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Multiple Social Categories Of Gender

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INTRODUCTION

Intersectionality between multiple social categories such as gender, age, race, sexuality has received a considerable amount of attention during the past few years. This is so because more people are voicing out their oppressive experiences through national protests and social media platforms. Once the feminist thought of gender as a variable within the multiple social categories of identity consisting of being 'woman or female ' and 'man or male ' is no longer sufficient to encounter the multiple complexes of social discrimination that many women faces today. This suggests that identities are not created by a unit variable of social categories, but are created through multiple variables of social categories and experiences …show more content…

Moreover, Hooks thinks that white feminist women were also incapable of recognising their own race or ethnicity due to following the ideal norms of feminism (cited in Valentine 2007, 11-12). Though civic rights might be formally available to all, the intersection of different social categories of identities such as gender, class, ethnicity and sexuality influence to what extent people are able to exercise their rights. As the experience of a white woman and a black woman cannot be possibly compared to each other, and thus, feminism catering only to the white privileged cannot strive for equality when it does not accommodate and reflects the experiences of women of background who are facing the multifaceted oppression. Therefore, critical race theorists developed ‘intersectionality’ to describe the interconnected and interdependence of race with other social …show more content…

It is also an analytical tool for studying, understanding, and responding to the ways in which a variable of social category as in gender, intersects with other identities and how these intersections contribute to the experiences of those who are oppressed and privileged (AWID 2004, 1). In general, women with privileged are often hardly impacted by structural and dynamic powers, however, by compounding the intersecting multifaceted layers of identities, women with backgrounds, disabilities, status, age, and so on experiences the impact

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In “Intersectional Resistance and Law Reform,” Dean Spade proposes that the United States was founded through “racialization…(which) continues to operate under new guises… that produce, manage, and deploy gender categories and sexuality and family norms” (16). More over, these laws and norms tend to maintain the “status quo,” and employ an inherently flawed justice system that is only equipped to address single-axis discrimination issues (5). Thus, the intersectionality movement is largely dismissed by the social and justice systems, as it utilizes “critical intersectional tools… that are often (too) difficult for legal scholars to comprehend” (17). Interstionality’s progress is also impeded by advocates leaving to support single-axis issues. However, Spade warns that this approach is ineffective, as it fails to protect the most marginalized members of society.

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Race, gender, and class, while commonly thought of as separate, are deeply intertwined with one-another. In his book Iron Cages, Ronald Takaki explores and lays out both the ways in which these three connected the ways they are not and the underlying reasons as to why. Following will be the analysis of the three in pairs, so as to better break down the comparisons among the three in relation to one another, concluded with the intersection of all three. Beginning with race and gender, it goes without says that masculinity was emphasized when referring to peoples of color, and femininity was emphasized when referring to white people. This appears to have been used as a way to paint people of color as threats whilst maintaining the white person

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The predominant ideas put forth in the piece from the Combahee River Collective were those that addressed the shortcomings of the feminist movement to include all women and to address the full range of issues that oppress individuals and groups of people in our patriarchal society. This greatly furthered my ongoing development and understanding of what intersectionality is, what its goals are, and how it can help everyone instead of the predominately white, cisgendered, heterosexual, upper middle class women that composed and continue to compose a large portion of the feminist movement. One of the biggest shortcomings that are addressed in this piece focused on the racism within the feminist movement and its limited or even minimal efforts

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Within societies, culture plays a huge role in shaping who a person becomes. What values they consent to and what would make them content and satisfied with life, otherwise said, happy. In a patriarchal racist community woman as a double minority suffer twice the burden of proving herself, defining her values, and finding what defines her. Some of these women choose to obey and submit and live life as given to them. Just a few stand up for themselves, speak up, fight toward their freedom and independence against all cultural norms and social constructions including race and patriarchy.

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These “assigned roles” and expectations have robbed women of the right to have a personal identity. Women have long been bound in the shackles of stereotypes strong enough to stunt their mental and emotional growth and to limit their abilities to reach their full potential.

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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.

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Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pseudonym, bell hooks, is a black woman who is often cited for her work as a writer, feminist, and cultural critic. As a passionate scholar, she is a leading intellectual of her generation and has published dozens of books and articles that discuss topics such as masculinity, patriarchy, feminine consciousness, representation, and politics. In 2004, hooks wrote her essay, “Understanding Patriarchy” in which she explores her understanding of patriarchy in American society and proposes a call to action to improve gender issues. hooks is able to develop her ideas through her complex rhetorical choices that all add to the overall effect of the essay. hooks is able to make and maintain claims that

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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

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Moreover, women with a foreign background should not have more difficulties when searching for jobs nor should women with other skin color than white feel invisible the mainstream media. One of the main arguments against intersectionality within feminism, is that intersectionality will cause feminism to be more about who to feel the sorriest for instead of improving feminism. I totally disagree with that argument on the ground that I believe intersectionality is rather about the fact that all of us experience events differently therefor it is crucial to listen to everyone’s experiences nevertheless to not place each other´s experiences into a hierarchy of who to emphasize the most.

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