Intersectional Feminism: Is It Needed? Essay

Introduction

While feminism has been in existence for many years, it has yet to address the root causes of pertinent issues affecting women. As argued in Jhally’s (23) book, the mainstream feminist associations focus mainly on the problems that white middle-class women face”. As a result, many feminists have increasingly failed to take into consideration the experiences of women of color. Similarly, the type of feminism that is common today, originates from a place of fear. This approach to feminism, as explicated by Kendall (15), is intended to prioritize personal issues such as being uncomfortable as opposed to challenges affecting all women. Therefore, there is a need to include intersectionality in the concept of feminism to help amplify the issues women face. The term was coined by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, a civil rights activist in 1989 (Carbado and Chery 29). Crenshaw defined it as an “interconnected nature of social categorizations as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage” (35). The inclusion of Intersectionality in feminism ensures the voices of women of all races and orientations are heard.

Discussion

In essence, intersectional feminism strives to show that women experience issues such as oppression and discrimination in varying degrees of intensity and configurations. It makes it clearly known that patterns of oppression, besides being intersected, are influenced by the same relations. For instance, race, class, and gender have the ability to influence each other. It therefore follows that intersectional feminism strives to unify the voices of those experiencing varying and overlapping forms of oppression in order to develop interventions that advance women’s rights, justice/liberation, and gender equality.

Firstly, intersectional feminism strives to advance black women’s rights by putting them at the center. It is important to note that black women were central to the feminist movement, specifically the black movement (Weddington 44). Such movements advocated for allowing women to speak for themselves. Approaching black women’s rights through an intersectional lens helps with identifying the historical contexts of the issue. According to Jaga et al. (444), histories of violence and systematic discrimination “have created deep inequities that disadvantage some from the outset”. This concept is concerned with how these inequalities intersect with issues such as poverty, racism, and sexism. In doing so, they can help policymakers to direct their attention to understanding why women are denied their rights and opportunities. A case in point is a woman who was forced to abandon her native language and learn a new one in an effort to acquire education (Jaga et al. 444). Even after finishing her studies, the search for professional work proved difficult just because she was an indigenous woman. In essence, involving such women in the fight for their rights is critical in achieving the desired results.

Secondly, intersectional feminism, as a concept, identifies the intersection between the struggles related to justice and liberation. Initially, separate efforts were targeted at issues such as gender identity, discrimination, and environmental burdens. For instance, when fighting for equality, the activists, instead of focusing exclusively on gender injustices, should adopt new ways of addressing all forms of oppression. In simpler terms, the concept provides a clear framework that guides the process of building “inclusive robust movements that work to solve overlapping forms of discrimination, simultaneously” (Carbado and Chery 24). In fact, an intersectional lens can be used to address crises occurring at a global level. While the threats countries and communities face tend to vary significantly, they all have the same effects on issues such as food, education, employment, and protection. The main problem with crisis responses is the failure to protect vulnerable populations – those who are invisible rarely get the help they require in a crisis situation. For instance, the appropriate approach to the coronavirus needs to consider the experiences and challenges of different groups as a point of focus in identifying and developing long-term solutions that work for all.

In line with the above, the challenges women face cannot be viewed exclusively from a gendered perspective. Kuper, Laurel, and Brian (429) emphasize the need to focus more on how problems and power struggles are influenced by women’s positions in society. Similarly, policymakers should look at how these problems may change when subjected to different situations and contexts. While this might appear complex, intersectionality comes in to help identify and develop opportunity structures. “It shapes what opportunities, resources, and services are available to different people, and the way that they cope in difficult situations,” (Kuper, Laurel, and Brian 429). In other words, the concept necessitates the process of identifying barriers and opportunity structures which then inform the development of solutions that meet the specific needs of groups. Locally, the City of Vancouver has been utilizing intersectionality in identifying specific goals to incorporate in its Gender Equity Strategy. This strategy revolves around four key areas: childcare, housing, women’s safety, and representation (Bussey-Chamberlain, and Elizabeth 21). The city uses Intersectionality as a framework for exploring how different forms of systematic oppression such as racism and sexism interact to create long-lasting effects.

Lastly, intersectionality, as a framework, helps address the false view of feminism originating from a place of fear. This approach to feminism, as argued by Kendall (130), tends to prioritize “not being uncomfortable over being effective is dangerous”. For instance, white women may turn to patriarchy for protection when they feel threatened, uncomfortable, or upset. This means that they will stand by it when it is convenient for them but challenge it once they feel threatened. Conservative feminists sometimes come up with reasons to justify why they think equality and safety override everything else. As further argued by Kendall (127), they even argue against “policies that aid girls and women socially, while claiming to be real feminists because they are not interested in gender but inequity”. Ideally, the framework aims at helping women widen their views, specifically on how they should advocate and shape policies on issues affecting them. For instance, instead of focusing on specific issues such as safety and equity, it underscores the fact that women today face multiple forms of vulnerability. Therefore, intersectional feminism is necessary to ensure the efforts adopted benefit all women.

Although the concept has been cited by scholars as the framework to address issues facing women, critics argue that it focuses more on white feminism. The opponents argue that Intersectionality has become more of a contemporary feminism – it exclusively focuses on current challenges affecting women. While it claims to address the conditions that shape women’s lives by exploring cultural problems associated with them, it has failed to underscore how such conditions affect different groups of women. According to Hoffmann (900), some intersectional feminists have been framing the issue of reproductive justice as a woman’s demand for choices. The authors further added that the choice debate “presumes that all women have the economic means to afford an abortion if they so choose” (Hoffmann 900). In doing so, feminists end up privileging attention to abortion rights while downplaying other reproductive justice rights including forced sterilization. This, to some extent, gives more attention to issues of middle-class white women over other issues that are equally important to poor women of color.

Conclusion

Intersectional feminism has been cited in the literature as being critical to addressing the root causes of problems affecting women. This approach to feminism, as discussed above, strives to show that women experience oppression and discrimination in varying degrees of intensity and configurations. It aims at demonstrating how race, class, and gender intersect and, at the same time, get influenced by the same relations. As discussed above, the concept unifies the voices of those experiencing overlapping forms of oppression and discrimination in an effort to develop interventions needed to address challenges associated with women’s rights and gender equality. For instance, in addressing black women’s rights, this approach to feminism emphasizes the need to involve black women because they were central feminist movement. By approaching their rights through an intersectional lens allows them to focus on identifying the historical contexts of the issue. On the issue of equality, intersectional feminism provides a framework for establishing inclusive robust movements that work towards solving overlapping forms of discrimination. However, the opponents claim that the concept has become more of a contemporary feminism.

Works Cited

Bussey-Chamberlain, Prudence, and Elizabeth Evans. “The Problems with Feminist Nostalgia: Intersectionality and White Popular Feminism.” European Journal of Women, vol. 28, no. 3, 2021, pp. 99-105. Web.

Carbado, Devon W., and Cheryl I. Harris. “Intersectionality at 30: Mapping the margins of anti-essentialism, intersectionality, and dominance theory.” Harv. L. Rev. 132 (2018): 21-93.

Hoffmann, Anna Lauren. “Where Fairness Fails: Data, Algorithms, and the Limits of Anti-Discrimination Discourse.” Information, Communication & Society, vol. 22, no. 7, 2019, pp. 900-915. Web.

Jaga, Ameeta, et al. “Doing the ‘Gender Dance’: Black Women Professionals Negotiating Gender, Race, Work And Family in Post-Apartheid South Africa.” Community, Work & Family, vol. 21, no. 4, 2018, pp. 429-444. Web.

Jhally, Sut. Enlightened Racism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream. Routledge, 2019.

Kendall, Mikki. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot. Penguin, 2021.

Kuper, Laura E., Laurel Wright, and Brian Mustanski. “Gender Identity Development among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Emerging Adults: An Intersectional Approach.” International Journal of Transgenderism, vol. 19, no. 4, 2018, pp. 436-455. Web.

Weddington, George. “Racial Change and Black Movement Emergence: A Case from the Black Lives Movement.” Mobilization: An International Quarterly, vol. 26, no. 4, 2021, pp. 443-455. Web.