Introduction
Young girls are frequently disadvantaged by interconnected social categorizations such as race, gender, or class. An intersectional perspective can assist in understanding the interconnectedness between the various categorizations in society by contemplating how social structures and relations create different experiences between and within persons. The life of a girl is diverse and deeply rooted in multiple facets of marginalization and discrimination. Girls continue to experience various forms of oppression due to their queer identities that diverge from normalcy and society’s expectations (Dyer 1). As a result, girls often face many devastating consequences caused by their intersectional identities. Taking an intersectional approach to girlhood leads us to consider the inequalities in the experiences of young girls who belong to marginalized groups.
Queerness
An intersectional approach to girlhood can help people understand the queer nature of young girls about their sexual identity and the degree of veering away from social norms. According to Dyer, “queerness inheres in disruptions to conventional formulations of sex, gender, and reproduction, but “queerness” also arises, more generally, from an object’s veering away from expectation” (5). Queer theory assists in replenishing girlhood studies by increasing the understanding of the creative resistances of young girls against normalcy. Intersectionality can help to empathize with girls who are disrespected by normative development theory. Furthermore, society has rigid expectations of girls, which adversely affect the girlhood experience, especially when a girl feels different from societal norms. For instance, lesbians or gay children may be expected to conceal their sexual identity because it is considered strange. The boundaries between female and male bodies are more blurred than people think. The ‘maleness’ or ‘femaleness’ of a human body is inspired by the debate of social actors; therefore, it is unnatural (Dyer 18). Acceptance of queerness enables people to remove heteronormativity and understand sexuality, sex, and gender that are not identity-based.
The Hunting, Criminalization, And Harassment of Indigenous Girls
People can understand the stories of the excessive utilization of force against Indigenous girls by police through an intersectionality lens. Dhillon stated that “it is crucial to locate Indigenous girls’ experiences with policing within the distinct political, ideological, and material formation of settler colonialism and to vociferously interrogate the colonial violence enacted against Indigenous peoples by state institutions” (6). Indigenous girls in Canada have endured physical beatings by police who are supposed to protect them. Indigenous girls are vulnerable to physical beatings and breaking of legs because they come from a low socioeconomic class, limiting their ability to report crimes committed against them. Additionally, the police do not ensure the safety of Indigenous girls since they allow their dogs to attack them during arrests and in custody. Furthermore, Canadian police deploy tasers to respond to threats that are sufficiently low level (Dhillon 12). Intersectionality will enable the public to listen to Indigenous girls to understand the insidious and hidden scopes of colonial policing and eradicate such dimensions.
Indigenous girls face verbal denigration, inhumane cell conditions, sexual assault, and rape problems in state cells. Individuals can understand how such instances of social injustice pervade society and their causes. For example, many Indigenous girls constantly deal with widespread verbal defamation, with repetitive references to gendered and racist slurs. In addition, Indigenous girls can get their claims of domestic violence disapproved and shoddily investigated. On the other hand, Indigenous girls who are accused of public intoxication face brutal conditions in state cells as they are starved, live in cold temperatures, and on some occasions can be released with inadequate clothing during the night (Dhillon 13). Ultimately, intersectionality helps to understand the oppressive principles based on colonialist ideas that are influenced by interconnected societal factors.
Indigenous girls and women carry memories, history, and futures within their bodies as police presence is increased in socially developed places for a community to feel safe. Intersectionality can help examine how Indigenous girls often feel caged in their communities due to increased police presence. In Saskatoon, community organizations with the inclusion of Indigenous organizations have been asked to assimilate police into the harmless places they construct for youth safety. Ironically, Indigenous girls encounter police agents in areas meant for accessing youth programming designed to ‘assist’ the youth. Police hold discussions and rallies on missing and murdered Indigenous girls in state entities established to promote Indigenous extermination. Due to the atrocities committed against Indigenous girls, Dhillon argues that it is critical to recognize “the importance of engaging critical praxis that exists outside the so-called justice and freedom offered through state mechanisms of recognition and redress” (24). Therefore, intersectional theory helps to comprehend the institutional caging characterized by the constant sensation of controlled movement, truncated freedom, and being hunted (Dhillon 18). Using the intersectional lens, people can understand the daily reality of living as a young Indigenous girl.
Educational Discrimination and Disparities Among Black Girls
Intersectional theory can help individuals comprehend how young black girls are affected by the hyper-punitive and inferior nature of a learning environment characterized by racial isolation. Black girls have high confinement rates and experience high rates of exclusionary discipline such as school expulsions and suspension. The disengagement of young black girls from school is linked to the intersecting inequality structures associated with being black (Morris 6). Morris argues that “for black girls, exclusionary school responses may be informed by historically constructed, stereotypical memes that negatively impact and reflect public perceptions about black femininity” (5). Young black girls can be criminalized due to features that have always been connected with their existence or survival. For example, being defiant or loud can lead to the utilization of exclusionary actions in schools. As such, Morris argues that in California’s “10 largest districts by enrollment, black females experience school suspension at rates that far surpass their female counterparts of other racial and ethnic groups” (5). Juvenile court schools should play a key role in rehabilitating young black girls who are detained through education since confined girls acknowledge the importance of education in their lives.
In addition, black girls are offered low educational quality in juvenile court schools. The struggle to eradicate the remaining segregation from schools in the United States is far from over. There are multiple educational disparities for young black girls in secure confinement. Most of the students who find themselves in juvenile court schools are from marginalized communities, especially black girls. The quality of education in such learning institutions is subpar as most schools may reject credits earned in a juvenile court school. Additionally, such schools rank poorly in their adherence to federal requirements for learning (Morris 5). Most of the schools have been sued for the failure of inadequate provision of educational services.
While the state education department accredits many juvenile court schools, their operations are inconsistent with the state curricula. According to Morris, “overall, a set of rigorous educational best practices with respect to detained children of color, or to culturally and linguistically diverse youth in confinement, is limited” (5). As a result, black girls in such schools often feel the education they receive is of low quality, causing a lack of confidence in the education system (Morris 7). Intersectionality helps recognize such education disparities among incarcerated and marginalized young girls.
Conclusion
In conclusion, intersectionality allows people to consider how unequal the experiences of young and marginalized girls can be. Intersectionality is the acceptance that people’s experiences are shaped by class, race, or gender. Adopting an intersectional perspective helps individuals to comprehend the queer nature of childhood. Queerness refers to the disruptions of the conventional formulations of reproduction, gender, and sex, as well as the act of veering away from social norms. Girls are often expected to behave in a certain way in contemporary society. For instance, a person can understand the desire of a child to have same-sex relations and the implications of queer intimacy. Lesbians or gay people are expected to conceal their sexual identities due to their strangeness. An intersectional lens is vital in examining police brutality and violence such as rape, physical abuse, and verbal defamation. Additionally, intersectionality helps to understand multiple disparities and discrimination in marginalized communities. Understanding how various interconnected societal factors such as race, class, and gender collectively oppress young girls from marginalized communities is critical to creating a world where gender and sexuality are not identity-based.
References
Dhillon, Jaskiran K. “Indigenous Girls and the Violence of Settler Colonial Policing.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, vol. 4, no. 2, 2015, pp. 1-31.
Dyer, Hannah. “Introduction: Childhood’s Queer Intimacies and Affective Intensities.” The Queer Aesthetics of Childhood: Asymmetries of Innocence and the Cultural Politics of Child Development. Rutgers University Press, 2019, pp. 1-33.
Morris, Monique. “Education and the Caged Bird: Black Girls, School Pushout and the Juvenile Court School.” Poverty and Race, vol. 22, no. 6, 2013, pp. 5-7.