Do you ever see certain words and not know what they mean, but they keep showing up everywhere? Up until two years ago, that was the word “intersectionality” for me. I know, it’s embarrassing, but I remember thinking I knew what it meant, which was ignorant on my part. However, after taking a sociology class in high school, I learned about the term and its importance. The word “intersectionality” was created in 1989 by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, and it’s an analytical framework that shows how social and political identities overlap with one another and how this leads to discrimination and oppression. These disparities can include gender, race, age, religion, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Crenshaw originally formed this term to show how black women experienced different forms of oppression beyond just being black or just being a woman. Today, the term has been used to reveal other forms of social and political oppression, and its original intentions are still relevant.
Photo Credit: International Women's Development Agency
We have so many aspects to us that make us who we are, and it’s important to recognize how each and every part contributes to what makes us whole. All of these factors, though, can affect how one may be discriminated against. Let’s take the workplace as an example. While the gender pay gap between men and women exists, its effects are particularly negative for women of color. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the fastest-growing wage gap is between white women and women of color. This problem is systemic and not just dependent on gender. Just focusing on gender doesn’t solve the problem –if anything, it could make it worse as it ignores and overshadows some of the experiences and feelings exclusive to women of color.
Photo Credit: Awaken
But that’s just one example of why it’s crucial that we take intersectionality into account when speaking on social issues. While prejudice doesn’t just occur in the workplace, we should still keep in mind that it can affect one's mental state. Not just that, but it can occur everywhere, which is why it affects a wide range of people’s mental health.
As I’m sure you’re already aware, mental health isn’t just the cause of one factor. It can be a build-up or culmination of a bunch of different events taking place in one’s life. Social inequality can affect mental health and help form that stigma that we are trying to remove. For example, one’s socio-economic class may be based upon their race or where they live, etc., perpetuating stereotype-based discrimination. It can also create discrepancies and then lead to a decline in mental health, such as the development of forms of anxiety and/or depression.
It is vital to understand what makes you who you are and to learn how that affects you. Like I mentioned before, as humans, we have so many characteristics that identify us, whether it is our religion, ethnicity, etc. Once you consider that, you can work toward seeing how each part may or may not affect your mental health. Then, you can better take whatever steps you deem comfortable to take care of yourself.
Photo Credit: The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia
Years ago, I made the mistake of being ignorant when it came to intersectionality. Now I know why this term is still relevant 30+ years after it was created. And with all of the recent change and social upheaval in society, it is even more important that we avoid ignorance and spread the word in order to create more awareness for a better and more inclusive future.
Comments