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Kimberle Crenshaw: Feminist Intersectionality

607 Words3 Pages

According to Dictonary.com Intersectionality is defined as “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage”. A term coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality began as a critical response to the silence of White feminists on African American women’s oppression and the anti-racist movement for ignoring the needs of women in the name of racial unity. Crenshaw argues that anti-sexist politics and anti-racist approaches very rarely correspond to each other negatively implicating the understanding of black women as subjects for feminist intervention. Crenshaw’s most noted …show more content…

In one specific case Donnie Gaut, an African American man how applied at Farmer John Meats and was turned down. He then suspected that it was due to his race and hired the EEOC to look into the situation. Donnie was a victim of intersectionality but chose to rise above the discrimination and stereotypes in a calm and orderly manner. (Page 289) “The message that we are trying to send in the world is that ’all individuals deserve to compete for jobs on a level playing field.’ ”. Sexual harassment is extremely relevant in today especially in grades 7 to 12. Nearly half of the 7th to 12th graders have experienced it in the last year, with 87% of the reporting having negative effects. Catherine Hill a director of research at the American Association of University Women states that “… it’s almost part of the school day…”.(318) We are used to men having the power of authority, but things need to be challenged and changed in order to make everyone equal and safe in today’s society and in the future for future generations.
Intersectionality may define what we are but it cannot define us as individuals and we stand to fight the ceiling that has been placed for each individual every

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