Intersectionality: A Feminist Analysis

The generic feminist movement consists of “white, middle-class heterosexual women” (Tong 42). These women focus on their needs, and neglect the specific needs of many women of color, who are often of a lower socioeconomic standing. White feminists focus on liberating the oppressive “housewife role,” (Tong 214) and fail to even attempt to include minority women who may in fact dream of a life in which they were able to stay home with their children. White feminists “fail to realize that it is possible to oppress people by ignoring their differences” (Tong 214). This issue makes it difficult for many non-white women to relate to or desire to be a part of the feminist movement.

Intersectionality is the idea that when certain group identities that have similar systems of oppression merge together, they form a group that is fundamentally different as a whole than from their respective groups. In the case of the Mexicans and the Filipinos and their involvement in the “United Farm Workers of America”, it proved to hinder the alliance that the two groups had with each other. Because of their differences in race and the language barrier, there was a divide that had formed between the two groups; the Mexicans were more favored in the union. The Mexicans were more represented and usually were tended to first, which was apparent when it came to power and money in the union. As a result, the Filipinos were often neglected when

Intersectionality has become the latest feminist “buzzword” as it comes to the discussion of pop culture, politics or academia. the article “Intersectionality” by The Washington Post, tells us how the term intersectionality was initially used to describe how race and gender could bisect as the forms of oppression. However, now the term is used to trace how different forms of discrimination overlap and relate. It also describes how important is it for feminists to consider women from diverse backgrounds when advocating for social causes. This term encompasses numerous social factors such as sexual orientation, disability, class and nationality.

The Stonewall Riots are said to mark the beginning of the modern LGBT rights movement, and it was largely initiated by transgender women of color. Over the next few decades, legislation would be enacted to aid the cause for equality. By 1977, trans athletes could play on the teams of their gender identities, and by 1993 anti-discrimination laws were extended to transpeople in Minnesota. In the 21st century alone, transpeople were getting invited to the White House, playing in college sports, and serving as judges, all without having to hide who they were (“Milestones in the American Transgender Movement”). Hardships are still all too common, unfortunately, but much progress has been made nonetheless, and the fight continues to this

The LGBTQ community is one that faces an ongoing storm of stereotyping and stigmas and the media is no relief from it. One major factor in this is the common trope of the violent and aggressive transgender woman, which is often shown through

Jessica Petty Dr. Frederick POLI 369-CO1 May 3, 2023 Transforming Prejudice In their book, Transforming Prejudice, authors Melissa Michelson and Brian Harrison detail the struggles that the transgender movement has faced in their fight to “reduce extremism and closed-mindedness” (13). They provide insight into why strategies that were successful among the broader LGB community have failed to influence public opinion regarding transgender identity and issues. Michelson and Harrison introduce a new theory which they refer to as The Theory of Identity Reassurance, which they predict will be more impactful in shifting public opinion and “speeding up the proverbial moral arc of the universe to more quickly bend towards justice” (24).

The feminism term should be broadened Since the beginning of feminism, the mainstream feminists’ associations, have mostly focused on the problems that white middle class women face. As a consequence, numerous feminists´ have ignored and overlooked the experiences of oppression that other minority women encounter. Therefore, I am of the opinion that it is essential that the feminist concept is not solely used to enlighten the inequality between genders, withal also racism, islamophobia, homophobia and further. I would argue that feminism is useless without intersectionality and inclusion.

The Internalized Oppression Of Women The absence of equality in society is a huge problem and important topic to discuss, the oppression women receive is based on sexist ideology that has impacted women for hundreds of years. Patriarchal systems and misogynistic foundations have formed a view that women are inferior to men. When one is oppressed consistently they internalize it, the victim of oppression believes and even creates ideas that negetavely impact them and others oppressed for similar reasons. Internally creating these views allows the sexist ideology to be supported and continued, internalizing oppression is a coping mechanism to help individuals control the hate toward them but it does nothing to stop oppression from continuing.

While intersectionality is, arguably, one of the founding blocks of feminist analysis, it is widely debated if intersectionality is, in fact, a theory or if it would have stronger practical application being labeled as a concept, or reading strategy (K. Davis, 2009). K. Davis (2009) defines intersectionality as “the interaction between gender, race, and other categories of difference in individual lives, social practices, institutional arrangements, and cultural ideologies and the outcomes of these interactions in terms of power,” (p. 68). While different fields of research use intersectionality in different ways, gender studies tends to use intersectionality as a theory with practical application and makes the argument that any person working in the field of research must acknowledge the differences among the population or they “run the risk of having her worked view as theoretically misguided, politically irrelevant, or simply fantastical,” (K. Davis, 2009, p.

Male-to-female transgenders, often known as trans women or transgender females, were assigned male sex at birth but identify as female. Transgender women may be attracted to men, women, other transgenders or a combination thereof. Transgendered females may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual in their sexual orientation. Estimates on the size of the female transgender population (born biologically male and currently identifies as female) ranges from one in 2,900 to one in 100,000 (IOM

Transgender is the term used to describe an individual whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. The documentary, “Growing up Trans”, is a sensitive clip to watch about young youths who attempt to navigate family, friends, gender, and the medical decisions they face at puberty. “Growing up Trans” focuses mainly on transitioned young youths. The transgender youth from the documentary links to many theories from chapter eight. Theories such as socialization, gender, sexuality, homophobia, transphobia, and microaggression are associated with “Growing up Trans”.

Introduction 　　　 The Color Purple is a novel written by an American author Alice Walker and was published in 1982. It won numerous awards in literature and film as it had many musical, film and radio adaptations, particularly the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It primarily involves the subject of feminism and addresses issues in sexism and racism in the early 20th century in the United States. The story is all about a girl named Celie, a black woman who lives in the Southern part of US.

A true transgender is determined to self-identify. Christine Jorgensen was asked on why some transsexuals are still in the same emotional shape even after transition and so Christine said: “There have been a few people who were unhappy about their status in life and they felt that the sexual reassignment surgery will change their life that much, and it really doesn’t. It’s who you are that’s important. I refer to it as a Cinderella syndrome. I’ve met cases who went from male to female thinking prince charming is coming around the corner on a white horse.

The term, “transsexual” has always been one of obscurity, muddled by countless contradicting opinions and perspectives that generally have nothing to do with the definition of the word itself. Oxford English Dictionary defines transsexuals as, “[those] whose sex has been changed by surgery.” Though Oxford English Dictionary has a very blunt, straightforward definition of what marks you as a transsexual, it almost makes light of the meaning of the word – that it is simply a matter of sex change and nothing else. These kinds of proclamations would be negatively viewed by some in the LGBT community, especially in more stifling communities such as Japan, that suppress individuality considered abnormal and out of place with the social construct of its society. Moreover, Japan’s innate compliance of cultural uniformity, with roles that are deemed appropriate or inappropriate within its culture, depict transsexuals as obtrusive, defying natural laws in order to engrave their own sense of identity in a world that considers them to be unwelcomed and not belonging.

In our recent history, feminism has become more prevalent in almost every aspect of our lives. One important thing to remember is that each sex has uniquely valuable traits to contribute to society (Maguire, 2014). However, overgeneralizations of these traits have driven a wedge between the different sexes and as a result, discrimination, injustice, and unfair stereotypes plague our society. Key terms discussed throughout each source include, but are not limited to, gender stereotypes, double standards, benevolent sexism, hostile sexism, gender disparities, and female/male injustice. Gender stereotypes encompass the generalizations placed on gender-specific traits.