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People experience identity and struggle with the concept of identity in many different ways. The intersectionality theory is tied to the concept of identity but before delving into it, it’s important to define the theory of intersectionality as well as understand the argument that it presents.
The theory of intersectionality was coined by a social activist and feminist named Kimberle Crenshaw in a 1989 paper dealing with race and sex (Marecek, 2016). Before the coining of the term ‘intersectionality’ though, a feminist movement in the United States during the nineteenth century saw African American female writers speak about how the mainstream white, middle-class feminist movement did not mirror their experiences and challenged the concept that all women come into contact with discrimination in an identical way (Gouws, 2017). It was not only used in the writings of African-American women but it was also used as a means for justice for economic and gender issues (Symington, 2004).
Intersectionality can be understood and defined as a theory that demonstrates how multiple identities for instance race, class, gender, and sexuality, to name a few, are interconnected and cannot exist on their own thus creating a converging system of oppression (Gouws, 2017). Samuels and Ross-Sheriff (2008, p. 8) put it beautifully by saying, “Theories of intersectionality challenge us all to see beyond an over-simplistic and monolithic sisterhood.”
Now that the concept of intersectionality has been explained it’s important to look at it from the South African perspective as well as how I feel towards my identity and how I make sense of this theory.
With South Africa having one of the highest occurrences of rape and gender-based violence in the world, many campaigns/protests have taken place over the years (Naidoo, 2013). Protests such as #EndRapeCulture and the #MeToo movement made race, sexuality, and gender the focal point and how fluid and active the relations amongst these three concepts are (Gouws, 2017). The #EndRapeCulture saw women, especially African women, displaying their naked bodies in protest of gender-based violence and rape (Gouws, 2017). It is also important to note that African women undressing in protest is not something “that is taken lightly” as throughout history it has drawn “on women’s anger at being voiceless” (Gouws, 2017, p. 24). I believe that these movements did indeed give women a voice to express their anger and to highlight the fact that when rape occurs not only is it a violation of the body but it causes a diminishing sense of identity.
Samuels and Ross-Sheriff (2008, p. 6) explain the theory of intersectionality by saying that it “calls on us to consider women as whole beings; to recognize that not all women experience their womanhood in the same ways; many women face multiple forms of oppression, and not all women are rendered powerless”, which is paramount because my own experience with being a white, upper-middle-class woman is very different to that of a woman of color although we are both vulnerable to toxic masculinity and violence. Women of color, although this is changing slowly, will always be seen as less than me and I will always be seen as less than a man. My experiences and the experiences of a woman of color are therefore very different even though we both experience the feeling of being less than others.
Most women feel unsafe walking alone on the side of the road but I, a white, upper-middle-class woman, have the luxury of having a car and a safe place to call home whereas many other women do not have that privilege. I believe that although we women are essentially fighting for a common goal, we share very different experiences.
I would like to end off on something that Samuels and Ross-Sheriff (2008) touched on in their ‘Identity, Oppression, and Power’ paper whereby they speak about the fact that there are women who work for other women, who care for other women babies, woman who oppress other woman thus creating very different and unique experiences of being a woman. Claiming that there is only one experience for all women is not honoring or acknowledging the realities of this woman. Samuels and Ross-Sheriff (2008, p. 9) suggest that we “attend with the greatest care to the lenses through which we view the complexity of the lived experiences of those we would call sister and of all we would embrace within the family of humanity.”
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