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1. The concept of intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to describe the oppression faced by African American women due to intersecting aspects of their identity such as race and gender. 2. Intersectionality provides a framework for understanding how different aspects of identity like race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect and influence one's unique experiences of privilege and oppression. It recognizes that people face prejudice based on the combination of their various social identities. 3. In their reflection, the author describes facing discrimination as a black lesbian from their home environment due to the intersection of their gender, sexual orientation, and race.

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32 views

Tut 1

1. The concept of intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to describe the oppression faced by African American women due to intersecting aspects of their identity such as race and gender. 2. Intersectionality provides a framework for understanding how different aspects of identity like race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect and influence one's unique experiences of privilege and oppression. It recognizes that people face prejudice based on the combination of their various social identities. 3. In their reflection, the author describes facing discrimination as a black lesbian from their home environment due to the intersection of their gender, sexual orientation, and race.

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Sihle Sondamase
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Mark awarded Surname

First Name/s

Student No.

Marker’s Signature
Course Code SOC2004S
Lecturer Rufaro Moyo
Tutor Keenan Hendrickse

Essay/assignment
Title
Read the article by Crenshaw, engage with other literature from this past two weeks and listen to
the lecture narratives. In at least 700 words, write about how you have understood by the concept
of intersectionality, why it matters, as well as your own personal reflections on your identity(ies).

DECLARATION
1 I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and to pretend that it is one’s own.
2 I have used the _______Harvard_________ convention for citation and referencing. Each significant
contribution to, and quotation in, this essay/ report/ project/ assignment from the work, or works, of other
people has been attributed, and has been cited and referenced.
3 This essay/ report/ project/ assignment is my own work.
4 I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his
or her own work.

Signature

Essay due date 13/08/2021


Submitted 13/08/2021

For office use:


Due Official use
Recd Department Stamp
Penalty % of the mark
Extensi Yes  No 
on
Signatu
re
The term intersectionality was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe the
oppression of African American women during that period. My own understanding of
intersectionality is that it is a framework for understanding many aspects of cross-structured
identities (such as race, class, and other identity markers) that intersect and compose to create a
unique experience and the influence one has on another. This concept is mainly used to explain
the forms of social privilege and oppression. Because other parts of our identity in society is
marginalized and privileged (Crenshaw, 1989:1242). Although it is used to describe prejudice
and violence against black women, it has become much more commonly used for LGBTQI
issues. This is because it is a lens that allows one to see where cross-sexual power comes from,
where it crashes, and where it interconnects. Not only there are gender issues here, class issues
here, gender and LBGTQ issues there (Gouws, 2017:25). Many times, this framework erases
what happens to all these affected people. However, one of the criticisms of intersectionality is
that it still works to group people together and categorize people according to all stereotypes.
Groups are more complicated, but instead of understanding that everyone has their own
experiences, theories have always grouped people according to identifiers (Gouws, 2017:22).
Intersectionality is important because it primarily helps one to understand the struggle
against the tangled prejudices that people encounter daily in their lives. It considers the various
forms of power that are manifested through identity, the multiple forms of oppression, and the
forms it considers (Gouws, 2017:24). Because it is important to understand these intersections.
Intersectionality cannot eliminate the structures of power and other complexities of society such
as race, class, and sexual orientation. These are negotiated to address these complexities by
understanding the realities of life and the nature of structural complexities
(Crenshaw,1989:1248) For example, a young black woman with good education and health.
Two oppressive traits, being black and a female. While being young, well-educated, and
physically strong are the only privileged aspects of her life. It effectively covers the diversity of
life experiences that are heavily influenced by cross-repression and state changes, especially the
diversity and main changes to capture the various dimensions of the displayed identity.
Further, intersectionality leaves a clear stand on inclusiveness and fairness. If society is
viewed from the perspective of tolerance and justice. By observing everyone's social systems
and structures, it can better understand patterns of exclusion and inequality and how they evolve
(Ghai, 2004:5). For example, a poor gay person. Although being white is considered as a
privileged area of society, the man is still oppressed in two other aspects of life, such as being
gay and poverty. Intersectionality shows that, everyone is somehow affected by what society
constructs. To show that, even though we might have a certain group that we identify with, one
might still be oppressed. Like Ghai (2002:4), who describes how a feminist movement initiated
primarily in response to the oppression experienced by women had eliminated women with
disabilities within the feminist movement. Recognizing the painful disappointment that women
with disabilities were in many marginalized positions in India, this was based on disability and
socio-cultural identity, depending on caste, hierarchy, and living status. In multiple categories.
Crenshaw (1989:1276) points out that, for other reasons, black women have different
experiences and issues within feminist movements. She goes on to stress how in feminism, race
and gender are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they intersect to create their own discriminatory
experience. As a result, black women are subject to their own discrimination, different from that
faced by the black community or mainstream feminism.
Lastly, my own personal reflections on my identity/ies. As I identify as a black lesbian
from the Eastern Cape, a patriarchal society. In my home environment, I not only heard them
talk about my curvature and thickness, but also encountered sexual complaints from local men
due to my gender and sexual orientation. In addition, these discriminatory forces work together
to create a unique experience for me with multiple identities such as black or lesbian. So, I feel a
unique form of oppression from my neighbours due to the intersection of gender and sexuality.
[699 words]
Referencing
Crenshaw, K., 1989. Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique
of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. u. Chi. Legal f., p.1242,
1248, 1276.
Gouws, A., 2017. Feminist intersectionality and the matrix of domination in South Africa.
Agenda, 31(1), pp. 22,25,24.
Ghai, A., 2002. Disabled women: An excluded agenda of Indian feminism. Hypatia, 17(3),
pp.5,4,6

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