Module #15 Spotlight on Sociology and supplemental topics

This section in each model is a way to emphasize key ideas (often sociologically-related) that enrich and expand the material in the textbook and the Chapter Notes. The instructor will expand the topics occasionally to include specific contemporary and relevant information and insights.

Chapter 13 in the textbook discusses material related to stress and crisis in relationships with attention given to crisis events and positive stress-management strategies.

This Spotlight draws attention to the following topics of intersectional feminism and reproductive rights.

What is Intersectionality?

Intersectionality (or intersectional theory) is a term first coined in 1989 by American civil rights advocate and leading scholar of critical race theory, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw.

It is the study of overlapping or intersecting social identities and related systems of oppression, domination, or discrimination. The theory suggests that—and seeks to examine how—various biological, social and cultural categories such as gender, race, class, ability, sexual orientation, religion, caste, age, nationality and other sectarian axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels.

In other words, intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g. “woman” and “black”) do not exist independently of each other, and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression (Leigh Chandler)

https://researchguides.library.syr.edu/fys101/intersectionality

What is "Intersectional Feminism"?

In an article, titled “Intersectional Feminism: What It Is And Why We Need It For A Truly Gender Equal World,” previously published on Odessey.com, Taylor Hawk '20 unpacks the term “Intersectional Feminism” and discusses why it's so necessary today.

Most know that feminism is the movement set on achieving gender equality. But not as many know what intersectional feminism is. So what is it, exactly? The term intersectionality was coined by civil rights activist and professor Kimberlé Crenshaw and can be defined as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discr imination or disadvantage.” By adding the idea of intersectionality to feminism, the movement becomes truly inclusive, and allows women of all races, economic standings, religions, identities and orientations for their voices to be heard.

Over the course of its existence, feminism has mainly focused on the issues experienced by white, middle-class women. For example, it is largely shared and advertised that a woman makes 78 cents to a man's dollar. But this is only the statistic for white women. As upsetting as it is, women of minority groups make even less. Black women earn 64 cents to white men's dollar and Hispanic women only earn 56 cents. Intersectional feminism takes into account the many different ways each woman experiences discrimination. “White feminism” is a term that is used to describe a type of feminism that overshadows the struggles women of color, LGBTQ women and women of other minority groups face. So, essentially, it's not true feminism at all.

At the end of the day, we might all experience discrimination and gender inequality differently and uniquely, but we are all united in our hope for equality.

As explained in this video, “white feminism” ignores intersectionality and neglects to recognize the discriminations experienced by women who are not white. It's important to note that not all feminists who are white practice “white feminism.” “White feminism” depicts the way white women face gender inequality as the way all women experience gender inequality, which just isn't correct.

Unfortunately, celebrities and the media are often guilty of doing this as well. An example of this is the great Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift debacle of 2015. As Nicki tweeted her disappointment of not being nominated for Video of The Year, she brought to light a very important issue. She pointed out that most music videos nominated only showed white, slender-bodied women. Taylor took this as a personal dig and sent out the now infamous tweet in response. Instead of using her voice to recognize the prevalent problem Nicki was discussing, Taylor became defensive and claimed Nicki was pitting women against women. Eventually, the “feud” came to an end when Nicki had Taylor join her onstage for her performance. But, this exchange can still serve as a reminder of how important intersectionality really is.

The key to combating “white feminism” is education about intersectionality. In an interview, Crenshaw defines intersectionality as, “The idea that we experience life, sometimes discrimination, sometimes benefits, based on a number of identities.” She first started to develop her theory on intersectionality when she studied the ways black women are discriminated against for both their gender and race. She comments, “The basic term came out of a case where I was looking at black women who were being discriminated against, not just as black people and not just as women, but as black women. So, intersectionality was basically just a metaphor to say they are facing race discrimination from one direction. They have gender discrimination from another direction, and they're colliding in their li ves in ways we really don't anticipate and understand.”

So, now that we understand what intersectionality is, how can we incorporate it into our feminism? As explained by Laci Green and Franchesca Ramsey, two awesome Internet ladies, in this video, there can be three easy steps in achieving intersectional feminism. They explain the steps as, “1. Examine our own privilege. 2. Listen to each other. 3. Practice feminism through a broader, more inclusive lens.”

It's crucial to check your own privilege in society in order to be a better feminist. I, for example, am a white, straight, able-bodied, middle-class woman. This means that I personally don't have to face challenges that other women do. So, it's important that I recognize my privilege and listen to women who experience the world differently than I do. As Laci says in the video, “On the feminist issues where we hold privilege, it's crucial to listen to women who don't. To listen to their experiences, to see the world through a more complex lens and to raise the voices of those who have less power.” Franchesca adds, “You can't exactly walk the walk if you have no idea where the walk even goes.” Despite how daunting and intimidating the term intersectionality may seem, it's just about us standing up and looking out for each other.

Intersectionality is a term used to describe how different factors of discrimination can meet at an intersection and can affect someone's life. Adding intersectionality to feminism is important to the movement because it allows the fight for gender equality to become inclusive. Using intersectionality allows us all to understand each other a little bit better.

At the end of the day, we might all experience discrimination and gender inequality differently and uniquely, but we are all united in our hope for equality.

https://denison.edu/academics/womens-gender-studies/feature/67969

WHY INTERSECTIONALITY MATTERS FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE

By Kimala Price

No longer confined to women’s and gender studies university courses, the term intersectionality has increasingly appeared in articles in mainstream outlets from USA Today to the Huffington Post, as journalists have tried to make sense of the resurgence of feminist awareness and activism spurred by the massive Women’s March on Washington (and its sister marches worldwide) held this past January. Despite the fact that intersectionality has been gaining some traction in the press lately, there still seems to be some confusion as to what the term actually means.

Although feminist legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw is credited with coining the term in 1989, the foundations of intersectionality was laid decades earlier by feminists of color who were frustrated by mainstream feminist organizations (e.g. National Organization for Women) that singularly focused on gender as the main source of oppression and discrimination for women. This narrow focus frequently led to the creation of political agendas that reflected the experiences and needs of white, middle-class, heterosexual women while ignoring issues that were important to other groups of women.

Intersectionality was originally the rejection of the idea of a universal women’s experience; the argument was that a white woman’s experiences with sexism will be fundamentally different than that of an African American woman because of race. Intersectionality has since expanded as a framework. It is a tool that helps us understand how gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, disability, religion, and the many other aspects of our identities interact to shape the social, cultural, economic, and political inequalities, oppressions, and privileges that we all—including women, men, transfolks, white people, people of color, etc.—experience.

Many people mistakenly believe that intersectionality is only about addressing the discrimination of marginalized social groups, but in reality most of us experience a complex mixture of inequality and privilege. It is quite possible for an individual person to experience sexism and homophobia while simultaneously having white and class privilege. Intersectionality challenges us to confront the ways in which we have advantages and how those advantages may mitigate the effects of any oppression we may encounter. It also forces us to confront how we may even be complicit in the oppression of others because of the privileges we have.

As supporters and advocates of reproductive and sexual justice, it is imperative that we incorporate intersectionality into our political work and the services we provide. This may mean, for example, pushing to raise the minimum wage or supporting legislation that protects immigrants, even though these issues may not on the surface seem like “traditional” reproductive health issues. It may mean providing childcare services for patients at clinics. If we don’t take these issues into account, it would be a disservice to all of the communities we serve and support.

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-pacific-southwest/blog/why-intersectionality-matters-for-reproductive-health-care