Essay on What Does Intersectionality Mean

In the following essay, I seek to present two central concepts, the concept of Intersectionality and Gatekeeping and Passing. The main focus will be on using the example of feminism, gender, and race and showing how both concepts can be applied to this example.

I will start by explaining first and discussing the meaning of each concept that I have chosen to use in my paper and then demonstrate how Intersectionality and Gatekeeping Passing can be applied to feminism, gender, and race and how they illuminate different aspects and issues related to them.

Crenshaw defines intersectionality: “Where systems of race, gender, and class domination converge, as they do in the experience of battered women of color, intervention strategies based solely on the experiences of women who do not share the same class or race backgrounds will be of limited help to women who because of race and class face different obstacles” (Crenshaw, 1996: 363). Her main focus is to explore the race and gender dimensions of violence against women of color, and how the experiences of women of color are frequently the product of intersecting patterns of racism and sexism.

To discuss and analyze intersectionality is very important to understand what it means. To my understanding, intersectionality is something that overlaps and depends on each other, just like how race, gender, and class depend on each other. The way people would explain intersectionality is the combination of their identity and how they are viewed by society. You could be a poor black female who is discriminated against and at a disadvantage because of her race, gender, and class which is overlapping and they all depend on each other which makes it intersectional.

The theory of intersectionality first highlighted by Kimberle Crenshaw, is known as a feminist sociological theory that highlights the relationships among multiple features and the characteristics of social relationships and subject formation (Crenshaw, 1966). Citing again Crenshaw, the key features of intersectionality are gender, race, and class it operates to oppress, dominate, and discriminate among people. Gender, gender/equity, male and female rights, and the battle for feminism even though very old, are still very realistic subjects nowadays. So, the concept of feminism is at the same time very old and it also differs a lot; depending on who you ask a male, female, black or white, you will get different answers about it (Crenshaw, 1966). Does feminism differ when race overlaps with gender and what struggles do black women and other women of color have to overcome that white women do not? When searching in the literature using words like feminism, black feminism, gender, race, and intersectionality, we will get plenty of hits with both negative and positive information. In the case of feminism, that is because there are so many different personalities of feminism, but again it is all dependent on the one whom it affects (http://www.markfoster.net/struc/intersectionality-wiki.pdf, 2013).

Feminism by definition is the belief that women regardless of the race they belong to, should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way (Cambridge Dictionary). In our modern society, in developed countries, women should ideally be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and have the same treatment. This treatment at first glance seems to exist and be quite realistic, but in reality, in some cases, it shows to exist only on paper. The intersectionality of race and gender has been shown to have a visible impact on the labor market where we can see the impact of intersectionality in wages and domestic labor (http://www.markfoster.net/struc/intersectionality-wiki.pdf, 2013).

In Balkan countries, it is pretty usual that Gypsies,- Egyptian descendants, and other people who fall into the bottom of the social hierarchy in terms of race or gender are hired in most cases for exploitive positions in the public or private sector of the economy or for domestic positions, where they receive lower wages. Both groups have been shown to have fewer opportunities for formal employment than the majority population but if we take into consideration the position of females belonging to the same social groups, they seem to be even more discriminated against, having much less access to education and job opportunities compared to males (ERRC, 2019). The situation of women in third-world countries seen through an intersectionality lens seems to be the same. In those countries, females face a lot of troubles, on top of gender issues they face in their everyday lives and racial discrimination as well. Black feminism, the battle of African-American women against the issues of not only gender but also class and race, is quite realistic even in American countries. Hence, in one study conducted by Nora Stephens (Stephens, 2013), is shown that she was very impressed by the fact “that women of color often referred to themselves as an “Asian woman” or “African American woman,” whereas the white women more often referred to themselves as women without adding their racial or ethnic identity”. This difference led the researcher to wonder why it is that women of color more often attach their race or ethnicity to their gender.

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To sum up the discussion above, when looking at today’s society, everyone might have the impression that women can compete and are competing with their male counterparts, in many ways, from education, government, and even television (Oprah Winfrey Show, 2015), regardless the class or the race they belong to. While this might be true, there is still an existing divide between the two genders. As seen through the intersectionality perspective the divide was obvious when using the feminist approach. Intersectionality has recently taken more space in public discussions about feminism, gender inequality, and racial discrimination, and it is not even new. But because of the limitations we have in this essay, could not discuss it further.

The other concept that I would like to highlight in my essay is Gatekeeping and Passing. Bryant Keith (2004) in his performative article uses the figurative meaning of “passing” as a reference to crossing racial identity borders to intra/interracial issues of identity and authenticity. Passing is constructed as a performative accomplishment as assessment by both the group claimed and the group denied. The notion of passing in Black popular discourse is most often relegated to an interracial movement of assumed identity, in which persons of African American descent pass themselves off as White (Alexander, 2004). According to Daniel (1992), “Multiracial individuals for the most part have accepted the racial status quo, and have identified themselves as Black’’ (Khanna & Johnson, 2006: 380). A large number of individuals, however, have chosen the path of resistance. Individual resistance has taken the form primarily of “passing” as white. For example, a lot of Americans passed as white to resist the racially restrictive one-drop rule and racial status quo of the Jim Crow era (Daniel 2002; Williamson 1980, quoted in Khanna & Johnson, 2010).

Kennedy (2003) brings a more precise definition and defines passing as a “deception that enables a person to adopt specific roles or identities from which he or she would otherwise be barred by prevailing social standards” (Khanna & Johnson, 2010: 381).

Gender-wise, women have shown to be more sensitive when analyzed from the Gatekeeping and the Passing approach. According to Stephen (2013) women belonging to the black race, black women are even more fragile as they are left out from both the feminist movement and the black power movement. Therefore in many cases, they try to “pass”. Let's refer to the example of “Nappily Ever After”, a Netflix film. The film is a testament to how women's psyches become linked to our appearances, and how relieving it can be when we can shed light on the heavy coils of gendered expectations. Violet the main actress in the film, a 30-year-old black lady has a seemingly perfect life. She is a perfectionist who embodies every fear her mother ever had about her daughter's place in the world as a black woman. Her mother Paulette never allowed Violet the freedoms of being a child, afraid that any negligent activity would fluff her daughter's carefully relaxed hair into a curly mop — a look the girl couldn't afford if she wanted to be taken seriously in a society dominated by white beauty standards. Here we can see exactly the racial passing, a phenomenon in which a person of one race identifies and presents himself or herself as another (usually white) ( Khanna & Johnson, 2010). Her mother always attempted to keep Violet the vision of perfection. Her hair needed to be fixed, only then she was perfect. Every day she used to perform an entire makeup and hair routine before her boyfriend woke up in the morning, pretending that she woke up like that. Everything she did was to escape the social stigma associated with blackness. But Violet was headed toward a breakdown even if no one else realized it. When she got a puppy instead of a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Violet unraveled. She broke up with her boyfriend, shaved her head, gave up her career, started a flirtation with a hairdresser, and decided to take care of his precious daughter Zoe. And at the very end, she realized that she was much happier by being herself.

For some people, passing was continuous and involved a complete break with the African American community (Daniel 1992). They cut ties with their black community friends and even family members to gain access to opportunities unavailable to them as African Americans such as going to school, getting a good job ( Khanna & Johnson, 2010), or having a good future by securing a good marriage as in case of Violet.

Motivations for passing as white, especially during the Jim Crow era, are well documented, but less is known, however, about the motivations for passing as black. One of the main reasons why people pass as ‘black’ is to fit in with black peers, to avoid a white stigmatized identity, and/or for some perceived advantage or benefit (Khanna & Johnson, 2010).

For example, Kristen grew up attending a predominantly white school and a predominantly black gym he says “Going to school and going to gym were just two different things for me, so it is like I had to switch. I was like Superman.” And she liked that she said: “I I would just do little things that I very well knew what I was doing. The ‘little things’ included changing her clothes and speech depending on the race of her audience. When asked why she altered her appearance and behavior between friends, she says “To fit probably, because I wanted friends in both areas” (Khanna & Johnson, 2010).

But why do people pass? There are several reasons why people pass as “white” or vice versa. Passing can be a strategy to avoid cultural and social stigma and to achieve cultural and social benefits, because it is a conscious and unconscious performance of suppression, Others pass because they need new opportunities, access, safety, and adventure. Different people can make a lot of assumptions about us based on stereotypes or culture. And when we do not like these assumptions or when the truth annoys us, we try to “pass”.