What is intersectionality?

- According to the "Oxford English Dictionary," intersectionality is, "The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage." You could also think of intersectionality as the examination of converging or intersecting cultural identities and how they relate to systems of oppression or discrimination. The sociological term intersectionality was first conceived in 1989 by civil rights advocate, Kimberle Crenshaw. In a paper for the University of Chicago Legal Forum, Crenshaw wrote about how certain feminist initiatives and anti-racism movements were actually excluding Black women. This is because the levels of discrimination Black women were facing concerning both their gender and their race were overlapping, presenting challenges unique to their experience. In her words, "Because the intersectional experience 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." Here Crenshaw gives a clear example of how the ways in which our social identities can overlap are often overlooked and discounted in our collective effort towards overcoming inequity and unconscious bias. Intersectionality refers to how multiple systems of oppression can simultaneously impede on marginalized people's lives, presenting a unique set of difficulties. And on top of that, intersectionality makes us aware of the fact that our social identities and our cultural affiliations can be interwoven in a myriad of different ways, resulting in the potential for unique experiences, opportunities, and barriers for each individual. For example, a differently-abled employee who also happens to be a transgender man, has intersecting social identities that are experienced distinctively from that of a Hispanic woman who happens to be in her sixties. The challenges these two employees could potentially face are not one and the same. Oppression and inequity cannot be reduced to only one part of an identity. Intersectionality shows us that those subjected to workplace discrimination each have their own unique experiences and struggles. Intersectionality urges us to consider all of the ways in which a person can become victim to systemic oppression if we aren't sufficiently cultured in our vast and diverse life experiences.