Let me be straight with you.
I have been trying to write this post for months.
I just didn’t know where to begin. As a relatively privileged feminist, I really want to do this topic justice, without attempting to speak for other women.
So before I delve into this, I give this humble request to any feminist readers.
Please comment or even contact me privately if you disagree with my explanation of intersectionality. Help me learn more. Help me grow as a feminist.
Intersectionality Definition
In my Feminism 101 Glossary, I used the following definition for intersectionality:
Concept often used in critical theories to describe the ways in which oppressive institutions (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, classism, etc.) are interconnected and cannot be examined separately from one another; first came from legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989.
History of Intersectionality
I am still learning the history of intersectionality in general and reading up on Crenshaw’s work, specifically. In this 2014 piece from NewStatesman, Crenshaw explains that the concept of intersectionality is not new (and was not, when she coined the term in the 1980s), but that’s beside the point. According to Crenshaw:
Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics, so obviously it takes a lot of work to consistently challenge ourselves to be attentive to aspects of power that we don’t ourselves experience.
If you really want extra credit, read her paper “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Even just the introduction (which I read) is a great summary of the theory of intersectionality.
Feminist efforts to politicize experiences of women and antiracist efforts to politicize experiences of people of color have frequently proceeded as though the issues and experiences they each detail occur on mutually exclusive terrains. Although racism and sexism readily intersect in the lives of real people, they seldom do in feminist and antiracist practices.
Intersectionality & Kyriarchy
If you remember from the Feminism 101 Glossary, I included “patriarchy” in my list of vocabulary. In sum, it refers to a social organization in which men are disproportionately in power. For example, when your Congress is made up of 80% men, you live in a patriarchal society.
Kyriarchy is like an intersectional patriarchy. Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza defines it as:
Kyriarchy is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and subordination, of ruling and oppression.
Basically, a kyriarchy is a social organization in which privilege is relative between two people and dependent upon the situation. For example, in some situations a white woman has more privilege than a black man. In other situations, the privilege is reversed.
Y’all still with me? I never said Feminism 101 would be easy!
Feminist Disagreement on Intersectionality
This section is the reason I have hesitated for so long in writing this piece. I am honestly still not sure how I feel about the usage of the word “intersectionality” within feminism. I do not know where I should stand as an ally, as a white feminist who does not want to be a White Feminist.
Is intersectionality a way to look at the specific discrimination faced by women of color, that is, the intersections of primarily racism and sexism?
Or is intersectionality a way to look at any intersection of prejudice, including but not limited to: classism, ableism, homophobia, racism, and sexism?
Wikipedia is my go-to initial source for basically everything, and even its article on intersectionality does not fully conclude one or the other. Reading the entire article, intersectionality can be applied to all people. Reading just the “Historical background” and “Intersectionality theory and feminist thought,” however, emphasizes the importance of intersectionality specifically for black women.
In my research, I came across an awesome blogger who explained matter-of-factly why intersectionality is not for white women, even if those women are poor, or transgender, or otherwise marginalized. To paraphrase her, when you are a white woman, even if you have to deal with other forms of oppression, your whiteness means you will always deal with that oppression differently than a woman of color.
On the other hand, at Everyday Feminism, in “Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional (And 3 Ways to Practice It),” the authors critique White Feminism, but do not suggest intersectionality is only for women of color.
But without an intersectional lens, our movements cannot be truly anti-oppressive because it is not, in fact, possible to tease apart the oppressions that people are experiencing. Racism for women of color cannot be separated from their gendered oppression. A Trans person with a disability cannot choose which part of their identity is most in need of liberation…
In short, intersectionality is a framework that must be applied to all social justice work, a frame that recognizes the multiple aspects of identity that enrich our lives and experiences and that compound and complicate oppressions and marginalizations. (bolding and links original)
I could quote from different writers and websites on the different perspectives of intersectionality all day. I think this particular disagreement is a prime example of how feminists don’t always agree, even on the big issues.
Some might argue this is all just semantics. As long as you’re addressing multiple forms of oppression, does it matter what you call it?
Well, yes, because history is important. Language is important. Thus the language we use to describe our approach to feminism is important.
I am Not an Intersectional Feminist
How exactly does one proceed when feminists disagree?
I primarily do my best to respect the origins of intersectionality and the work of Crenshaw, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, and other black feminists. I do not call myself an intersectional feminist. If it comes up naturally in feminist conversations, I might say I support intersectional feminism or I believe in intersectional feminism.
Intersectional feminism isn’t about me, but it can be about how I interact with other women.
It reminds me to listen to their stories, to amplify their voices, but never to presume to speak for them.
I can smash the kyriarchy without co-opting a term not originally intended for me.
I mentioned this was complicated, right? What do you know about intersectional feminism? What did I get wrong? What did I get right? Please share your thoughts below!
So basically, it is an argument for who gets to be the most victimized victim in the victimhood culture of liberal feminists?
Blocked, but thanks for commenting!
You block anyone who disagrees with you, or doesn’t take you as seriously as you take yourself. Yet you front as though you care about anyone else’s thoughts. Get over yourself already! Thus is not a blog, it’s an online diary.
No, I block people who are not interested in genuine engagement. Rude, curt, dismissive comments that ignore what I’ve written are not worthy of my time.
If you don’t believe me, feel free to look at my satire “My Husband Didn’t Take My Last Name.” I didn’t block a single person who commented on that.
Do you know for a fact that Crystal wasn’t intested in genuine engagement about her question? I guess I honestly don’t get how it was a rude comment. Maybe you’d care to explain?
I have four years of experience in being an outspoken feminist online. This includes starting discussions in multiple forums that result in 100+ comments. If you do not have comparable experience, then you are probably not familiar with the language people use when they’re completely uninterested in learning more about feminism. “Victimized victim in the victimized culture” is a clear indication that Crystal was not asking a genuine question.
For more information about how I choose if/when to engage, please read the following blog post.
http://bellebrita.com/2015/04/that-is-not-a-priority-for-me/
Interesting read.
I’m like super green to this feminism idea, so please forgive anything that comes off wrong, I’m really just trying to learn!
I found your blog on reddit. Is it possible to truly/correctly support an idea like intersectionality without being able to identify, wouldn’t your analysis of intersectionality be skewed heavily based on you not being a WOC?
Absolutely my perspective is skewed because I have white privilege. That’s why I’ve taken so much time to read and to research what WOC themselves have to say. Since I am white, I prefer to err on the side of WOC who say that intersectionality is for black women, and black women alone.
Discussing kyriarchy, however, and how it affects all of us, is for all people.
I have so many thoughts. I haven’t read anything about kyriarchy so I’m going to get on that. And often I find myself more interested in what words mean today than in the history of the terms, so that’s interesting reading too. I have read those articles you mentioned on white feminism, why intersectionality is not for white women, and how to practice intersectional feminism, so you know where I’m coming from.
I don’t call myself an intersectional feminist either.
Not because of that one post – there’s so much that’s awesome there about appropriation, but I don’t like how she ends up framing the issue as something betweeen White Feminism for white women and intersectionality for black women. In American culture, we always focus on this black/white dichotomy, and it’s inherently marginalizing. Where do I fit in, if intersectionality isn’t meant for me and white feminism erases me? It’s like, feminism started out as just for women and now it’s encompassing gender equality for all groups. It’s possible to acknowledge the origins of intersectionality, and still let it grow to include other marginalized groups of people. Or it’s like how I as an Asian American will never experience the type of racism other Americans might, but it’s not like I’m not experiencing racism or anti-racism movements can’t be for me or I’m experiencing a “special” type of racism just because it’ll never be like what other groups face and I need a new word to define it.
I just call myself a feminist. And feminism by nature should be intersectional, like all cultural concepts, so I tend to feel that the qualifier is/should be unnecessary. I’m actually more used to this view, since I spent years studying anthropology. Anthropology is that thing full of interconnected things that cannot be studied as separate entities, that can be examined through different lenses, like history, psychology, medicine. Culture influences language and language influences and perpetuates culture (sexism), language affects hierarchy (accent and class), and hierarchy demands rules for language use to maintain status (“standard” English”), which influence culture (marginalizing regional accents/dialect).
And hopefully it’s not a stretch, because we can all acknowledge different experiences shape people in different ways, and we have sayings about walking a mile in another person’s shoes. I’d never speak for someone else’s experiences; I can only examine mine. Hah. Can you see my idealism? What I find annoying/infuriating though is how it’s so easy for people to say “that can’t be true” even when they hear about experiences from the very people who have experienced them.
I liked the link on White Feminism. I never thought about it that way. There were many points in your writing that I agreed with–but to be honest, I have never heard of the term “intersectionality” before, and I still don’t think I understand it enough to discuss it! But I at least know it exists now. There are so many facets of feminism and sometimes it can be overwhelming. When I first thought of myself as a feminist I thought all of the feminists were in it together—us against them. I know now (I identify as a feminist for about 3 years now—before I honestly didn’t know about it at all, and thought of it as a “bad” thing) that feminists are so different and varied and while this is a good thing it also leaves me confused as well. I’ve had people tell me I am not a feminist because I “don’t have a job” and I’ve had other people tell me I can’t be a feminist because I am a Christian. Oh, this comment is becoming a different discussion then your topic. Maybe I’ll e-mail you.
Part of being a feminist means we’re always learning! I’ve only known about intersectionality for about two years now, and I’m still learning more about what it means.
Feminism can definitely be overwhelming. Sometimes a current event or news item will go viral within the feminist circles I follow, and I just can’t follow it. Either it’s so complicated that I don’t have the time to try to understand it, or it’s so depressing that I don’t have the emotional energy to handle it, or something else.
I’m a Christian feminist, and I welcome you in our circles. 🙂 If you haven’t already, check out Dianna E. Anderson, Sarah Bessey, Danielle Vermeer, Sarah Moon, and Rachel Held Evans, all Christian feminists who have influenced me.
I only have one strong qualification in mind on whether or not you are a feminist. I don’t care how an individual feels about abortion, or if a person claims the title “pro-life.” But if someone wants abortion to be illegal, that person is not a feminist. A longer explanation for that will be in two future blog posts.
As a member of the tea party, I am totally not okay with more federal government laws. I think a lot of things the federal government makes “illegal” should be left up to personal choice. I don’t think there needs to be a law about marriage (if you want to get married, do it! if not, then don’t–perhaps the law should state about what privileges and tax breaks those who are married regardless of gender should receive, if any) I think the government is way to involved in the personal lives of people–mandating things that should be left to a person and their partner(s) or a person an their doctors. I feel the same way about things like vaccines and many drugs, as well as I think the state laws that some places have about the size of soda’s that can be sold stupid. People should be able to make their own choices about what they do/do not put in their body. 😛
I’ll check out some of those names. I used to follow Dianna and Sarah Moon on twitter, but some of the things were way over my head. I do want to learn more. And I totally understand about the depressing factor. Some things that happen to women I just can’t deal with. Sometimes I wish people would write a blog post about what I can DO as a feminist to help others in my personal life. A lot of people write about what is wrong, or what I need to be aware of, but I struggle with knowing what to DO with it after I’ve learned it.
Hi Brita. Strangely enough, I just found your blog by searching to see if anyone else found holiday cards from Zazzle to be wayyy too glossy for their own good, and came across your review of their cards.
Anyway…
I am white. I also consider myself an intersectional feminist. There are many reasons why, and I think it’s important to let you know that I find Everyday Feminism to be an outstanding source for all things feminism.
It is my understanding that intersectionality and the use of the term kyriarchy go hand in hand. We are oppressed for different aspects of our identities, and as such we should acknowledge those different fields and examine the ways they intersect, whilst also acknowledging our specific privileges. I have white privilege while also being oppressed by ableism. I have cis privilege but face discrimination for my sexuality. In order to fight against these forms of oppression, we have to acknowledge the existence of the kyriarchy, rather than the patriarchy. If you acknowledge the kyriarchy, then in my opinion you are framing your feminism through the lens of intersectionality.
When it comes to matters regarding race and racism, I always defer to Black women and women of color, but I have not come across any compelling arguments for why intersectionality should be a tool to divide rather than unite us.
Here’s EF’s piece on the kyriarchy: http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/04/kyriarchy-101/
The EF piece you linked above, ‘Why Our Feminism Must Be Intersectional…’ also discusses this. I believe it is a core goal of intersectionality to unite rather than divide, and as such I do not see how one could expect us to be intersectional without claiming intersectionality as a term for everyone.
Here’s a quote from Jessica Lachenal from a piece she wrote for The Mary Sue, another of my favorite sources:
“Really, that’s all it takes, sometimes. This, in my opinion, is what intersectionality calls for. It asks people to recognize and understand and believe in other peoples’ struggles and fights for recognition amongst everybody else invested in this feminist movement. Rather than rejecting outright the idea that intersectionality was developed to divide, we should look and understand and see and appreciate what their experiences tell them.
Feminism and equality are not zero sum games. Listening to others share their experiences and what they’re hoping for within a wider movement doesn’t necessarily detract, deny, or otherwise take away from your own experience. Being allies and helping them with their struggle as they help you with yours does not divide, as many have suggested—it unites. It promotes understanding. It builds bridges. It takes disparate threads of experience and it weaves them together, much like how your knit pussy hat was made. And as anybody knows, the tighter the knit, the stronger the bond. The stronger the bond, the longer your creation will last—and we want feminism to last, don’t we? We want equality to really last, right?”
Full article here: http://www.themarysue.com/intersectional-feminism-womens-march/
It is not my intent to argue, merely to express my disagreement with the outcome of your dialogue. I probably can’t sway you, and as long as your feminism is in accordance with intersectionality there’s really no reason for me to want to. I just hope you don’t believe that those of us who do embrace the term ‘intersectional’ are co-opting the work that Black women have done; that we are acting against their wishes.
Hopefully I was able to make myself clear.
Take care.