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Thesis On Intersectionality

Decent Essays

1.5. Intersectionality

For the purpose of this thesis, the term, intersectioanlity will be discussed in this subchapter. Intersectionality, a feminist sociological theory, is a term coined by a famous researcher Kimberlé Crenshaw in her essay entitled Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics (1989). The notion is connected with different forms of oppressions experienced simultaneously by African American women. In her essay, Crenshaw compares discrimination to traffic. She states that women can be victims of discrimination and its consequences that may come from many directions, which she called in her research as an intersection of gender, …show more content…

Yet, Crenshaw admits, “it is not always easy to reconstruct an accident” (1991). The reason behind this statement is a need to categorize the two dimensions of racism and sexism because the two terms are closely intertwined. And “the intersectional experience”, according to Crenshaw, “is greater than the sum of racism and sexism, any analysis that does not take intersectionality into account cannot sufficiently address the particular manner in which Black women are subordinated” (1991). The scholar argues a black woman has an intersectional identity because of two key factors: she is woman and she is black which shape her life from the very beginning and, more importantly, she may be marginalized within them. Crenshaw divides intersectionality into three main categories (1991). The first, structural intersetionality refers to the experiences of black women in terms of domestic violence. Crenshew states at this point that there are many women of color who are excluded from their societies in terms of education and work. Apart from that, they often become victims of the class oppression and hierarchy that situate them at the bottom of the community structure. The second, political intersectionality depicts a problem with violence against women who are often marginalized. According to Crenshaw, it stems from the fact that women of color are often torn between political groups presenting conflicting agendas. On the one hand, they still have to opt for their rights as women in the male-dominated world and, on the other hand, they have to confront themselves with white women. At this point, the intersectionality between race and gender is visible. The third, representational intersectionality is directly related to the representation of black women in a culture that is often biased and,

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