Back to: How to tackle the rise of the anti-gender movement

A gender-just world ensures human rights and bodily autonomy for everyone, regardless of gender. The vision hasn’t just happened, the origin of intersectionality can be traced back to Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989.

We will explore the principles of gender justice in-depth in Week 3. But now it is essential to explore the concept of intersectionality.

First coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality was a way of recognising the specific forms of discriminations that Black women face. Crenshaw argued that viewing issues like sexism and racism as two separate and distinct experiences and systems of oppression erased the experiences of Black women.

For example, a Black woman may experience misogyny and racism, but she will experience misogyny differently from a white woman and racism differently from a Black man.

Kimberlé Crenshaw proposed intersectionality as a lens to see the specific experiences of Black women which were made invisible when sexism and racism were approached as separate issues.

It is a useful way of understanding issues like the disproportionately high maternal death rates among Black women. Systemic racism and sexism in healthcare both play a part in this, and we cannot look at them as separate issues.

Video

Watch Kimberlé Crenshaw’s TED Talk

Discussion

Why do you think an intersectional lens is important to gender justice work?

Can you think of any other intersectional issues in your community?

Share your thoughts with other learners in the comment section.