Essay on Intersectionality Theory

In this essay, I will recognize and explore visible and invisible types of privilege and oppression that molded my lived understanding, values, and personal beliefs regarding issues of racial and ethnic exploitation, privilege, gender, and disability. I will begin by illustrating an intersectional theory or theory of intersectionality including the concept of privilege and will clarify how they are associated with my developing a proficient way of life as a social worker. I will then explore my experience of reflection, and how reflective practice will bolster me to apply intersectional theory and various visible and invisible forms of privilege and oppression to social work practice as a future social worker and to help my client in the future. Oppression and privilege originate from the socially engaged classes that are developed to recognize what our identity is.

Our lives are influenced by the privilege and oppression we face. It influences what our identity is and how we communicate with everyone around us. To interpret how we experience oppression and privilege when it isn't clear, it's critical to recognize our socially developed classes and cultural status and how they either put us in a favorable position or detriment (Robinson & Howard-Hamilton, 2000). Being born as a healthy child in a middle-class family I experienced both privilege and oppression contingent upon the social setting I am/was in. I have constantly bounded between identifying myself as an independent and ambitious woman as women have always been categorized as second-class citizens. Hence, I have realized that my social and cultural identity is affected by the dynamics of privilege and oppression which has led to the recognition theory of intersectionality. By the end of the twentieth century, the idea of 'intersectionality' began through the pledge of 'Critical Race Studies': a growth conceived in the legitimate foundation whose desire was to address 'law's indicated color-blindness, neutrality, and objectivity' (Nash, 2008: 3). Legal researcher, Kimberlé Crenshaw, first coined the term ‘intersectionality’ in her seminal work named 'Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics,' (1989) and progressively in: 'Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Colour', distributed in 1991, to deal with the marginalization of black women. Then the American Scholar, Professor Patricia Hill Collins applied the concept of intersectionality to detect ‘types of oppressions, for instance, the connections of race and gender, or sexuality and nations’ (2000). Intersectionality is the view that diverse social structures of oppression, for example, class, sexual orientation, race, and sex converge and impact each other. Numerous theorists and writers have contended that an intersectional approach is expected to adequately comprehend and portray how oppression and privilege operate. According to Dahmoon (2011), Intersectionality's pace of change is to defy the contention that the character of the individual and its establishment is in their embodiment cohesive and independent.

On the contrary, intersectionality is focused on the hypothesis that each abusive classification will be researched, that these classifications have equivalent weight, and that the culture of their conjunction has not been tackled yet. Intersectionality reveals insight into the significance of the individual and its beneficial experience; it demonstrates that individuals from a similar group can be extraordinary and exhibits that there exists a dynamic collaboration among people and institutional fundamentals (Hancock, 2007). As indicated by standpoint theory, access to a group's understanding is increased simply after its members' lived experience has been approved on their terms (Collins, 2000). Hence, Intersectionality offers a voice to the most marginalized sections of society. It gives fundamental information about the 'other’ and helps contextualize oppression. By concentrating on 'real bodies' and their accounts, intersectionality expresses an instrument to see how power functions within those bodies. In social work practice, intersectionality as an approach is essential to meet the complex needs of marginalized members of society and to assist social workers in serving those marginalized groups, understanding their experiences, and promoting optimal development for all groups of people (Murphy, Christy-McMullin, Stauss, and Schriver (2008). Being a student of the Master of Social Work at Federation University, I have begun to understand the concepts and theories related to intersectionality through classroom seminars, an entire class, or small group discussions and activities.

The various group works and practice activities with other students coming from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds have provided me with an opportunity to understand and navigate their lived experiences and socio-cultural identities. Interacting with diverse classmates and the opportunity for self-exploration has helped me to learn and understand the application of the intersectionality approach for more effective social work practice. I came to know that understanding the intersectionality of people’s experiences is essential in social work practice to identify the complications of client’s social and cultural identity and to recognize the impact of race, caste, gender, and class in shaping their lived experience (Hancock, 2007) to understand the complexity of prejudices they face. Since learning intersectionality, I am now more conscious that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression such as their race, age, class, gender identity, and religion despite having some privilege. For instance, dealing with white women who have come from an upper-middle-class family who has experienced economic privilege and the privilege of being white on one hand and the other experienced the oppression of being a woman. Hence, I am now aware that understanding people’s issues and experiences through the utilization of intersectionality is essential to providing the best possible services to the clients or to improving client’s lives. Being introduced to the theory of intersectionality has guided me to use this approach while dealing with those people who simultaneously face bias along multiple identity dimensions such as caste, gender, race, and sexual orientation. In addition, understanding the concept of intersectionality has helped me to identify and recognize my privilege and oppression to be aware of biases that I may bring into my work, and understand how they can affect my working life.

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Everyone has a place with a few diverse social and cultural identities, for instance, race, ethnicity, class, gender, and financial status. These identities have diverse values and position in society, resulting in groups having privileged and oppressed statuses such as being male, white, hetero, physically capable, a member of upper-middle-class family and being a woman, a person of color, or LGBT, having an inability, or being in a lower financial class respectively (Constantine Ladany, 1999; Fukuyama Ferguson, 2000; Robinson, 1999; Robinson Howard-Hamilton, 2000) Privilege refers to systematic social movements that give certain groups of people a special treatment over another group. It refers to the advantages delighted in by specific individuals from groups of society, normally the overwhelming majority; favorable circumstances that they didn't earn, but instead have just by having a place with that dominant group (MacIntosh, 1988). In other words, privilege is something that individuals come to have by their endorsed participation in a specific socially developed group, for example, race, religion, clan, ethnic group, or social class (Sidanius and Pratto 1999: 32). As per Bailey (1998: 109) privilege is ‘systematically conferred advantages individuals enjoy by their membership in dominant groups with access to resources and institutional power that are beyond the common advantages of marginalized citizens’. Hence, privilege is the unnoticed use of advantages that one benefits from, that is gained by no virtue of one’s own, and comes at the disadvantage of others. Since learning the concept of privilege and oppression, I came to know how privilege, as well as oppression, intersects in our lives. Hence, I believe if social work is to be committed to promoting equality, challenging injustice, and advancing social change, we social workers will need to cope with the complexity of our unjustified advantages and find ways to use our privileges in a positive way (Adams, Bell, & Griffin, 2007).

In this context, it is significant for me to situate myself as a hetero, able-bodied educated woman from a middle-class background. Consequently, one of my benefits is the benefit of being heterosexual. I realize this benefit has enabled me to be increasingly trusted, acknowledged, and effectively engaged in the predominant culture. As a hetero woman, I don't need to mull over what my relatives, friends, and people will consider my sexuality and appearance and my choices. I do not have to fear that my family, friends, relatives, and community people will find out about my sexual orientation and that their knowledge will have adverse concerns for me. Being hetero, I never had a fear of being labeled or identified as known as sexually abnormal. For example, I know what it is like when someone confronts that she is different from another girl/woman, and family members, relatives, and community members react to that confrontation. Having seen my best friend suffer all these phases now I understand all the struggles, and hatred that LGBT face. I had seen my friend being physically and emotionally tortured by her family members. She was accused of being abnormal, perverted, or psychologically confused because of her sexual orientation. Even though she was born into an upper-middle-class family, she was always tortured and oppressed because of her appearance and sexual orientation. As a future social worker, it is beneficial to know about homosexuals because now I am aware of the diversity and differences in my professional life which helped me identify my limits when finding my client’s specific problems and needs (Hepworth, Rooney, Rooney, and Gottfried, 2017). As I know that every individual has their strength, as a social worker I can use a “strength-based approach” when helping LGBT members to assist with their struggle with their own identities. As stated by Breton (1994), I can use a strength-based approach to empower LGBT clients and promote social equality. Being aware of the violence that the LGBT population faces daily, I will through criticize the violence and actively work as a supporter to aid them in overcoming the negative response and discrimination done by family members, friends, and society.

Oppression is another side of privilege. In a simple sense, oppression refers to the various leveled relations of the sexual and racial division of society. Merriam-Webster (2014) has defined oppression as, “the unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power.” Oppression refers to basic facts that restrain or diminish members of certain groups or categories of people, for example, women, age groups, racial and ethnic groups, religious groups, and so on (Young, 2014). According to Iris Marion Young (1990), oppression consists of at least five different forms of injustice, for instance, exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and systematic violence. The process of oppression occurs at micro and macro levels where people. Oppression, at the macro level, operates within social organizations such as education, media, and government, and at the micro level, it operates through social contact between people in everyday life (Crossman, 2019). People experiencing oppression because of gender, religion, race, color, sexuality, socio-economic status, disability, and so on frequently hide the belief that creates oppression and discrimination. Consequently, they may come to accept that they are inferior to the dominant group in society.

My interest in issues of oppression started with my own experiences as a woman who has encountered gender-based behavior. I am recognized fundamentally as an educated woman from a working-class family; however, I am additionally distinguished as a second-class citizen. As a girl/woman, I was/am frequently put in a situation in which I should process the gender-based behavior I perceive. For instance, I realized what it was like to be when my parents used to limit me from going out with my friends for long trips or accomplishing something of my own decision though my brother was allowed for the same. I was advised to remain at home, do my studies, and be asked to help my mother in doing household chores. Mechanics (2013) stated that the oppressed are “forced again into the role of a person filled in the original hurt experience. They are pushed to accept or agree to be oppressed and accept invalidating feelings.” Even though I was cherished and cared for by my parents as my brother and even though all my needs were satisfied, I was constantly confined to doing the things that I delighted in and had less chance to express my wants, unlike my brother. I also know what it is like to hear comments from other people regarding my choice of clothes. For instance, when I used to wear something with an open sleeve or any shorts, my neighbors and others from the community constantly raised the issue of my character and my upbringing. For me, the most excruciating thing about being a woman is the loss of freedom and equality. However, as a future social worker, it is useful to have this oppression since it educates me on what gender oppression is and what methods of prevention can be used to minimize such oppression. It makes me mindful of the biases based on the gender differences (Hodson, 2012) that I may go up against in my professional life particularly when dealing with the issues identified with sexual-based violence. Also, this has encouraged me to empower clients to stand up and take action to fight against oppression (Bottema, 2013). As expressed by Paulo Freire (1970), a commitment to social justice requires an ethical and moral attitude toward equity and faith in the capacity of individuals as agents who can change their reality, I will consistently attempt to advance social equity by taking part in the activities that advance fairness and challenge injustice, especially on behalf vulnerable and oppressed populace.

Conclusion

To summarize, this essay interrogates the idea of intersectionality, privilege, and oppression and examines obvious and imperceptible types of privilege and oppression that shape our values and ways to deal with issues of racial and ethnic oppression, socio-economic weakness, sexual orientation, and disability. After exploring privilege and oppression, this essay reflects on my lived experiences and their association with my developing a proficient way of life as a social worker. Therefore, critical reflection in social work practice plays an essential role as it helps the social worker to learn from their lived experience and to improve their practice from those learnings and experiences.

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