Intersectionality in Social Inequalities

To,
All my classmates who are desirous to end all forms of discriminations in our society

Intersectionality in Social Inequalities
My classmates, allow me to address you on this ever burdening matter in our society, discrimination. In so doing, I will illustrate how various forms of social oppressions interconnect or overlap on a particular social group or person. I will start by illustrating my understanding of the concept of Intersectionality and its significance in comprehending social inequalities.
Intersectionality
Intersectionality is a concept which defines the way a person might encounter several discriminatory practices if his or her identity intersects several minority categories, for instance, tribe, sex, age, culture as well as other characterizations. A case in point is where a black female encounters sexism in an office that may be mixed by slight yet insidious racial discrimination. This illustration may be extended further. The above female worker may be trans-gendered and thus may encounter an extremely high degree of prejudice as well as risks of violence. Using intersectionality to analyze this experience it might not be difficult to understand the reason the woman encounter anti-transgender discrimination, sexism as well as racial discrimination. Moreover, because of unawareness of transgender identity, she may also encounter homophobia. Intersectionality has been customarily related to females but also males experience the phenomena of intersecting minority condition.

Significance of Using Intersectionality in Understanding Social Inequalities
Before the invention of the term intersectionality, Lorde first acknowledged it when she described the oppressions facing the society. She asserted that she faced prejudice as an elderly black lesbian (Lorde 375). She states that “As a 49-year-old African American lesbian…she finds herself in a cluster described as other, abnormal, lesser, or immoral” (Lorde 375). This form of acknowledgment of discrimination portrays an intersection of various forms of prejudice on a single person. She faced discrimination due to her race (black), as a lesbian (sexual orientation) and as an older adult (ageism). She also describes how black women faced prejudice first as blacks, then as women, then as low-income earners and lastly as homosexuals (Lorde 377). Therefore, through intersectional analysis, a person can separate the social inequalities into their individual character and then appreciate how they intersect within a particular ethnic cluster or person.
In support of Lorde, Crenshaw asserts that black females face prejudices which do not always fit precisely in the legal classifications of “racial discrimination” or “sexism.”However, they face a mixture of both racial and sex discrimination (Crenshaw 4 min). The law defines sexism as social injustices encountered by all females (white females included). Racism is legally described as social injustices encountered by every black person (males included). This conventional structure makes Black women legally “non-existent.” Crenshaw cites Emma DeGraffenreid vs. General Motors that illustrate work prejudice encountered by a Black female (Crenshaw 5 min). This case falls within the weaknesses of feminism since the plaintiff was prejudiced as a female and as a black person which the law did not recognize. Intersectionality allows people to perceive the way social inequalities affect a particular ethnic, gender or cultural group and how to solve these discrimination forms. Through intersectionality, it can be seen that some people experienced both racial and sex prejudice simultaneously. Crenshaw avers that “Had the judge in Emma’s case capable of perceiving the way various discrimination forms (racism and sexism) intersect in the plaintiff’s case, he could see the dual prejudice that Emma encountered” (Crenshaw 6 min). This form of capability is only possible with understanding intersectionality concept.
A single misunderstanding on intersectionality is that the concept supports separation and elimination. A few critics assert that through incorporating social identities such as ethnicity, social class, gender, as well as other identity indicators within the feminist investigation, intersectionality makes feminism looks narrowed which may weaken its unity. However, this reasoning suffers a problem in that a one-size-fits-all feminism concentrates just on the shared grounds among females; thus, it is erasing instead of being inclusive. All females might grapple with sexism; however, not all females grapple with racialized sexism. Dismissing issues encountered by particular clusters of females for unity focuses feminism on the people who already possess the freedom as well as visibility. One-size-fits-all feminism corresponds to #AllLivesMatter whereas intersectional feminism corresponds to #BlackLivesMatter. The previous movement tries at inclusiveness which in reality erases the latter movement’s recognition of the unique problems which unduly impacts a particular cluster of persons. Therefore, intersectionality acknowledges individual groups and people’s problems rather than bandwagoning people into the basket of experiencing same problems. As Christina Xu, Chinese-American, states in response to the latest incidences of police brutality against blacks that according to her “justice is to obtain justice for the black victims of brutality not to make sure Asian-Americans get the similar advantages or benefits as the whites” (Meraji & Kat Para. 4). Therefore, Xu acknowledges intersectionality that recognizes our individual problems within the society.
Conclusion
In ending this letter, dear classmates allow me to draw some lessons from the above discussion. Intersectionality requires that people look within themselves to study and appreciate matters, as well as social identities which affect them and other people since examining our advantages, is vital to intersectional feminism. Secondly, it is crucial that we beware that feminism is not only ending sexism but also it involves ending all the interconnected repression structures which negatively impacts various women in various modes. Lastly, embracing intersectional frame is a difficult process since it entails appreciating other people’s experiences which in most cases hard to comprehend as well as opening ourselves up to high degrees of responsibility. If we do not make attempts to be intersectional, we shall be fast to reject others’ encounters for our beliefs, be protective as well as criticize that other people are very politically oversensitive.
Works Cited
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “The Urgency Of Intersectionality.” TEDWomen, 2016. video. https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality#t-527318
Lorde, Audre. “Sister outsider. Freedom: Age, race, class, and sex: Women redefining difference.” Cultural Politics. (1984): 374-380.
Meraji, Shereen and Kat Chow. “A Letter From Young Asian-Americans To Their Families About Black Lives Matter.” NPR.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 20 Nov. 2016. http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/07/27/487375314/a-letter-from-young-asian-americans-to-their-families-about-black-lives-matter