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When looking at the theory of intersectionality it’s clear that it contributes to our understanding of gender inequality significantly, because of how it expands feminist theory by highlighting the different and unique experiences of women. Intersectionality is an approach that allows us to understand the complexity of human experience by illuminating inequality at the intersection of identities. In other words, it allows us the analytical perspective that society can shape our lives through the different axes of marginalization – some women can have multiple intersectional barriers to equality (Hill Collins and Chepp, 2013). Which therefore contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by illustrating how there is no singular way of being marginalized as a woman, and we need the approach of intersectionality to provide an outlook that addresses all the divisions that work in tandem with gender inequality – for example, race, class, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, etc. This means intersectionality allows for our understanding surrounding gender inequality to become nuanced and context-specific. Therefore, I will first highlight the historical examples of intersectionality through the notion of black feminist thought, including Crenshaw’s work on discrimination faced by African American women and the Sojourner Truth speech. Then, I will carry my argument further by providing a contemporary example of how an intersectional approach is useful regarding violence against women within government policy, and how this can contribute to our understanding of gender inequality.
The main aspects of intersectionality are pointed out by Hill Collins and Chepp (2013) who argue an intersectionality is an analytical tool to better understand the experiences and struggles of marginalized people – more specifically, it looks at the multi-dimensionality of human experience. They go on to mention that intersectionality assembles a range of notions such as gender, class, and race and looks at them as interrelated factors of oppression. This departure from the notion of binary thinking surrounding marginalization allows us to reconceptualize oppression and therefore contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by providing a different perspective. Following this idea, it’s important to understand the historical narratives that have contributed to the field of intersectionality and therefore contributed to our understanding of gender inequality. Intersectionality seems to have gained traction from black feminist thought as a response to white mainstream feminism not providing liberation to all women – in particular women of color. This is supported by Breines (1996) who mentions the stories of black women being silenced and marginalized not only in general social movements but in the theoretical perspective of feminism itself. Whelehan (1995) mentions that the notion of sisterhood provided an idea of a universal woman, but it could be argued this approach was problematic due to it limiting female oppression to a middle-class and white gender-related dimension. In reality, as they point out, a collective idea of female oppression is inadequate when addressing marginalization, as a woman can face discrimination beyond the realm of sole gender and therefore this notion perpetuates the exclusion of particular women – usually, the women most marginalized within society like black working-class women. This is supported by Gordon (2016) who mentions how intersectionality came about as second-wave socialist feminism, particularly through leading black feminists, and made its way into academia in the 80’s and 90’s. Furthermore, they mention how this area of feminism leads to the core sentiment of intersectionality being fully realized – systems of oppression are not mutually exclusive but rather intersect and coproduce one another, resulting in unequal realities. A historical narrative that is illustrative of intersectionality and how it contributes to our understanding of gender inequality is work by Crenshaw (1989) – a legal scholar and black feminist who is often credited as coining the term intersectionality. Crenshaw argued the notions of feminism and critical race theory needed to be combined to provide a solution to a legal system that failed to address the unique experiences of marginalization suffered by African American women. African American women were multiply burdened in the US but without remedy due to the civil rights movement and the feminist movement of the ’60s and ’70s only focusing on the more privileged members of those groups. Therefore, in response to these challenges, Crenshaw argued an intersectional approach was needed to address the unique positions of oppression some groups found themselves in, and in particular black working-class women facing discrimination in the workplace. This is supported by Smith (2013) who mentions that due to the political and social developments not taking an intersectional approach, African American women failed. Furthermore, they argue Crenshaw’s work highlights that when intersectionality is not included within analysis it is no longer adequate to provide solutions for black women. Crenshaw’s work illustrates the historical narratives of black feminism that contributed to intersectionality as well as being an example of how intersectionality can contribute to our understanding of gender inequality. As it seems if intersectionality was not included in the theoretical framework of feminism, feminism itself would be much less useful with regards to solving the inequality faced by all different women. However, it’s important to highlight that there have been earlier historical examples that have referenced the need for intersectionality, just without the word being used – most notably ‘Aint I a woman’ by Sojourner Truth in 1851 which is mentioned by Crenshaw (1989). It’s mentioned that Truth’s oratory provided not only a challenge to the sexist imagery used to justify the disenfranchisement of women but also highlighted how feminism is structured around whiteness. Truth argued that overgeneralizations within feminist literature did not address inequality found at the intersection of race and gender – for example, feminist literature regarding societal roles concluded that women are socialized to be passive and therefore will remain subordinate. However, when looking at black feminist literature we know stereotypes surrounding black women such as being angry (which contributes to their subordination) do not align with notions argued by mainstream white feminism (Childs, 2005). This therefore contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by highlighting why intersectionality is essential for social justice with regards to women of colour. This is supported by Brah and Phoenix (2004) who acknowledge Truth’s contribution to intersectionality by mentioning how their speech highlights its importance within feminism due to the necessary perspective it provides.
A more contemporary example is mentioned by Strid et al (2013) who argue an intersectional approach is vital for government policy surrounding violence against women in the UK. This contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by illuminating ‘hidden’ marginalizations at the intersection between gender and other dimensions of identity like class, race, and sexuality. Looking at this more political perspective of intersectionality and our understanding of gender inequality, it’s argued intersectionality warns against policies being created that privilege one inequality over the other and that it allows for visibility and inclusion of minoritized women. This is supported by Lombardo et al (2009) who argue that adopting an intersectional approach in policymaking could promote better policies as well as better outcomes for the target demographic of that policy – women with unique identities. Strid et al (2013) go on to mention that the link between violence, power, and inequality is not always expressed within policy, meaning the intersections of marginalization remain unnoticed and unaddressed. For example, gender violence policy often emphasizes diversity, cultural differences, and the uniqueness of minority struggles rather than structures and practical applications of gender violence policy. Furthermore, it’s argued that the notion of multiple inequalities in policy is under-researched meaning women that are marginalized by more than just their gender are not represented within policy. This is highlighted by Burman et al (2004) who argue ignoring how class and race play a role in gender-based violence leads to minoritized women being excluded from accessing support services. Hearn et al (2016) argue that an intersectional approach is essential to gender violence policy as it’s crucial that the intersections of equality are made visible and that we understand how violence affects women differently depending on their circumstances. This highlights how an intersectional approach would contribute to our understanding of gender inequality as it would allow us to understand how gender-based violence affects specific groups of women differently. For example, Strid et al (2013) mention a particular policy regarding violence against women acknowledging the intersection of gender and class by referring to how unequal economic resources can result in a woman being more likely to suffer gender-based violence. As well as other intersecting inequalities such as disability, religion, nationality, and urban-rural unequal access to services. However, they argue there are different levels of inclusion in the field of intersectionality within British policy on violence against women – with weak inclusion surrounding sexual offenses but moderate inclusion surrounding domestic violence. Also, they point out that visibility does not necessarily equate to minority voices being heard through policy, which is crucial if intersectional approaches are going to contribute to our understanding of gender inequality. Therefore, it’s important to provide an example by Imkaan (2019) who argues an intersectional praxis can help us understand how violence is experienced and allows us to develop policy that provides context-specific responses to violence against women. They also mention that ‘led by and for’ organizations are the most efficient way of addressing the intersectional nature of marginalized women – which are independent and specialist services that are run by the community, for the community. This model allows for policy to be tailored to the different experiences of women which is supported by Hearn et al (2016) who argue the inclusion of multiple inequalities in policy can lead to the strengthening of the gender equality project. Our approach to gender-based violence must be intersectional or our understanding of gender inequality and therefore our policy decisions wouldn’t be representative or understand the context of intersecting identities. Kuperberg (2018) supports my argument by mentioning the intersectional nature of violence against women in politics (VAWIP) by stating that women in politics experience violence due to intersecting elements of their identity – not limited to just gender. They use the example provided by Amnesty International (2017) that analyzed online abuse received by British female MPs and discovered a racial dimension – Black and Asian female MPs were 35% more likely to receive online messages that were deemed abusive. This research highlights how an intersectional approach to analysis surrounding gender inequality can contribute to our understanding of the topic due to the evidence suggesting some intersecting identities result in more violence than others. Furthermore, they go on to say by understanding the different forms of VAWIP we will have a more nuanced idea of its implications and therefore a higher level of knowledge in regards to gender inequality.
When looking at intersectionality and the perspective it provides surrounding the unique identities and experiences of women, it is evident how it significantly contributes to our understanding of gender inequality. I have explained this by highlighting examples of intersectional approaches – first, by bringing attention to the historical narratives surrounding black feminist thought and how intersectional approaches were designed to bring about a different feminist perspective. Then, I have taken my argument further by providing the contemporary example of how an intersectional outlook regarding violence against women and policy surrounding this issue can also enhance our understanding of the notion of inequality. Overall, it seems intersectionality as an approach and as a theoretical standpoint not only aids our understanding of gender inequality but also forms the basis of a nuanced notion of feminism that is essential for the unique and differing experiences of all women.
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