Grounded in a fundamental truththat the different facets of our identities, from race to gender, disability to sexuality, all intersect to shape our experience of the worldthis framework helps us understand why a White American male will have an entirely different experience than another person who is White and femaleand why both of those individuals will have vastly different perspectives than a Queer or Trans Person of Color (QTPOC), an immigrant, or a person with physical or sensory disabilities. Nowadays, intersectionality is considered crucial to social equity work. Undergraduate Admissions Carbado, D., Crenshaw, K., Mays, V., & Tomlinson, B. Hire Our Students While many who championed intersectionality early on were African American women, the theory has proven necessary to understanding a wide range of difference, including individuals sexual orientation, age, class, disability, and more. Further, the OE does not provide any funding to the organizations, programs, and resources identified herein and/or through links. The OE does not endorse anyparticular resource, product, service, institution, or opinion expressed in the resources, nor does the OE necessarily endorse views expressed or facts presented by the providers or institutions. All of us seek change in our community, no matter how we became involved. She developed a large enough following that she eventually got into mainstream publications. Crenshaw, K. W. (2017). If you are meeting with a local LGBTQ+ organization, is there representation of LGBTQ+ people of color? The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory. Warner, & Brown. Lower-class people who are white, Anglo-Saxon, and protestant, are stereotyped as hillbillies. refers to the interplayofonesidentities, the status ofthoseidentities, and the situational context ofhow, when, and wherethose identitiesshow up and influence personal experience(s) within multiple dimensions of societal oppression. 2022The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. We cite peer reviewed academic articles wherever possible and reference our sources at the end of our articles. Without an intersectional lens, events and movements that aim to address injustice towards one group may end up perpetuating systems of inequities towards other groups. You may have heard after the Womens March that many trans folks and allies felt uncomfortable with the vagina-centric themes of the march. Dr. Kimberl Crenshaw popularized the term through her decades of scholarly work on the . Critical to educating for social justice is to set expectations for your students that you will be having difficult discussions and to establish a principled space with them from the outset of the school term. Crenshaw built her scholarship on the work of previous Black feminist and Lesbian scholarsmost notably the Combahee River Collective. Intersectionality. Learn more about our academic and editorial standards. Social class. For example, although the percentage of White females earning their college degree continues to outpace White males (51% to 44%), a recent report from The Education Trust found that only 26.6% of Hispanic women graduate college. Looking for a way to jump-start your next meeting? I like to give students an example of how exactly these systems of power intersect, where seemingly positive progress on one axis may actually maintain the oppression on the other axes. Disclaimer terms regarding published materials: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work represents a historical function and is a practicing science. This day of celebration and learning is being hosted in partnership with the School for Cultural and Social Transformation, which recently began a three-year focus on intersectionality funded by the Mellon Foundation. This I think could be an expansion in the field of human behavioural science in that it`s in relating to each other that the biases of intersectionality can be seen to manifest. Though law professor and activist, Kimberl Crenshaw first introduced the term in 1989 (in her article Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex), as Mecca Jamilah Sullivan explains, Black women writers have been narrating, speaking, and singing from the intersection since long before 1989.. Crenshaw expanded on the Collectives theory, stating that in order to understand the oppression of black women, it is necessary to look at the intersection of blackness and womanhood. I always record the content as a video and upload it to our learning content system where students can replay and review as many times as they need. This is education as the practice of freedom. The defendants argued that they were experiencing the additive effects of both racial and gender discrimination in workplace hiring practices. The OE does not provide dedicated funding for these resources. While white and male tend to be positions of power in society, there is an interesting issue of disadvantage among working-class, white, and male in the North-East of England. Our environments and social connections cause our identities to ebb and flow, just like the traffic at an intersection. Summary: Kimberl Crenshaw, a 2017 NAIS People of Color Conference speaker, civil rights advocate, and professor at UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, talks about intersectional theory, the study of how overlapping or intersecting social identitiesand particularly minority identities . Mike Robbins explains this using the Authenticity Equation: Honesty Self-Righteousness + Vulnerability = Authenticity (Robbins, 2018). . Schedule A opens the door for legally blind sports guy turned science-writer. Mel Baggs was a non-binary blogger who wrote about autism and disability. Some of us hold womens empowerment close to heart, perhaps seeking a more equitable world for ourselves or our daughters. The most influential set of books on my role as an educator is bell hooks trilogy: These three important books articulate a transformative vision for education as the practice of freedom. For clarification on your employee status, consult the. Consultation services are available to all UConn faculty at all campuses at no charge. He also speaks out against ableism in the LGBT community, such as troubles hes had getting into bars. James Damore was fired from Google in 2017 after circulating a memo claiming that women had higher levels of neuroticism which made them unsuited for high-stress jobs in engineering. We get it. What layered identities might a student have, and what identities might educational settings activate? If you experience a barrier that affects your ability to access content on this page, let us know via the. We must recognize that all unique experiences of identity, and particularly ones that involve multiple overlapping oppressions, are valid. The theory of those systems became known as intersectionality, a term popularized by law professor Kimberl Crenshaw. Couzens et al (2017) highlight that: Most research on LGBT people uses white western samples.. We are all functions of the system that we live in; a system that has taught us how to think about ourselves and others, how to interact with others, and how to understand what is expected of us. The framework of intersectionality reminds us that we should bring our whole and authentic selves to work in order to perform our best and foster a collaborative environment with our colleagues (see Part 3). As a Black woman who migrated from Zimbabwe, she has always stood out at her company. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race. Advocates use the theory to promote greater understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our classrooms and workplaces. Lets Talk About [insert national headline here] In the Workplace, Lifting Your Voices Media Campaign Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.s Legacy, Meet T. Jake Liang - The Executive Sponsor for the AAPI Engagement Committee, NIH Celebrates #BHM2017: Black Women History Makers in STEM, Part 1, NIH Celebrates #BHM2017: Black Women History Makers in STEM, Part 2, NIH Celebrates #BHM2017: Black Women History Makers in STEM, Part 3, NIH Director Message: Supporting our Asian American and Pacific Islander Colleagues and Friends, NIH Hispanic and Latino Investigators and Senior Scientists Project, NIH Virtual Hiring Manager Guide Series: Section Three Outreach Through Professional Organizations, NIH Virtual Hiring Manager Guide Series: Section Three Recruitment Resources, NIH Virtual Hiring Manager Guide Series: Section Three Using Social Media to Recruit and Hire, NIH Virtual Hiring Manager Guide Series: Section Two Hiring Interns, NIH Virtual Hiring Manager Guide Series: Section Two Intern Recruitment, Native American Heritage Timeline 17th 19th Century, Native American Heritage Timeline 20th 21st Century, North Carolina Chapter of Women of Color Research Network, One Heart, Two Spirits: A Conversation with Ryan Mahon, Preventing National Origin Discrimination. Despite our shared vision, social equity work can oftentimes feel exclusionary to those who are not familiar with the lingo. How might you exercise your privilege/s towards subverting or transforming any aspect of the imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy in your present circumstance? This will allow us to expose the inequities inhistory,policies, structures,and lived realities marginalized persons have and continue to endure. Cho, S., Crenshaw, K. W., & McCall, L. (2013). Why Are We Honoring Coretta Scott King on MLK Day? Historically, boys have been over-diagnosed with ADHD and girls have been under-diagnosed. College of Engineering, Design and Computing, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sexual Misconduct, Intimate Partner Violence, & Stalking. She longs to be a cat mom again someday. Theres nothing new about defenders of the status quo criticizing those who are demanding that injustices be addressed. Do not expect people who face different systems of oppression than you to rally for causes you care about if you do not rally for theirs. I love this video created by Teaching Tolerance as it breaks down intersectionality in such a simple and digestible way. Missing and Indigenous Women. For primary and secondary education, Teaching Tolerance has a wealth of lessons on social justice for younger students. She was an extremely prolific activist for social justice for people across different identity factors, not just the disabled. She has researched and taught social justice for 14 years. He speaks about how people didnt acknowledge that he was LGBT because his disability was such an overpowering aspect of his identity: In high school I was just seen as the disabled kid.. It also helps young people to recognize the full humanity of marginalized people, especially, Read More 5 Foundational Practices for Teaching Social Justice in the ClassroomContinue, Using Restorative Justice in the Classroom to Address Harm, A White Mans World: What WOC Should Know Before Doing A PhD, 5 Foundational Practices for Teaching Social Justice in the Classroom, Introducing Intersectional Feminism: An Activity, ground-clearing practice that sets a leveled foundation upon which to build our work and relations, Building the Anti-Racist Classroom (BARC), Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory, and antiracist politics, Feminist originalism: Intersectionality and the politics of reading, 5 Must-Read Intersectional Feminist Books for Beginners. In 2013, The Oxford Dictionary of Social Work and Social Care broadened Crenshaws conceptualization of the term, defining it as the combined effects of one's multiple identities, which includes identities such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and employee status. Both groups lost their cases. Diversity of all kinds matter in your workplace, your activism, your community spaces, and more. A vital element of this activity plan is that it doesnt start and end intersectionality at identities. 1500 Illinois St., Golden, CO 80401 To address this, one TikTok star named Stephen has been educating people on what its like to be both disabled and gay. '", "The following article is adapted from Five Faces of Oppression by Iris Young. A scholar of law, critical race theory, and Black feminist thought, Crenshaw used intersectionality to explain the experiences of Black women who - because of the intersections of race, gender, and . In my first lecture, I also set the expectation to students that they should be prepared to learn, be challenged, and grow. Helena loves good food, travel, and time alone. Feminist review, 89(1), 1-15. Whats often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.". Fostering Allyship Across Marginalized Groups, From the EDI Director: EDI 2019 Black History Month Message, From the EDI Director: EDI 2019 Womens History Month Message, From the NIH Director: 2017 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, From the NIH Director: NIH 2019 Black History Month, From the NIH Director: NIH 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Depending on the level of the class and the centrality of intersectionality to the subject, I set a combination of the following pre-class preparatory readings and videos: Related: 5 Must-Read Intersectional Feminist Books for Beginners. Crenshaw, K. (1991). The content provided in these guides serve as a starting point for you to begin laying the foundations of your DEI learning. 888-446-9489, Alumni and Friends This research has revealed that there is now intergenerational disadvantage in areas like the North-East of England (where I used to teach!) Yet intersectionality remains a difficult, misunderstood, and sometimes controversial concept. This article in The Guardian about the incident can serve as a real-world case for the activity, but youll need to allow more time in class for students to read, process, and potentially do additional research about their case. Black women, who often had to work in order to keep their family afloat and therefore did not have the luxury of being homemakers, did not feel as though these issues pertained to their experiences. For example, it was used as an argument against gay hate crime laws. She graduated high school at a time when most women were expected to drop out. Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. Before I share my intersectionality activity, Ill cover these prerequisite conditions that will help prepare your students for a lesson on intersectional feminism. Intersectionality and Higher Education by Lindsay A. Greyerbiehl (Editor); Donald Jr. Mitchell (Editor); Charlana Simmons (Editor) Intersectionality is a term coined by Kimberl Crenshaw in 1989. Below are five examples. It takes into account people's overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face. As you hear about issues othersface, learn about the work that is currently being done around these topics. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This has been a result of over-emphasis from psychologists and scientists on how boys present with ADHD, to the detriment to girls. 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