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Promoting equality and diversity in health
Promoting equality and diversity in health
Theories of intersectionality
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Intersectionality can be described as the effect of overlapping of systems of discrimination, based on social categories like race, gender, and class, on an individual or group. White feminists did not understand why it was necessary to combat the racial systems that effected Chicanas. Chicanas faced ideologies of racial inferiority and hyperfertility, which contributed to the reasons why they were victims of forced sterilization. To combat forced sterilizations, Chicanas urged feminists to include a 72-hour waiting period for sterilizations and informed consent (Davis, 131). However, because white feminists at the time were focused on obtaining immediate rights to their bodies, they saw informed consent and a waiting period for sterilizations as inconveniences (Davis, 131).
This question poses an interesting discourse based on the intersectionality
On October 1st I was was fortunate enough to attend the Morgan Lecture: “Intersectionality, Black Youth and Political Activism” with speaker Patricia Hill Collins. I would like to touch upon a few of the points Collins raised in regards to black activism during the event and connect these points to Robin D.G. Kelly's “Looking for the 'Real' Nigga: Social scientists construct the Ghetto.” The message within Kelly's essay of reshaping the caricature given to black culture by social scientists can be closely related to Collins message about avoiding the caricature often given to those who participate in black activism. Both Collins and Kelly seem to have the similar goal of disrupting the story often perceived within the realms of black culture
Identity is how a person is perceived by both themselves and others. Combining different values, experiences, and distinguishing characteristics make up a person's identity. Intersectionality is how people are disadvantaged due to race, gender, and status, which shape their identity. This disadvantage is evident through the oppression and discrimination towards the individual and their identity. In Brent Staples' essay "Black Men in Public Spaces," we learn how appearance, a defining aspect of identity, can lead to unwarranted discrimination and trepidation.
1) White privilege is an ongoing societal issue that benefits white people, giving them an upper hand in situations where non-white people would not get the same treatment. For example, when walking down the street, a white person walks freely without concern of being stopped. Someone who is not white doesn’t have the same luxury. Authority stops them just because of their appearance. Tim Wise asked law enforcement what they thought of a black male driving a nice car in a nice neighborhood versus a white male in the same situation.
1.The theory/concept of intersectionality is a theory centered around oppression, domination and discrimination through various mediums from the social and cultural elements of society. The theory can be applied in many ways toward women as well as their involvement in the criminal justice system. Some forms of discrimination that is more prevalent in perceiving the individual is using a woman's status, race, sexual orientation, ability and age, however there can be more added to this list. The wiki article said “The theory proposes that we should think of each element or trait of a person as inextricably linked with all of the other elements in order to fully understand one's identity.”
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
Without applying intersectionality in analysis, oppression can only be understood in general terms, which can cause forms of oppression to become undetected (Mattsson, 2014). Instead, intersectionality, demonstrates the complexity of gender, sexuality, class, and race avoiding stereotypes as a whole, rather than simplifying an individual based on one characteristic (Mattsson, 2014). For example, when I was working at a Community Centre in the Jane and Finch area, I had a conversation with my co-worker. He described the barriers and struggles he has faced because of his race and socioeconomic status. It was through this conversation that I realized the pre-conceived notions my co-worker had about me, as a white individual who did not grow-up in the same neighbourhood.
Intersectionality is defined by social categories, such as race and gender that have interconnected to apply to individuals and groups, causing an overlap, which has consequently created a system of discrimination and disadvantages Kimberle Crenshaw coined the term in her article ‘Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Anti-racist Politics’ (1889). Intersectionality can be recognised in many iconic Disney films such as, Cinderella, snow white. Aladdin and little mermaid. All these well-known movies provide societal intersections. This can be addressed through the protagonists and princesses ethnicity of being white, with Disney only recently introducing a black princess, in 2009.
Midterm Intersectionality: As a human being you are not bound nor placed into one single group or category. You yourself do not identify solely by gender or race. There are multiple aspects to you that make you who you are; it consists on how you see yourself and how the world perceives you. Intersectionality is the interwoven identities that make up who you are: race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, etc. They are interdependent and can be shaped by one’s own personal experiences.
According to the English Oxford Dictionary, intersectionality is 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” (Oxford Dictionaries, n.d). Intersectionality is a way of acknowledging and comprehending that everyone’s identity has more than one attribute or social category; it’s how everyone experiences their own identity in their own unique way. For instance, in the article, Why intersectionality can’t wait, the writer Kimberlé Crenshaw, talked about a group of black women who prosecuted General Motors for discrimination (Crenshaw, 2015). Crenshaw spoke about how
To be clear, you 're giving an academic social theory that 's only accepted a tiny percentage of people. Racism/Sexism isn 't a thing like mathematics where 2+2=4. Different people define it differently. Most people define it as Maynerd does.
Examine how intersectionality is being recognised as a valuable normative and research paradigm for furthering understandings of the complexity of gender heath inequities in Africa Intersectionality describes ways in which certain social identities such as race, ethnicity, gender and class affects an individual’s experience. These same categories are used to reflect systems of oppression and privilege. Intersectionality provides the context for understanding that people’s health cuts across many lived experiences (Bowleg, 2012). Much of public health however does not acknowledge health differences as they speak on each identity independently. Because the term women and minorities has become the centre in public health discourse and research,
Elizabeth Cole offers a great definition, saying that “feminist and critical race theories offer the concept of intersectionality to describe analytic approaches that simultaneously consider the meaning and consequences of multiple categories of identity, difference, and disadvantage” (2009). While it creates a much more accurate picture of what is going on inside the individual, it is also very difficult to conceptualize. Take the example of a lesbian woman - how much of her oppression comes from being gay? How much from her gender? Are they happening at the same time?
According to the Dictionary, Sociology is defined as the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. This means that people are willing to study social problems throughout the world and the society that they live in. In my life, I deal with my social class, Gender, Race, Religion, and the time I was born. Because of who I am, I definitely have been a part of a different upbringing and lifestyle that many sociologist may find interesting.
