life experiences; which is untrue. Another big aspect of
The theory of intersectionality as a whole can be applied to more than the experiences of race and gender, incorporating the various aspects which make up an individual, to better explain the unique experiences felt by various groups of similar individuals. Within the field of feminist discourse, there are two theorists who have employed the theory of intersection to more powerfully punctuate the issues which they discuss. This paper shall focus on how the theory of intersectionality is applied to two articles, put forth by Angela Davis and Julietta Hua, to further explain and understand the complexities of the particular fields of discourse they represent.
This essay will be unpacking and analysing the different elements that create my own intersectionality in my life. This essay will be discussing how class, gender/sex and race have influenced who I am and the experiences I have had throughout my life, and how various structures impact these experiences, with reference to the Crenshaw and Dill and Zambara articles, I will connect their thoughts and ideas to the intersectionality of my own life.
According to feminist scholar Victoria Bromley, intersectionality is a theory used by feminists that considers the intertwinement of systems of oppressions, intricate multiple identities of individuals, and social inequalities of society. Each of these factors influence the lives of humanity and have ultimately created a world where being different can either be a negative or positive thing. Through the use of expression and persuasion, Bromely argues that intersectionality analyzes the complexity of multiple identities and their interrelationships, the experiences and positionalities of those with multiple identities and their existence within the frameworks of power, which are systems of inclusion and exclusion, and hierarchies of privilege,
“[T]he cage may or may not be specifically developed for the purpose of trapping the bird, yet it still operates (together with the other wires) to restrict its freedom” (Alexander, 184). This metaphor used by Michelle Alexander gives a good basis on the idea of intersectionality within feminist theory. What Alexander has stressed hugely in ‘The New Jim Crow’ is the idea of racial hierarchy, which bell hooks also stresses in her chapter Men: Comrades in Struggle in her book ‘Feminist Theory: from margin to center.’ She discusses the hierarchy of men and women while also discussing race. She claims that the history of the feminist movement has not wanted to “acknowledge that bourgeois white women, though often victimized by sexism, have more
In the opening chapter of their book, Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge examine the meaning of intersectionality as they apply it to three distinct examples: the FIFA World Cup, a World Congress of Sociology, and the Brazilian festival of Latinidades. Intersectionality, as defined by the authors, refers to “a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences.” Intersectionality is often used as an analytic tool to better understand the social and political needs of those whose lives are influenced by multiple intersecting identities (i.e. Black feminism is used to call attention to the specific needs of Black women). The idea of structural power is another key component of intersectionality discussed by Hill Collins and Bilge in the chapter. They argue that power is organized in four distinct, interconnected domains (interpersonal, disciplinary, cultural, and structural), and “operates by disciplining people in ways that put people’s lives on paths that makes some options seems viable and others out of reach.” This idea is outlined in the World Cup example as the authors discuss the “pay to play” ideology in soccer that disadvantages those with lower socioeconomic status. At the conclusion of their chapter, Hill Collins and Bilge outline six core ideas that tend to come up when using intersectionality as an analytic
The identities have tended to be divided into some different categories, such as gender, race, and class, and these sources have been judged in the different ways. In other words, the different determinant factors of the individuality have been considered separately, and these components have been regarded as a unrelated simple category. Under these points of view, however, it is hard to recognize the problems of interrelated individual component of the identity. Thus, to solve the disregarding crossover point, the new theory of the “intersectionality” are essential. This essay explores the key definition of the “intersectionality” from the viewpoint of gender studies, and how the concept is connected with the social system and individual identity
Feminism analyzes how men have more social power than women and as a result, they use their social privileges above women (Ravelli and Webber 70). Likewise, feminism examines the political and social inequality occurring between both genders and highlight the patriarchy of men (Ravelli and Webber 70). Patriarchy is used to describe how male dominate the culture and the social system (Ravelli and Webber 71). When feminists understand a women’s experience, they consider her race and social class this is the concept of intersectionality (Ravelli and Webber 73). In intersectionality, they recognize the oppression women experience various for every individual (Ravelli and Webber 73). In the Aboriginal community, violence occurs because of the men’s inability to be superior. Although functionalism and feminism explain the disruption in the Aboriginal community, functionalism demonstrates a greater responsibly the police force has for the
“Imagine living in a world where there is no domination, where females and males are not alike or even always equal, but where a vision of mutuality is the ethos shaping our interaction. Imagine living in a world where we can all be who we are, a world of peace and possibility.” (Feminism is for everybody, page 8). This particular quote from the assigned reading really spoke to me. How amazing would it be to live in a world where no one group dominates another, or more importantly no one group discriminates one another. Obviously, just as bell hooks’ said following this quote, the feminist movement cannot do all of this alone. There are so many other things going on in the world that need attention as well, such as racism, class exclusivity, and imperialism. Over the past few years I have become more informed on the feminist movement and the assigned reading only heightened my
According to feminist Victoria L. Bromley, if feminism is about combating all forms of inequalities, including oppression, towards all social groups, then feminists must study how masculinity oppresses both men and women. Patriarchy, men’s powers and dominance, hegemonic masculinity, the idea that the “dominant group” in society is most powerful, and hyper masculinity, the exaggeration of the emphasis on male characteristics, all lead to oppression through multiple forms: privileges and unearned privileges, hierarchies of power and exclusion. Bromley argues that the feminist approach towards eliminating oppression, is to use an intersectional analysis, a theoretical tool used for understanding how multiple identities are connected and how systems
Feminism must be intersectional because equality struggles go farther than gender. As a human race, we are all different, but all deserve justice in social, economic, and political matters. Intersectional feminism is beneficial to everyone. It focuses not just on combating gender inequality, but also racism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, fat/skinny shaming, classism, etc.
Patricia Hill Collins outlines the existence of three different dimensions of gender oppression: institutional, symbolic, and individual. The institutional dimension consists of systemic relationship of domination structured through social institutions, such as government, the workplace or education institutions. In other words, this dimension explains “who has the power”. This is completely related to a patriarchal society. Patriarchy is the manifestation and institutionalism of male dominance. This means that men hold power in all institutions, while women are denied the access to this power. The symbolic dimension of oppression is based on widespread socially sanctioned ideologies used to justify relations of domination. It reflects inequality
Intersectionality is a term used to describe a situation whereby an individual has multiple identities and as result, the person feels that he or she doesn’t belong to one community or another. Because of the many conflicts in an individual’s identities, he or she could be a victim of multiple threats of discrimination (Williams, 2017). The discrimination could be a result of race, gender, age, health and ethnicity among others. To give an example, a black transgender woman could be discriminated in the workplace because of being black and also because she is transgender. From an intersectionality perspective, the woman faces multiple threats of discrimination because of the overlapping identities of gender and race and therefore the transwoman faces a bigger struggle (Barber, 2017). Transwomen of color will most likely encounter prejudices in the form of homophobia, racism or sexism in many dimensions of their life. The perspective of intersectionality is not only applicable to women but it can also be applied to males. For example, a gay Latino man could be discriminated based on race because he is an immigrant into
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.