Vrushali Patil’s position on intersectionality in her essay, “From Patriarchy to Intersectionality: A Transnational Feminist Assessment of How Far We’ve Really Come,” gives a different perspective on intersectionality and patriarchy. Patil critiques patriarchy and the shift in domestic intersectionality. She defines patriarchy as, “a convenient designation of not only the particular concept of patriarchy, but homogenous, monolithic accounts of gender oppression…” (p.204). From a feminist approach, Patil believes a critical conversation is necessary regarding the wide range of uses for patriarchy as a form of oppression in women’s and gender studies and intersectionality. Patil argues, patriarchy has been blocked by intersectionality theory and it has neglected interrelationships of transnational …show more content…
• Promote social justice and social change by linking research and practice to eradicate the disparities in higher education institutions.
• Acknowledge within marginalized groups there are different characteristics in status, class, religion, nationality, location, gender, sexuality, and race.
• While using intersectional analysis, look beyond race and sex and draw attention to policies, practices, and outcomes on institutional racism and discriminatory practices (ex.housing).
• Be careful of intersectionality as a buzz work and patriarchy to represent only gender.
• There is a need to have a cohesive definition, if possible, of intersectionality as a method and process.
• Scholars should be aware of any unresolved conflicts with feminist, anti-racist theory, practice, and politics that would confuse their conceptions of identity and oppression that obscures the normative goals of their work.
The Challenges
• How does intersectionality challenge traditional modes of knowledge produced in the United States as a form of advocacy and pedagogy to pursue social justice and
Mills (2017) outlines the difficulty that some multiracial people have with others categorizing their identity for them and the resulting feeling of being forced to identify with one group over another, while not making room for the experience of multiracial identity in of itself. Moreover, this can be a marker of oppression and discrimination, which can then impact a person’s identity as their turmoil is internalized. Mock’s (2014) experience as a biracial Black and Native Hawaiian parallels this. During her time in California and Texas, Mock grew up in a community of black people of colour and was perceived as a black person, so her identity as a Native Hawaiian was erased and not externally visible. In contrast, when living in Hawaii, Mock was treated as an outsider and nonlocal because she presented as a black woman of colour. This goes to show that intersectional identity is more than what is presented on the outside and that all racial identities need to be recognized and affirmed. Moreover, social workers can utilize the art of meeting clients where they are by letting the client tell their story, learning about their experiences, and empowering, recognizing, and validating their multiracial identities (Harkey, Sortedahl, Crook, & Sminkey, 2017). Every client will construct and experience their racial identity in a
This essay will be unpacking and analysing the different elements that create my own intersectionality in my life. This essay will be discussing how class, gender/sex and race have influenced who I am and the experiences I have had throughout my life, and how various structures impact these experiences, with reference to the Crenshaw and Dill and Zambara articles, I will connect their thoughts and ideas to the intersectionality of my own life.
In the opening chapter of their book, Patricia Hill Collins and Sirma Bilge examine the meaning of intersectionality as they apply it to three distinct examples: the FIFA World Cup, a World Congress of Sociology, and the Brazilian festival of Latinidades. Intersectionality, as defined by the authors, refers to “a way of understanding and analyzing the complexity in the world, in people, and in human experiences.” Intersectionality is often used as an analytic tool to better understand the social and political needs of those whose lives are influenced by multiple intersecting identities (i.e. Black feminism is used to call attention to the specific needs of Black women). The idea of structural power is another key component of intersectionality discussed by Hill Collins and Bilge in the chapter. They argue that power is organized in four distinct, interconnected domains (interpersonal, disciplinary, cultural, and structural), and “operates by disciplining people in ways that put people’s lives on paths that makes some options seems viable and others out of reach.” This idea is outlined in the World Cup example as the authors discuss the “pay to play” ideology in soccer that disadvantages those with lower socioeconomic status. At the conclusion of their chapter, Hill Collins and Bilge outline six core ideas that tend to come up when using intersectionality as an analytic
For instance, relating to the employment, there were two obvious hierarchical differences between the black and the white, and women and men. According to Kimberle (2015), in the late 1970, the employment opportunities for black people and women were still in the straitened circumstance, furthermore, even if there were chances for them, “... the black job were men’s job, and the women’s job were only for whites.” (Kimberle Cranshaw 2015). In other words, there was no opportunity for the black women. In this case, the unjust discriminatory treatment for black women simply resulted from their intersected identities as a “black” and “woman” both were marginalized in the society. In regard to this, however, the important point is that people did not analyze the cause of this situation through considering it from the both racial and sexual sides simultaneously. People ignored the experience of the others, and categorized the black women based on their sex as a “woman”. In other words, people, especially who were in the privileged position, just neglected the subtle “differences” of others, and they stretched the rules to their own advantages. Relating to these “differences”, Audre Lorde (1984: 115) explains that “ But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the
Feminism analyzes how men have more social power than women and as a result, they use their social privileges above women (Ravelli and Webber 70). Likewise, feminism examines the political and social inequality occurring between both genders and highlight the patriarchy of men (Ravelli and Webber 70). Patriarchy is used to describe how male dominate the culture and the social system (Ravelli and Webber 71). When feminists understand a women’s experience, they consider her race and social class this is the concept of intersectionality (Ravelli and Webber 73). In intersectionality, they recognize the oppression women experience various for every individual (Ravelli and Webber 73). In the Aboriginal community, violence occurs because of the men’s inability to be superior. Although functionalism and feminism explain the disruption in the Aboriginal community, functionalism demonstrates a greater responsibly the police force has for the
The author argues that in order for oppression to be vitally explored, the factors that create oppression must be realized. Oppression gives material advantage to the oppressor. "All social relations have material consequences". The author argues that all identities must be considered interconnected.
Through the courses that I have taken thus far, I have learned about and experienced many rewards of teaching for social justice. However, I have also learned about the challenges of teaching for social justice, such as mismatches, racial stigmas, and avoiding oppressive teaching, to name a few. From course readings, the dispositions, and real-life situations, I have been able to grasp the understanding of being a teacher for social justice.
Currently, in our society we can see an increase in inequality and discrimination towards different people. Unfortunately, the American ideology does not take into account the diversity that exists in the country. The lack of an educational perspective that includes all people regardless of gender, race, sex, religion and social class is vitally important to take into account not just those people who meet the “normal” perspectives imposed by society, but also take in consideration those who don’t necessarily meet the social expectations. It could be said that intersectionality is a tool which helps us to analyze and defend multiple discriminations and above all to understand how different factors influence the rights and opportunities that
In other words, people can be born into identity categories or contexts, but there are people who struggle to balance two identities - “double consciousness” coined by W.E.B. Du Bois. Personally, I have had people say “you don’t look Mexican” because of my skin color and facial features that supposably make me look European. In addition, I have also heard people say to some of my friends who are Mexican-American “you are too mexican,” because of their color or they have a stronger sense in the Mexican tradition/culture. Next, the U.S. has five standard racial categories, but there have been scholars, like Kaplan, and the public who call for the government to have consistency with the racial categories because individuals have their own racial self-identity not defined or recognized through the five standard racial categories; this also ties in with her third argument because the disjuncture/tension between politics identity and individuals will remain; identity is an unending linguistic process of becoming. In conclusion, many Mexican-Americans find it a challenge to try and find a balance between both “identities” and not fail to have one be dominant over the other. Therefore, the questions I would like to pose is “Who are the key players (e.g. government, community/society, etc.) to move forward and resolve this issue of stereotypes and/or perceptions established upon individuals who are experiencing “double
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.
Additionally the text book Understanding and Managing Diversity also highlighted that we have to consider the multiple dimensions of diversity:
Women and gender studies contribute greatly to our understanding of the social and cultural world we inhabit. Studying the complex issues of this field has instituted many key insights. Two major insights that positively affected our society are the awareness through learning and through this awareness activism that can ensue.
This is particularly palpable in the phenomenon of gender roles. “Oversimplified conceptions pertaining to our behavior as females or males,” gender roles boil down our gender and anatomical performance into categories of “boy” or “girl” (Basow 3). Patriarchy then builds systemic inequality off this simplistic binary foundation, attaching “male” to spheres of power and “female” to spheres of powerlessness. Gender roles are one of many patriarchal infrastructures that thrive off a concrete definition of gender and/or sex, and so modern feminism has found power in dismantling both constructions.
Among the many subjects covered in this book are the three classes of oppression: gender, race and class in addition to the ways in which they intersect. As well as the importance of the movement being all-inclusive, advocating the idea that feminism is in fact for everybody. The author also touches upon education, parenting and violence. She begins her book with her key argument, stating that feminist theory and the movement are mainly led by high class white women who disregarded the circumstances of underprivileged non-white women.
...Gender stereotypes do not only target women, contrary to popular belief. The largest issue facing boys and, ultimately, young men in our society is the amount of emphasis placed on women whether it be through literature, propaganda, or equality. The modern society tends to place so much emphasis on women’s suppression that the majority of citizens forget about men’s equality. School-age boys should be given the option to read male-oriented literature rather than that of the feminist era. Women’s rights propaganda should either be eliminated or that of men’s rights should be added to counteract all of the negative things said about them. Finally, young men should have the right to choose their learning environment, whether it be in a classroom or outdoors. All of these things should be incorporated into society in order to end unfair discrimination against young men.