below before proceeding with this assignment. You should always take notes as you work through the content, perhaps using a note-taker like this oneLinks to an external site.. Save your notes in a de

by

 below before proceeding with this assignment. You should always take notes as you work through the content, perhaps using a note-taker like this oneLinks to an external site.. Save your notes in a dedicated folder for this class. 

Content Heading

The term intersectionality refers to the ways in which our various identities overlap and interlock, and the term is a reminder that feminism is ineffective if it does not take an intersectional approach.

The readings for this lecture illustrate this. They don't use the term intersectionality because it hadn't been coined yet. When Audre Lorde and the Combahee River Collective wrote about race and gender in the Women's Liberation and Black Liberation movements of the 1970s and 1980s, they were identifying how they felt marginalized as women in Black Liberation spaces, marginalized for being Black in Women's Liberation spaces–and marginalized in both for being lesbians. As Lorde notes, "I simply do not believe that one aspect of myself can possibly profit from the oppression of any other part of my identity." And the Combahee River Collective write that "If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all systems of oppression."

Later, in 1991, Kimberlé Crenshaw, began using the term intersectionality to describe that unique space that exists when multiple marginalized identities intersect.

Crenshaw illustrates this concept in the video below. Please take notes in your Key Terms/Concepts spreadsheet as you watch:

 

Key Terms/Concepts

As you move through the course, take notes on your copy of the Key Terms/Concepts spreadsheetLinks to an external site..

Key Terms/Concepts in this lecture or readings:

  • Intersectionality

Choose one quote from one of the assigned readings. Then, discuss (1) what it means, and (2) why you found it important or meaningful for helping your understanding of intersectionality and its importance to feminism and to studying gender. Your response should be about 200 words, or one well-developed paragraph. Make sure to include the quote in your response. (The quote does not count toward the 200 word requirement.)

 

Need more guidance?

You can choose a quote on your own, or choose one of the important quotes below:

From hooks:

"Critical interventions around race did not destroy the women's movement; it became stronger. Breaking through denial about race helped women face the reality of difference on all levels. And we were finally putting in place a movement that did not place the class interests of privileged women, especially white women, over that of all other women. We put in place a vision of sisterhood where all our realities could be spoken. . . . The fact that participants in the feminist movement could face critique and challenge while still remaining wholeheartedly committed to a vision of justice, of liberation, is a testament to the movement's strength and power" (58).

"Feminist movement, especially the work of visionary black activists, paved the way for a reconsideration of race and racism that has had positive impact on our society as a whole" (59).

From Lorde:

"From my membership in all of these groups I have learned that oppression and the intolerance of difference come in all shapes and sizes and colors and sexualities; and that among those of us who share the goals of liberation and a workable future for our children, there can be no hierarchies of oppression."

"The increasing attacks upon lesbians and gay men are only an introduction to the increasing attacks upon all Black people, for wherever oppression manifests itself in this country, Black people are potential victims. And it is a standard of right-wing cynicism to encourage members of oppressed groups to act against each other, and so long as we are divided because of our particular identities we cannot join together in effective political action."

"And I cannot afford to choose between the fronts upon which I must battle these forces of discrimination, wherever they appear to destroy me. And when they appear to destroy me, it will not be long before they appear to destroy you."

From The Combahee River Collective:

"It was our experience and disillusionment within these liberation movements, as well as experience on the periphery of the white male left, that led to develop a politics that was anti-racist, unlike those of white women, and anti-sexist, unlike those of Black and white men" (Section 1).

"If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression" (Section 3).

    Order Solution Now