Intersectionality: A Focus on Difference

Intersectionality is a 60s and 70s theoretical feminist perspective brought about by women of color as a response to the anger and exasperation of "continuing to find women of color on the lowest rungs of the social stratification ladder in the United States" (160). It is a perspective which addresses differences between women and seeks to find common concerns at the intersections of varied oppressions. Women of color came to the conclusion that the existing feminist movement was predominantly concerned with white, class-privileged women, and that only women of color could adequately address their own concerns. The existing feminist perspective of the time looked to the notion of sisterhood, or common concerns of women, as a rallying cry for mobilization. However, women of color found that this essentialist approach downplayed differences between women in such a way that women of color could not have their personal concerns addressed adequately. Through intersectionality, women of color sought to bring the uniqueness of their own oppression into the fold and find those places where similarity of oppression could be unified against, and difference of oppression could still be acknowledged and addressed.

The most surprising thing about intersectionality is the fact that it was needed in the first place. Here we have a movement (Feminism) which was born from oppressive differences that is failing to acknowledge differences within its own ranks. In turn, this becomes Feminism oppressing the very people they are hoping to speak for. The whole idea of pre-intersectionality Feminism seems to be that any woman, regardless of her history, culture, beliefs, or upbringing, has rights that are being fought for.

The issue, however, can be summed up as follows:

Ten men do not have the right to vote. Through political action, these ten men earn the right to vote. This is fantastic! However, one of the men doesn't have a car to get to the polling office. Another man lives in a place where education is underfunded and is unequipped to make an informed decision. A third man is harassed every time he tries to go and vote. A fourth man lives in a part of his town where it is so dangerous that partaking in his right to vote is dwarfed by his fear of crime and danger.

So even though all ten men were granted the right to vote, only six of them can take advantage of that right to vote without feeling unprepared or unsafe.