Intersectionality

Okay, so this is intersectionality. As a contemporary cultural issue,

Intersectionality,

also known as intersectional feminism or intersectional theory,

is a term used to describe the way in which the intersection of

multiple identities can contribute to a compounding

effect of oppression on an individual.

The concept of intersectionality is crucial, as it allows us and lens,

in which examined the unique experience of an individual's

who's marginalised race ability, sexuality, gender, age,

economic status or any other social position,

for that matter can hinder their well being.

Mhm.

Intersectionality is experienced on a global scale and occurs in every context.

Yeah,

not separate but interconnected.

The issue with addressing social identities

separately from each other begins when

we are defining individuals purely on their belonging to one social group,

instead of just seeing people as individuals who have the

ability to transcend beyond any one single aspect of the

of themselves.

Um, this way of thinking is obviously flawed because no one is just white,

non binary, African disabled, working class

or anything else.

But instead, people are the enjoyment of their many, many,

many characteristics and is shaped by that.

Yeah,

is important to note that when um

examining the effects of overlapping marginalisation.

Um, we must address it without an individual, uh, without

without intervention, which tackles these identities separately.

So, for example, initiatives for, uh,

black racial discrimination may improve outcomes for, uh, blackmail.

Um, initiatives for, um,

perfect

women's rights may, um, improve outcomes for a Caucasian female.

They may not necessarily address the unique and amplified experience of

African American woman and that these perspectives need to be voiced,

um, specifically,

instead of

separating parts of one individual identity when in reality,

we are treating their entire human experience.

So rooting largely in the black feminism,

intersectionality has had much growth through female African advocacy.

And

so Kimberly Crenshaw, um,

is a legal scholar and civil rights activist

who formally defined the term intersectionality in 1989.

So Kimberly Crenshaw has contributed extensive amounts,

um, information to the subject.

And she essentially outlines the way in which social

Justice initiatives fail to address the disadvantages faced by,

um,

individuals whose overlapping identities create

a multiplying effect of discrimination,

which is unique to them.

So in one of her case studies,

she used the example of a lawsuit against gender General Motors,

which highlighted the unique, discriminatory experience felt by black women

here.

The corporation General Motors had hired black men and they had hired women,

but they had failed to employ black women.

So here,

this kind of demonstrated, um, how in this particular case, um,

the way in which gender and race overlapped, um,

and created a distinct kind of discrimination for these

black women who were not hired about the company.

Um,

and Kimberly Crenshaw also acknowledges that this

overlapping of being a part of different

social groups can translate to people in many different walks of life and people

and can be advantageous and dis and create disadvantages for, um,

many kinds of individuals. Um, and this

in just impacts holistic health outcomes.

Okay, evidence and examples.

So

although there is no strong stance opposing the concept of intersectionality,

it takes on the mammoth of achieving herd acknowledgement

of former and ongoing systems which reinforce discrimination,

which, as you can imagine, is a very, very big issue that we must continue

to educate ourselves on and

voice

more diverse perspectives.

So, um, discriminatory issues stem from long historic oppression

and in order to deeper, understand the issue, um,

with intersectionality We must examine the roles that social institutions, um,

and standardised systems

like religious meeting grounds, political policies

and educational facilities like schools, Um,

and how a lot of discrimination and compounding discrimination begins in these,

uh, institutions.

So the role of these in institutions play in compounding depression can

be seen in a analysis which was published by the U.

S. Department of Education from

2011 to 2012.

So the suspension rate of black girls with six

times the rate that it was of white girls.

So this over representation of black

girls and the excess disciplinary action towards

them was the result of something which is not exclusively a racial issue,

Um,

and was not exclusively agenda issue and should

be holistically examined in order to have greater success

in social justice

initiatives for these black girls who are being suspended

at a much higher rate than they should be,

Um, and positively, we see that when,

um,

our kind of social injustice is identified

and treated holistically instead of separately.

Um, it can create greater outcomes for everyone,

not just marginalised individuals.

So this is a case. Uh, there was a case seen at an American High School in Georgia.

Um, where there was just a lot of intervention by juvenile justice systems.

Um, kind of coming into the school disciplinary system,

which created a really big issue where individuals who happen to be black

and disabled were being arrested at higher rates. Individuals who happen to be

women

and Paul were being arrested at a higher rate.

And, um,

this just created a really big problem for the school where

morale was low and there was just so much excess,

um, and unnecessary arrest going on.

So, um, the juvenile courts and the kind of looked at this case and they were like,

this is a really big issue.

We got to, um,

kind of get some more people on board. So more people with greater

and more diverse perspectives were brought on board,

and they kind of came up with the solution to, um,

make stricter arresting, uh, arresting policies for high school students.

And this created, uh,

positively impact not only for marginalised and discriminated individuals,

but instead, um,

the whole school saw graduation rate increased by 24% which was really cool.

So this really demonstrates that it doesn't

just benefit individuals who have been marginalised.

This education doesn't just benefit marginalised individuals, but instead,

um was able to see the entire school have a 24% greater

graduation rate and in more hours increased.

And then this school, amazingly,

went to go on and beat the national average for graduation.

Mhm.

Okay, so how does the intersectionality progress into the future?

And how does it look in our ever changing society and contemporary context? So, uh,

Intersectionality has taken up a great space in the media,

which is amazing because by more people,

being able to interact with the idea has just

brought on more perspectives and has voice unique,

um, an individual lived experiences.

So that has only helped to grow and diversify

all of the perspectives coming to tackle this issue.

Because one of the most basic principles of science, for example,

is that as environment becomes more resilient and successful and stronger, uh,

with

biodiversity and that is just seen,

um, in our world, when we give individuals,

um,

who have been oppressed and more diverse groups of individuals, um,

we are just given a much more beautiful and colourful

holistic approach to every issue and that reason on to my next point.

So in the future, we hope to see in sexuality just being kind of,

um, taught and performed to its

true roots where, um,

holistic intervention analysis is implied

Social justice issues instead of separating parts of an individual identity,

for example, an individual who happens to be Asian and disabled,

we cannot separate the ability and the race.

But instead we want to tackle their unique experience

as one manner instead of separating it.

And in the future,

we also just hope for greater education of everyone

because this just improves the quality of life.

Um, the whole population.

So instead of just educating individuals who have been marginalised,

we have to educate everybody on the issues surrounding, um

not employing individuals experiencing compounding effects of, uh,

compounding effects of oppression.

Um, and many, many other issues like that. So, yes, that's intersectionality.

Um, and we can see that when greater perspectives are given and we examine, um,

issues more holistically.

We just have much more positive outcomes in education in schools

and crime in overall morale and overall happiness for everybody,

not just marginalised individuals.

So yeah,

that's in sexuality. And this is my autobiography.

Thank you very much.

Intersectionality

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