Self-Reflection Paper on Intersectionality

Introduction-

The concept of diversity is the variety of human qualities among different people and groups. Diversity is differences in racial and ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic, and professional backgrounds. People with different opinions, backgrounds, religious beliefs, political beliefs, sexual orientations, and life experiences. There are four types of diversity: internal, external, organizational, and worldview- and we should aim to represent all. There are 5 key areas of diverse cultural, racial, religious, age, and gender diversity. In these five areas, there are issues of diversity. There are the biggest diversity issues in the workplace like acceptance and respect, accommodation of beliefs, ethnic and cultural differences, gender equality, physical and mental disabilities, generation gaps, language, and communication.

I would like to discuss the problems of cultural diversity. So, colleagues from some cultures may be less likely to let their voices be heard. Integration across multicultural teams can be difficult in the face of prejudice or negative cultural stereotypes. Professional communication can be misinterpreted or difficult to understand across languages and cultures. I will work as a community support worker because support gives a big power to people who are facing any issue or whether it is the issue of diversity. I like to help people because I cannot see people sad or if they feel any pain then I cannot bear that. So, my preference would be only the support of any needy person. There would be no partiality or discrimination like gender, sex, culture, et cetera. I will look at each person at an equal level whether it is my friend circle or workplace. I would be aware of unconscious bias, I would communicate with people regarding the importance of managing bias, I will promote equity, I would like to develop a strategic training program, I will acknowledge holidays of all cultures and last would make it easy for people to participate in employee resource groups.

Theoretical framework-

I would choose intersectionality theory for my theoretical framework. Kimberle Crenshaw (1989), a legal scholar used the term intersectionality to describe how gender, race, class, as well as other identities, impact and influence oppression. Intersectionality is a way of studying relationships along multiple components of one’s identity in relation to others:

• Micro: individual behavior, attitudes, actions
• Mezzo: community resistance to accepting others
• Macro: system and structures (consisting of laws, policies, politics, media, religion, education, etc.)

Intersectionality theory is very important for me and there are so many reasons behind this which I will discuss. I would say that without intersectionality, social justice movements can intentionally leave out the most marginalized groups of people. For example, the early “original” feminist movement claimed to be a movement for women’s equality, when in reality it almost exclusively empowered white women- and often actively derailed the civil rights movement, thereby actually contributing to the oppression of black women. Intersectionality is the acknowledgment that everyone has unique experiences of discrimination and oppression and we must consider everything and anything that can marginalize people- gender, race, class, sexual orientation, physical ability, etc. Intersectionality is an important part of practicing inclusion because it defines how different facets of identity contribute to our unique perspective and team participation, as well as the ways in which different types of discrimination overlap with one another. Intersectionality will influence my professional practice because it is the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination. It will give me new life as a CJS worker. There are always issues between white and black people which are not good. I have read in the reading about likes and dislikes between black and white folks (DIANGELO, p. 1).

Racism, gender problem, and cultural differences are very big issues. I feel that people are still struggling with gender problems and cultural differences. By reading the article, I believe that has forced me to work with individuals who encounter the justice system because there should be no discrimination due to gender and sex. People around the world are still constrained by patriarchal hetero orthodoxy and resultant inequality, discrimination, and violence. In the reading, I have read that some of the recent trends and research detailing the status of women and LGBTQ, thus providing the context within which the articles contained in this issue are situated. Research presented in the current issue examines many of the inequalities, but gender inequality is one of them (Queer Theory: A Rough Introduction, Mar 10, 2020, 1:31 PM)

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The World Economic Forum (WEF, 2017) annually evaluates the world’s progress towards gender inequality in economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. In their most recent report, gender inequality continues to be a persistent problem, with the gender gap in economic participation and survival actually widening rather than getting better. WEF most recently estimated that the overall global gender gap won’t be closed for another 100 years and more specifically, the economic gender gap won’t be closed for another 217 years. North American countries are estimated to be the closest to reaching inequality or gender gap and it may take 168 years to close the overall gender gap. So, this gender inequality has enabled me to work with individuals or to take steps against this (Hazel, 2019).

Analysis

I would like to talk about privilege. There are five types of privilege such as white privilege, religious privilege, gender privilege, heterosexual privilege, and socio-economic privilege. There are some basic elements of privilege that I have found in the articles like I have the right to educate, I have my own gender identity and another is social class privilege. I would like to explain all these three privileges which I perceive as dominant. Access to higher education confers with it a number of privileges as well. Educational privilege opens a number of doors to higher-paying careers. Educational privilege can also confer unearned credibility on an individual. For instance, many television and radio show hosts append the prefix “Dr.” to their name in order to use a PhD. to suggest they can offer medical or psychiatric advice. Moreover, I will talk about gender identity, while often linked to sexual orientation and gender privilege; this is the privilege that comes with having a gender identity (how one identifies and express oneself in gendered terms) that conforms to the gender identity that was assigned at birth and to societal and cultural expectations of such a gender identity. In terms of media representation, it is extremely rare to find representations of individuals whose gender identity does not conform to cultural expectations. In the rare instances that such characters are portrayed, their gender nonconformity is typically used to elicit fear, apprehension, or laughter, or may be portrayed as a kind of mental illness.

In addition, there is social class; class can be understood both in terms of economic status and social class, both of which provide privilege. Social class can determine access to opportunities, to participate in politics, and opens up particular educational and vocational doors more easily. From a social and media standpoint, consider how different social classes are represented. It is also important to note that the majority of the media are created by and for a specific social class. Sociologists also define social class as our overall standing in society based on things like income, occupation, and education level. Class privilege really revolves around our access to resources like money. So, I believe that education, gender identity, and class are privileged identities for me. There is one most important element of privilege is intersectionality. So, basically, intersectionality is the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of disadvantage. It is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these aspects include gender, caste, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, disability, physical appearance, and height. A human rights complaint or an equality rights case that cites multiple grounds of discrimination can be approached in one of several different ways. Depending on the approach that is selected, the analysis of the claim will differ and it is likely that the outcome will also be affected. In most instances, an intersectional approach to a multiple-grounds complaint is the preferred one. An intersectional approach, social and political context and recognizes the unique experience of the individual based on the intersection of all relevant grounds. So, basically, these all privileges are connected with each other like gender and sex. Education, gender, and social class are all connected with each other and these are my dominant privileges. Engaging in thoughtful discussions with people of other backgrounds is essential to understanding privilege. The degree to which individuals experience privilege must be framed within the context of their own race, gender, ability level, religion, sexual orientation, and gender identity coupled with the communities in which they live, work, and play as well as the persons with whom they interact.

Discussion

In this discussion, I will explain the two areas which I have identified where everyone is struggling with and these two areas are culture difference and gender. People are still struggling with gender problems like I am a woman so I do not have all the rights like the right to do any type of work. There are so many issues with gender like uneven access to education because women still have less access to education than men and this problem is around the whole world. Moreover, there is a lack of employment options between men and women, job segregation, lack of legal protections, lack of bodily autonomy, poor medical care, lack of religious freedom, lack of political representation, racism, and finally societal mindsets.

In addition, I will talk about cultural differences also. People are struggling with Cultural differences also. As well as the more obvious cultural differences that exist between people, such as language, dress, and traditions, there are also significant variations in the way societies organize themselves, in their shared conception of morality, and in the ways they interact with their environment. While bringing people from diverse backgrounds can be advantageous, cultural differences can produce tension, which can lead to problems. In the future, I would like to take some steps to stop gender inequality like creating awareness for gender equality in our cities and society. I will promote human rights by supporting media events for the girl children. Apart from this, I will complain to the police if I witness any sex determination test. I will take strict action against gender inequality. Additionally, cultural difference also creates a big issue in society but I believe that each person has his or her own culture. So, I will try to take action against it in my future employment because day by day cultural difference is creating so many issues in relations between people and society.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that my main argument in this assignment is about intersectionality. I have learned that intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face. I feel that it is very important for everyone to learn about intersectionality as it is the acknowledgment that everyone has their own unique experiences of discrimination and oppression and we must consider everything and anything that can marginalize people- gender, race, class, sexual orientation, and physical ability.