BLOG #5 INTERSECTIONALITY

 Intersectionality

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       I would say that intersectionality is a term that I was unfamiliar with before participating in our FNED course. Although the meaning behind the term is something that I feel should be familiar to all people, and is something that I have thought about before, I never actually put a defining word to it as "intersectionality." After being educated on this, the term really does make perfect sense. 

    In her Ted Talk presentation, the civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw explains the use of the term with the function of an intersection. In an intersection, multiple roads meet and converge at a single point. In a social context, this same reasoning is applied to the different ways in which people are marginalized because of their differing characteristics. Crenshaw describes throughout her emotional presentation how a black man or a white woman would be marginalized much differently than a black woman. Being black and being a woman are both identifiable groups that have less privilege. However, being a man or being white allots more privilege. This being said, Crenshaw explains that one cannot look at characteristics of a person individually. A black woman identifies with two marginalized groups and is thus effected differently than someone that has the ability to identify with a group that gives them more power. 

    To support the concept of intersectionality, there is a diagram that has been made called the "Wheel of Privilege and Power" or in some sources "Web of Oppression." On the University of Wisconsin-Madison website, there is a very informative explanation of the wheel and how it works. The page explains how the center of the wheel is power, and the word on the outside of the wheel is marginalized. As you start inside the circle and work  your way out, you become less powerful and more marginalized in certain areas. The page also has descriptions of categories on the wheel that include body size , mental health, neurodiversity, sexuality, ability, education, skin color, citizenship, gender, language, wealth, and housing situations.

Another helpful source for understanding the intersectionality wheel of privilege and power is the University of Oxford website for their department of physiology, anatomy, and genetics. While including a poster image of the wheel, the source offers a brief definition of what privilege is and how you can determine which categories you have privilege in, and finding your places on the wheel. 

The topic of intersectionality is vital for people to understand, especially those in positions of law enforcement or government. It adds more complexity to the way in most people view social justice. A lack of understanding of this leads to misconceptions about the way in which several people are either privileged or marginalized.