#independent-study

Early Placard design

Further Research

Independent study:

Initial Research - Springbok Tour

Further Research:

Reading Response: 'On Intersectionality' by Mary Mayfield

This is my first time reading about intersectionality, I had heard the term used in the past but had little to no understanding of it. In this text Mary starts by detailing her experience with the concept of intersectionality - first misunderstanding it, then through teaching it, came to a more accurate, helpful understanding.

Initially she understood intersectionality through what she describes as an 'additive model'. Meaning the amount of oppression people experience is subject to the number of identities we have. For example I am asian, mixed race and queer. So I experience racism AND homophobia. Whereas someone else might experience racism AND homophobia AND ableism. Mary describes the implication of this thinking well when she writes:

"My understanding of intersectionality was that some of us have a burden and some of us have more burdens and that this is important to remember." She goes on to state: "At its best, the additive model is useful for remembering that not everyone's experience is like our own, for understanding we all experience some forms of privilege and some forms of oppression, and for keeping in mind that liberation and social justice are never (and can never be) single-issue struggles"

On a whole I agree with her here. I have come across this thinking far too often on the internet. The labels once used to describe the oppression, discrimination and hatred (such atrocities) have begun to be used as currency. As in 'my voice is more relevant than yours because I experience this AND this AND this'. Not only is this thinking not helpful in discussions. But it also demeans and discredits experiences of those who only fall under one or two of the labels.

Mary then goes on to describe Kimberlé Crenshaw's understanding of intersectionality. Kimberlé is the academic who coined the term and used it primarily to describe the experience of black women under the US law system. Crenshaw's understanding of intersectionality is that of an intertwining or transformation of identities or oppressions when they intersect. In describing this Mary writes:

"When we're taught about sexism and feminism in predominantly white institutions, we learn that women are stereotyped as weak, in need of protection, and kept at home. But this is really only true for white women. If we think about sexism centering Black women, we come up against entirely different (and in some cases straight-up opposite) stereotypes: the strong Black woman, the loud aggressor, the laboring Mammy who never got the chance to stay in the home with her own damn kids in her life."

Mary makes it clear that these changes to oppression happen no matter the identities involved. For example: an asian gay man experiences different oppression to a latinx gay man, one not worse or better than the other, just different. I have experienced this myself hearing people say things such as 'he's just a gay man'. Meaning he doesn't understand real oppression because he is cis-gender and white.

The final point Mary makes is that of benefits of the more nuanced view of intersectionality that she outlined:

" It's only when we can see the ways that racism and sexism (and all the other -isms) are fusing together in particular ways that we can challenge them effectively"