"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 understanding that multiple forms of oppression intersect and impact individuals differently based on their various identities (race, gender, sexuality, etc.).
Feminism: The social, political, and economic movement advocating for the rights of women and gender equality.
Race: The socially constructed categories used to classify people based on physical characteristics.
Class: Social stratification based on economic status, wealth, and income.
Gender: The socially constructed roles, behaviors, and expectations assigned to individuals based on their perceived sex.
Sexuality: The social, emotional, and romantic attraction to others, which can be fluid and multi-dimensional.
Ableism: Discrimination and prejudice against individuals with disabilities or people perceived as having disabilities.
Ageism: Discrimination and prejudice against individuals based on their age or perceived age.
Body image: The perception and attitude one has towards their physical appearance.
Transgender issues: The social, political, and medical complexities surrounding individuals whose gender identity does not align with their biological sex.
Marginalization: When groups of people are excluded from societal norms and structures or are disadvantaged in some way.
Colorism: When lighter skin color is perceived as more desirable than darker skin color and leads to discrimination.
Language: How language use reflects and perpetuates social hierarchies and power imbalances.
Religious discrimination: When individuals are discriminated against based on their religion or beliefs.
Colonialism: The cultural, economic, and political dominance exerted by a foreign power onto a group or nation.
Immigration: The movement of people from one country to another for work, education, or safety.
Able-bodied privilege: The advantages that able-bodied individuals have in society compared to those with disabilities.
Heteronormativity: The assumption that heterosexuality is the only normal and acceptable sexual orientation.
Misogyny: The systematic hatred and discrimination of women.
Racism: Discriminatory attitudes and actions towards individuals or groups based on their race.
Sexism: Discriminatory attitudes and actions towards individuals based on their gender.
"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."