The theory of intersectionality is one put forth by the feminist theorist known as Kimberlé Crenshaw. Crenshaw developed this theory as a critique to what she called a single-axis framework. A single-axis framework is one that considers an issue, be it feminist or otherwise, as a product of a single aspect. To be clearer, and to provide an example, a single-axis framework would consider the experiences of a woman of colour as either those experienced by an individual of colour, or those experienced by a woman. Crenshaw introduced the concept of intersectionality to explain that some experiences are unique to those who fall under a combination of these categories. In her article, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex”, Crenshaw describes intersectionality as “the combined effects of practices which discriminate on the basis of race and on the basis of sex” (385). The theory of intersectionality as a whole can be applied to more than the experiences of race and gender, incorporating the various aspects which make up an individual, to better explain the unique experiences felt by various groups of similar individuals. Within the field of feminist discourse, there are two theorists who have employed the theory of intersection to more powerfully punctuate the issues which they discuss. This paper shall focus on how the theory of intersectionality is applied to two articles, put forth by Angela Davis and Julietta Hua, to further explain and understand the complexities of the particular fields of discourse they represent. Angela Davis incorporates the theory of intersectionality to explain the emergence and inaccuracy of the myth of the black rapist in her paper. Within this paper, which is titled “Rape, Racism and the... ... middle of paper ... ...al additions to the discourse. Furthermore, by challenging the previous scholarly notions they critique, they invite other scholars to employ the same concepts to gain a more thorough understanding of their individual fields. Works Cited Hua, Julietta “Front Page News: Writing Stories of Victimization and Rescue” in Trafficking Women's Human Rights, pp. 49-70. © 2011 University of Minnesota Press Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Anti-Discrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Anti-Racist Politics” in Feminist Legal History: Foundations, edited by D. Kelly Weisberg. pp. 383-395. © 1993 Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Davis, Angela Y. “Rape, Racism and the Myth of the Black Rapist” in Feminism and “race”, edited by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, pp. 50-64. © 2001 Oxford University Press
The article “Interracial Rape Cases in North Carolina” reminds me one of Harper Lee’s famous novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” as Tom Robinson was accused from raping Mayella. The entire trial, to the guilty verdict, were all racially biased. Yet, there is a long way to go for the world to get rids of its injustices, and injustices will comply with the society for many years to come. Race and inequality are often related together because of the racial segregation in the 1800s. During that time, racial inequalities had increased dramatically. To study this scenario, the article “Interracial Rape Cases in North Carolina” portrayed several evidences of how blacks slaves were falsely accused rape; they seem hopeless and eventually sentenced to death. Yet they did have evidences to prove them innocent, however, everything does not go as was hoped. What it was like
Desmond King and Stephen Tuck’s “De-Centring the South: America’s Nationwide White Supremacist Order after Reconstruction” was focused on how white supremacy flourished in not only the South, but in the North and West as well, debunked that the North and West were much better places to live regarding racial discrimination, and how African Americans had lacking representation in the political sphere. Laura F. Edwards, on the other hand, discusses how the legal system judged certain crimes, such as rape, were affected by one’s sex, black women’s and white women’s experiences with sexual assault, the assumptions related to the lower class affected women, and misogyny in her “Sexual Violence, Gender, Reconstruction, and the Extension of Patriarchy
A careful examination of the sexual violence against african-american women in this piece reveals imbalances in the perceptions about gender, and sexuality shed that ultimately make the shift for equality and independence across race and class lines possible during this time period.
Intersectionality, the discrimination of individuals based on interrelated components of their identity, is a significant and common issue consistently faced by women of colour. In August of this year, an African American woman, Charnesia Corely, was publically stripped and cavity searched by Texas police without a warrant or her consent, at a petrol station. In performing an intersectional analysis
Intersectionality is an important concept that allows the study, understanding, as well as response to the ways in which gender interconnects with otter identities and the ways these connections contribute to unique experiences. According to Symington (2004), the intersectional analysis focuses on revealing the various identities, exposing the diverse types of discrimination and disadvantages that takes place because of the combination of identities. Additionally, intersectional analysis purposes to address the ways in which patriarchy, racism, class oppression and other systems of discrimination lead to disparities that structure the relative positions of women. Symington continues to point out that the objective of this analysis is not to demonstrate that one group is more privileged or victimized than another but to identify the important differences and dissimilarities in order to assist the society to overcome the issues of discrimination. Additionally, this would help the society in putting in place conditions for all the people to enjoy human rights (Symington, 2004).
Intersectionality according to Patricia Hill Collins is the “theory of the relationship between race, gender and class” (1990), also known as the “matrix of domination” (2000). This matrix shows that there is no one way to understand the complex nature of how gender, race and class inequalities within women’s lives can be separated; for they are intertwined within each other.
Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of everyday face to face contact and questions the simple actions of a black man? Staples admits, "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence," (Staples 384) however...
Wyatt, Gail . "Sociocultural Context of African American and White American Women's Rape." Welcome to the Medical University of South Carolina. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011. .
In Patricia Hill Collins’ black feminism, both the criticisms and alternative methodologies offer some insights into the nature of a position of privilege and what it means to inhabit it.
In the article, Rape, Racism, and the Myth of the Black Rapist, the author, Angela Davis, discusses on the creation of the myth of the black rapist. This article brings two main ideas together to in order to make a valid argument to why both claims are false and hold no legitimacy. Davis argues that one was created in order to cover up for the other I order to veil the true offenders of sexual abuse. Davis also elaborates on the issue by adding to the argument and stating that white women are also being affected by these myths in a negative way because of the women’s bodies are being perceived as a right.
Even thought it was mentioned that violence was mostly targeted to women, in the essay “The Hidden Struggle” by Amina Mama she states that: “The assumption that violence against women is necessarily or intrinsically ‘male’, for example, has been challenged by black women in the West.” (Mama, 00). One of the most horrendous crimes that agravates physically and emotionally at the victims and society in general are itentional homocide, rape, and aggrevated assault, and in the case of men, castration during lynchings by White men. In these incidents the amount of violence used is great, provoking criminal incidence and victimization. The acts of rape during colonialism to maintain White power obdurate for generations, as well as the fact that there was an absence of laws to prohibit or stop these acts against women slave. White man utilize and categorize women african slaves, when regarded them as a property, in the essay Scenes of...
Intersectionality is a term used to describe a situation whereby an individual has multiple identities and as result, the person feels that he or she doesn’t belong to one community or another. Because of the many conflicts in an individual’s identities, he or she could be a victim of multiple threats of discrimination (Williams, 2017). The discrimination could be a result of race, gender, age, health and ethnicity among others. To give an example, a black transgender woman could be discriminated in the workplace because of being black and also because she is transgender. From an intersectionality perspective, the woman faces multiple threats of discrimination because of the overlapping identities of gender and race and therefore the transwoman faces a bigger struggle (Barber, 2017). Transwomen of color will most likely encounter prejudices in the form of homophobia, racism or sexism in many dimensions of their life. The perspective of intersectionality is not only applicable to women but it can also be applied to males. For example, a gay Latino man could be discriminated based on race because he is an immigrant into
Intersectionality was one of the greatest concepts this course shed light on, intersectionality is can be broadly defined as the coming together of various social groups to work together to fight against forms of oppression. In the conceptual frameworks portion of the book Readings for Diversity and Social Justice, they talk about the importance of privileged identities and disadvantaged identities coming together to work towards solving a particular issue. While before taking this course I was somewhat aware of the various forms of oppression, I never gave much thought to how I could help combat forms of oppression that I did not necessarily experience with my own identity.
Despite critiques and apprehensions regarding intersectionality, Bowleg (2012, p. 1268) writes that “the fact cannot be dismissed that intersectionality provides a unifying language and theoretical framework for public health scholars who are already engaged in investigating intersections of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, economic status, and disability to reduce and eliminate health
Historically, rape was not seen as a violence, but a theft. Rape was an offense against property, with women being the property, either owned by the husband or father, “under Anglo-Saxon law, rape was punished by paying a fine to the husband or father” (Bettina, Nov 3rd lecture). This meant, that in slavery-era America, an enslaved African woman could not legally be raped. Vicious stereotypes about black women arose, shifting the blame towards them. Temptresses, sexually deviant, immoral, seductress’s: these stereotypes are still very much in place today, and that is why Hill and Diallo’s evidence did not count against the evidence of the men who committed sexual violence against