"Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how a person's various social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege."
The intersection of gender and ethnicity, and the role of feminism in comparative ethnic studies.
Feminist Theory: Explains the fundamental principles that underlie feminist scholarship and activism.
Patriarchy: Refers to the dominant social system in which men hold power, and women are subordinated to them.
Gender Roles: Refers to the expected behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs that are associated with being male or female in a particular culture.
Gender Identity: Refers to an individual's internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not correspond with the biological sex they were assigned at birth.
Sexuality: Refers to the ways individuals experience and express their sexual desires and attractions.
Intersectionality: Refers to the idea that social identities such as race, gender, class, and sexuality intersect and influence one another.
Feminist Activism: Refers to the various forms of political and social action aimed at achieving gender equality and justice.
Feminist History: Examines the ways in which women and feminist movements have contributed to and been excluded from political, social, and economic systems.
Gender-Based Violence: Refers to the types of violence that are primarily rooted in gender inequity, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, and femicide.
Queer Theory: Explores non-normative sexual orientations and gender identities that challenge the binary categorization of male and female.
Feminist Literature: Examines the representation of gender in literary works and how it reflects a larger cultural context.
Women of Color Feminism: Examines the ways in which intersecting identities of race, gender, and class shape the experiences of women of color.
Transgender Studies: Examines the experiences of individuals whose gender identities differ from their assigned sex and the effects of societal norms and beliefs.
Men and Masculinities: Explores the social constructions of masculinity and how it impacts the experiences and identities of men.
Feminist Legal Theory: Examines the ways in which law and policy affect women's rights and explores legal theories that seek to protect and promote gender equality.
Feminist Media Studies: Examines the ways in which gender is represented in media and how it shapes perceptions and attitudes towards gender and sexuality.
Feminist Health Studies: Examines the impact of gender on health outcomes and experiences.
Reproductive Justice: Advocates for the right to reproductive health care, including access to contraception, abortion, and other related services.
Ecofeminism: Examines the intersection of feminism and environmentalism, and advocates for ecological sustainability while challenging patriarchal systems.
Global Feminism: Examines the experiences of women and feminist movements in different parts of the world, and the impact of global systems of inequality.
Liberal feminism: Liberal feminism is the most common type, which argues for the equality and autonomy of women through legal and political reform. It advocates for equal opportunities, equal pay, and access to education and health services.
Radical feminism: Radical feminism views patriarchy as the root cause of gender inequality and seeks to dismantle it by challenging traditional gender roles and norms. It focuses on issues such as women's reproductive rights, sexual violence, and women's unpaid labor.
Marxist feminism: Marxist feminism argues that women's oppression is the result of a capitalist system that exploits both women and workers. It seeks to end class and gender-based oppression by creating a society that values all types of labor equally.
Intersectional feminism: Intersectional feminism recognizes that women's experiences are shaped by their intersections of identities, including race, class, sexuality, and disability. It pushes for a more inclusive movement that addresses the unique challenges faced by women of marginalized groups.
Eco-feminism: Eco-feminism links women's oppression with the exploitation of the environment and seeks to create a more sustainable and equitable future. It challenges the idea of human domination over nature and values the interconnectedness of all things.
Postcolonial feminism: Postcolonial feminism situates women's experiences and struggles within a historical and global context shaped by colonialism and imperialism. It focuses on decolonizing feminist theory and practice, and on empowering women in postcolonial societies.
Transfeminism: Transfeminism acknowledges the unique experiences of transgender individuals, and recognizes that gender identity is not limited to the binary of male and female. It seeks to end transphobia and to create a world that is inclusive of all gender identities.
Queer feminism: Queer feminism challenges heteronormative assumptions and seeks to create a more inclusive society for all sexual orientations and gender identities. It recognizes that gender and sexuality are fluid and encourages self-expression and diversity.
Black feminism: Black feminism focuses specifically on the unique experiences of black women who face intersectional oppression based on race, gender, and class. It aims to create a more inclusive feminist movement that is responsive to the concerns of women of color.
Liberal Feminism: Liberal feminism is the most common type, which argues for the equality and autonomy of women through legal and political reform. It advocates for equal opportunities, equal pay, and access to education and health services.
African American Studies: African American Studies examines the experiences, history, culture, and contributions of African Americans within the United States.
Asian American Studies: Asian American Studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the history, experiences, and contributions of Asian Americans while exploring issues of identity, race, ethnicity, and social justice.
Chicano/Latino Studies: Chicano/Latino Studies examines the historical and contemporary experiences, cultures, and identities of people of Mexican, Latin American, and Hispanic descent living in the United States.
Native American Studies: Native American Studies explores the history, cultures, and contemporary experiences of Indigenous peoples in North America, addressing issues of colonization, sovereignty, identity, and social justice.
Women and Gender Studies: Women and Gender Studies explores the social, cultural, and historical aspects of gender identities and inequalities, with a particular focus on women's experiences and their intersections with race, class, sexuality, and other intersecting identities.
LGBT Studies: LGBT Studies focuses on the exploration and analysis of the experiences, identities, histories, and social issues related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals and communities, highlighting the intersections of gender, sexuality, and culture.
Critical Race Theory: Critical Race Theory is an interdisciplinary approach that examines the intersections of race, power, and inequality to challenge and critique systemic racism in society.
Postcolonial Studies: Postcolonial Studies analyzes the social, cultural, and political impact of colonialism on colonized regions, focusing on issues of power, identity, and resistance.
Intersectionality Studies.: Intersectionality Studies examines how multiple aspects of identity (such as race, gender, class, and sexuality) intersect and interact to shape individuals' experiences of oppression and privilege.
"Examples of these factors include gender, caste, sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, religion, disability, weight, and physical appearance."
"These intersecting and overlapping social identities may be both empowering and oppressing."
"Intersectional feminism aims to separate itself from white feminism by acknowledging women's differing experiences and identities."
"The term intersectionality was coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989."
"Intersectionality opposes analytical systems that treat each axis of oppression in isolation."
"In this framework, for instance, discrimination against black women cannot be explained as a simple combination of misogyny and racism, but as something more complicated."
"Intersectionality engages in similar themes as triple oppression, which is the oppression associated with being a poor or immigrant woman of color."
"Criticism includes the framework's tendency to reduce individuals to specific demographic factors, and its use as an ideological tool against other feminist theories."
"Critics have characterized the framework as ambiguous and lacking defined goals."
"As it is based in standpoint theory, critics say the focus on subjective experiences can lead to contradictions and the inability to identify common causes of oppression."
"However, little good-quality quantitative research has been done to support or undermine the theory of intersectionality."
"An analysis of academic articles published through December 2019 found that there are no widely adopted quantitative methods to investigate research questions informed by intersectionality."
"The analysis ... provided recommendations on analytic best practices for future research."
"An analysis of academic articles published through May 2020 found that intersectionality is frequently misunderstood when bridging theory into quantitative methodology."
"In 2022, a quantitative approach to intersectionality was proposed based on information theory, specifically synergistic information."
"In this framing, intersectionality is identified with the information about some outcome (e.g. income, etc.) that can only be learned when multiple identities (e.g. race and sex) are known together."
"Intersectionality is identified with the information about some outcome [...] that can [...] not [be] extractable from analysis of the individual identities considered separately."
"Critics [argue] the inability to identify common causes of oppression."
"Intersectionality broadens the scope of the first and second waves of feminism, [...] to include the different experiences of women of color, poor women, immigrant women, and other groups."