When categorizing people by demographic or cultural factors, we often simplify understanding through general labels like "Asian-American," "gay," or "autistic." However, this compartmentalized approach diminishes individuality and diversity. What occurs when individuals hold multiple labels, or when these labels feel contradictory? How does combining them create deeper understanding?
What is Intersectionality?
Kimberlé Crenshaw, a Black feminist scholar in legal and critical race theory at UCLA and Columbia Law School, developed intersectionality theory. It describes how diverse social categorizations, including ability status, sexual identity, gender identity, socioeconomic status, race, and religion, interconnect to create overlapping, interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
These marginalization spaces aren't isolated; they connect and compound each other. Intersectionality emerged from critical race theory (CRT), which posits that laws and legal institutions contain inherent racism and that race functions as a social construct. Crenshaw argued in her 1989 paper that treating Black women as exclusively Black or exclusively women overlooked specific challenges faced by this group.
What are Intersecting Identities?
Identity comprises multiple diverse factors: age/generation, disability status (developmental and acquired), religious and spiritual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, indigenous heritage, national origin, and gender identity and expression. These intersecting identities make individuals unique and influence lived experience. Identity remains fluid, constantly shifting through internal and external experiences.
The difference between intersectionality and intersecting identities
While similar, these concepts differ regarding power, privilege, societal hierarchy, and systemic oppression. Intersectionality reveals how various identity intersections are systematically and culturally weaponized to oppress people and connects to generational trauma. Intersecting identities apply to those holding "desired" identities with privilege, those not experiencing systemic oppression.
The Difference: An Example
"A white cisgender lesbian from an upper middle-class background who is currently living an upper middle-class lifestyle has dealt with a completely different set of systemic oppressors and hate than a Black cisgender lesbian from a lower socioeconomic status who is currently living a middle-class existence."
While both share similar identity aspects societally and historically, their systemic oppression and experiences navigating personal and professional spaces differ significantly. This includes employer perception, historical representation, legal system support, and educational access, all playing out differently across racial and economic lines.
How to Navigate Intersections of Demographics and Identity
In personal and professional spaces, individuals must consistently evaluate how intersectionality is considered or overlooked:
- Disciplinary policies
- Hiring and recruiting practices
- Approaches to retention and succession planning
- Who occupies positions of power
- Individual lifelong growth and learning
- Relationships between intersectionality and interpersonal communication
Practical steps:
- Work on becoming actively anti-racist, feminist, emotionally intelligent, empathic, and culturally competent
- Read, view, and reflect on perspectives differing from yours
- Dive into understanding your own identity and demographic intersections within society
- Connect with a therapist who honors your diversity and identity complexity
