Intersectionality came into being during the 1990’s with the critique that feminism excluded different states of womanhood. It mainly focuses on the states that effect women are not entirely separate rather interrelated.
See also: Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler and Intersection in Feminist Movement
Especially with the rise of third wave feminism problematization of black women’s position with respect to white women and differences among women were largely discussed. Thus, intersectionality with its care towards women’s differences does its politics not based on identity but stemming from common values while being constitutive by including other crushedness with broader political coalitions.
“The first core idea of intersectional knowledge projects stresses that systems of power (e.g.., race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, country of origin, citizenship status) cannot be understood in isolation from one another; instead, systems of power intersect and coproduce one another to result in unequal material realities and the distinctive social experiences that characterize them.” 1Therefore, the construction of knowledge cannot be separated from the power relation it entails. This approach is important for the fact that individuals are positioned differently in a scale of matrix and individuals either experience multiple advantages or disadvantages. Kimberle Crenshaw in Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color discusses that identity politics controversy with social justice and the liberal discourse does not come handy for the marginalized. The intragroup differences are not being welcomed by identity politics. As a result, violence against women is not politicized. Crenshaw argues structural intersectionality by giving examples from the experience of migrant black women. Many have the fear of deportation even having abusive partners and they are constantly threatened by their partners. “The typical immigrant spouse, she suggests, may live in an extended family where several generations live together, there may be no privacy on the telephone, no opportunity to leave the house and no understanding of public phones.”2 Thus, migrant women have total dependence on their husbands for their needs. Many migrant women face language problems for their reach to the support services. Many services lack bilingual support systems.
Representational intersectionality is an example of the production of images surrounding women of color. 2 Live Crew in the 1990’s was arrested due to explicit content about women. Words such as cunt or fucked were used against black women and they were described as whores. By giving these examples she suggests that the discrimination black women face is different than white women since white women’s race is not a matter of discussion. Black women’s protection is particularly problematic because of the antidiscrimination doctrine. It only allows black women to receive help within the previously defined experiences recognized. Thus, a single axis dominant theory undermines black women interests as well as not contributing to the fight of patriarchy. On Home Truths on Intersectionality Jennifer Nash challenges the idea that intersectionality is a product of black feminism and promotes new ways of reading black feminism. While intersectionality’s focus was marginalization; black feminism largely ignored the category of black women’s heterogeneity. In her work, Nash describes the evolution of intersectionality. During 1968-87, black feminists arranged gatherings, published texts and generated critiques from their perspective the years of activism was problematizing the black women as subjects. During that era capitalism was to be blamed for the suffering of black people. Black women were the major source of income for their families, but they were doing low segment work.” Hip hop feminism, one articulation of third wave black feminism, uses hip hop—broadly defined as a form of black popular culture—as a point of departure for studying black sexual politics.” Thus, they created a functional platform by combining activism and theoretical projects mainly reflecting the experiences through black women’s bodies. There are of course criticisms towards intersectionality claiming that the theoretical representation it brings only reflects black women and excluding white women’s experiences. According to Eskridge and Kwan, intersectionality proponents responded to their own marginalization by creating “new marginal categories that by their very nature, themselves encourage the idea of categorical hegemony”
Other criticisms were towards the undermining of sexual orientation that multidimensionality should have been a necessary part of intersectionality. For post identity scholars’ intersectionality lacks the multiplicity of complex identities.: “Each person is composed of a complex and unique matrix of identities that shift over time, is never fixed, is constantly unstable and forever distinguishable from that of everyone else in the universe” To give more concrete examples from Turkey, Gezi Park Protests might be inferred. The intersection between oppositional groups and Peoples Democratic Party were feminized. LGBTQ members become more prominent. Right after the GPP, there was a pride parade becoming one of world’s largest. With the help of the feminist movement, Kemalist-Republican movement gained importance. Gender mainstreaming as part of intersectionality could be of use for Turkey. However, the increase of gender violence, mismanagement of pension systems and the political rhetoric does not lead to desired outcomes. RPP’s polices resulting in religious secular divide further entails the Kurdish women’s fight. Another issue for the Kurdish women is honor killings. Usually located near Diyarbakir the cemetery is held by women themselves. Many women’s organizations gather around for the prevention of this type of killings. Moreover, the headscarf issue was used as a symbol of strict gender divide between women.
All things considered, even though intersectionality is criticized by creating a hierarchy of victimhood it is beneficial for the feminist canon to consider the least advantaged. For instance, black trans women. A feminism with a constitutive mind, not forcing bisexuals to come out as lesbians and not being trans exclusionary. A politics that refrains from the absolute definitions of womanhood and does its fights through rights of dualities seem to be the most peaceful way for feminism.
Works Cited
1 Collins, Patricia Hill, and Valerie Chepp. “Intersectionality.” Intersectionality, Mar. 2013.
2 Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 43, no. 6, JSTOR, July 1991, p. 1241. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039.
3 Jennifer Nash. “‘Home Truths’ on Intersectionality.” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, vol. 23, no. 2, Jan. 2011, p. 5.
4 Kwan, Peter ~1997!. Jeffrey Dahmer and the Cosynthesis of Categories. Hastings Law Journal,
48~6!: 1257–1292.
4 Kwan, Peter ~1997!. Jeffrey Dahmer and the Cosynthesis of Categories. Hastings Law Journal,
48~6!: 1257–1292.
