Identity and Intersectionality

By Atiya Haynes

Intersectionality is a word that seems straightforward, but it is a concept that holds much complexity. Intersectionality describes the unique experience that a person with two or more social categories has. This term was coined by none other than Kimberle Crenshaw, who coined the term in 1989. She explained that Black women’s oppression cannot be summed up as ‘racism’ or ‘misogyny’ or both. Black women experience a different type of oppression due to the intersection of these two identities.

This sort of oppression is not just about race or gender. Many other identities have a similar application to intersectionality as well. Things like economic status, educational status, and immigration status also apply to the compounded oppressions one may face when these identities intersect. Something to note is that race is the determining factor for where someone falls on the ladder of this hierarchy. For example, let’s say we have two gay men. Both have experienced homophobia in their lives due to their queer identities. However, if we throw in the fact that one of the two gay men is black and the other is white, that changes things a bit.

Yes, both can experience homophobia, but the white gay man’s experience is automatically different from the black gay man’s experience. But why? It is different because, on the basis of race, these oppressions are compounded due to the institutional and systemic racism on which our societies are built. The black gay man experiences a different type of oppression that cannot be summed up as just ‘homophobia’ and ‘racism’. Now, let’s use the previous example of white and black gay men. We are going to give them names to make this hypothetical easier to explain. The white gay man’s name is James, and the black gay man’s name is Tommy. Now, let us say that for the sake of this hypothetical, James came from a family with a higher socioeconomic status. In comparison, Tommy came from a family with lower socioeconomic status. This hypothetical comparison, again, shows how, although both men live life with queer identities, their race and economic status make their lived experiences play out very differently since James cannot experience racism in any capacity.