Table of Contents
Intersectionality is a way people analysis, the work of accepting and forming policies, which labels several discriminations(Collins, Krenshaw). The way it helps individuals is by understanding the way in which sets distinct identities influence the human rights and opportunities( Marsiglia,Flavio F. 152). This helps defend equality among people.
Gender, Race, and social class represent the most powerful about myself in the lens of intersectionality. Strangers will sometimes ask “What are you ?” When this questions is asked I think they are asking about my race, I consider myself Mexican, because even though I was born in the US, my blood is full Mexican. However, just being mexican does not identify me the person I am. I am a women, that causes several disadvantage just because of that little aspect, “Being a female.” I Consider myself low class, which is another disadvantage. All these different aspects of who I am in some way affects one another, and it is what makes up the intersection of my identity. the “intersection” of my identities. There is an official intersectionality definition, but this is how I define my intersectionality.
So, what is intersectionality? These intersections affect individuals how they move through the world, and how people actually see us. Intersectional should be use in everyday life, because this help us understand how we interact with other people that have different identities from us, and how this could contribute to our experiences of oppression and privilege. The framework of intersectionality which is designed to see the different aspects of identities which is connected to
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Three Course Concepts
oppressions. For example, for me, I live in multiple identities, which it forms different layers which comes from my social relations and my history which it powers the structure. I belong to more than one community and I actually can experience oppressions and privileges in the same time. Being in several identities can expose individuals to different types of discrimination or disadvantage. The different forms, for example gender, race, and class create inequality for women. For example, a woman can be a respected professor but suffer domestic violence at home, so it could be in oppression and a privilege. In my point of view life is different for everyone, even though individuals share some identity characteristics. If we observe the society with the intersectional lens, we could have the chance to understand why some people harm others based on who we are.
Now days, it is not hard to notice aspects from others. I am not just a Mexican person nor am I just a women. I am low-middle class, educated, US citizens and other social attributes. My life cannot be summed up a just one category. In other words, intersectionality is all about race, class, gender, sexual orientation, among other identities which all interact with one another.
Furthermore, as mentioned above that the identities interact with one another, it is not possible to have a single female experience. The experience that females or mexican experience are to many to summarized into a single point of view. Individuals may share some similar experience, but for sure they will not be alike from each other.
Now that I have discussed a little about intersectionality let me take a step forward about what happened in my history class in middle school. My teacher was very nice women, but didnt have no idea why I didn’t jump at the chance to share with the my classmates my unique perspective as the only mexican girl in the class. My teacher wanted to incorporate diversity in the classroom, but in that time I did not take it that way, because I was not aware of my intersectionality, I just felt I was put in the spot and I was not prepare to speak beyond my whole race, because I felt that everybody have a unique identity and not everybody’s the same event hggh we have the same race, it was an awkward moment to speak on behalf my race. In other words, intersectionality challenges the point where that anyone can speak to represent of any one of their race.
Furthermore, I am aware that I must be intersectional and keep awareness of the perspective I see the world. For example, my experience in Mexico is way different experience then a white women in the same city. For me, being mexican is a privilege but also an oppression, because sometimes mexican get discriminated just because of our race. The experiences for each individual are unique and different. Since my race is a minority it another reason why its an oppression. Also, being a woman is an oppression, because womens are seeing less powerful than men. Due to my gender, sometimes women can be excluded from jobs that are they do not consider appropriate for women, they see women as wick and see the job only for men. Additionally, women can be excluded from jobs because of race. Women who belong to minorities are excluded from some jobs. My family made me see myself different then men, because my father was a machista that would make my mother do everything in the house. A machista as it mentions in the book, machista is when a men are supposed to be competitive, aggressive, and successful. Also, being a low-middle class I sometimes suffer injustices because of the social exclusions which this makes it an oppression. Low class sometimes are excluded from several aspects from power, to democratic rights. Social class is a way that some individuals demonstrate and belong to human relationships.
Feminist Theory
Feminism as my point of view is a process of learning it without noticing it, and it’s an ongoing process( Marsiglia,Flavio F. 148). Feminism helps me understand how I face my bias along with the multiple identities such as race, gender, and social class. For example, in society we learn since we are kids to know what toys are for girls and boys. Society teach kids what they are expected to act in society. We learn this without knowing it is consider to are facing bias. With the theory of feminism I was able to open my eyes to knowledge my bias. For example, stereotypical girls and boys have different roles in society, or that is how they want us to see it.
Society want to encourage boys to do risky things and even play with car and pretend they are racing or even pretend that they are building things. In the other hand, girls are supposedly need to focus on being pretty, and act like princesses, society sees as girls playing with dolls and taking care of them, for example, years ago I use to go to Mcdonalds and they would always ask my parents if the meal was for a girl or guy, because they have expectations that girls have different toys from boys.Society demonstrates with their way of teaching them that this is how they need to act in reality and it impacts their whole life as an adult. In life women learn how to behave and what is expected from a women.
Society, is in charge of having expectations of individuals. In my point of view, women have a harder chance to to become powerful just because society already made men powerful. Society already have expectations on how girls and guys are supposed to look and behave, and this is just
Aware of My Biases
bias we have in society. Feminism theory makes us realize that our conscious is wrong for things and processing the wrong view of individuals in our heads. We are unconscious of our bias against each other, and this has major consequences in our society. Analyzing the feminist theory in the book and the if intersectionality, women are recognize by their achievements rather than their potential. This is why we think when they are hiring a women, women need more experience because of our unconscious bias, because men are more likely to be here with their leadership potential. For example, in some jobs we could observe when our co-workers are white and they make a mistake they are just seen as small mistakes, but when a color women makes a mistake it is more notice and remembered way longer and are judged harshly. Feminist theory has helped me understand my bias.
Continually, intersectionality and feminism will help me to become aware of my biases and additionally it will help me to regulate these as I work with clients and constituents. By acknowledging my bis I will be able to recognize the ways that bias and discrimination impact women in the society. This might not be easy since we can’t choose the way individuals treat others. However, we can choose to make a change in the society and help our clients. In order to understand our clients, we must recognize that each client have unique experiences of identity, involve multiple oppressions( Marsiglia,Flavio F. 150). We should be able to recognize that each individual experience the world different and may have overlapping identities that might be oppression or privorites. Sometimes we are afraid of looking outside the box and recognized that each person is unique, and this is because society made it look as it this is rude to recognize. Feminism made me realize that women have the capacity to do things that men do, and that there
Capacity to View Clients and Constituents
is no specific things that boys and girls do. Women can also build things like men do. For example, in class one of my classmates, did a presentation in the topic of feminism and showed an important point of how society views girls, for example in the video it showed how supposebly girls run, it mention how sometimes individuals will say, “ You run like a girl” this made me realize of my bias, because I also used to say this. Feminism theory will help me be more aware with my clients. Also, in order to be more aware, it is important to seek other points of views. We need to be open to different points of views of others and view them as priority, and to educate individuals about the oppressions they are facing.
As a social worker, we need to listen to the experiences they share. After, we need to take the time of learning their specific intersection of identity..This will help me be prepared and start conversations with others and start the process as a team, it will help develop my capacity to view clients and constituents as experts of their own experiences. This will make clients more secure about themselves, and at the end they will identity who they are, which is unique. This will help clients feel free and not trapped in a prison. As a social worker, my job will be to view as clients unique, in order to succeed it will be by discussing their diversity as unique and not by categories, but the way they identify themselves.
Day by day, the challenge we have in our daily basis is to be clear about intersectional discrimination very clear and not making the mistake with our bias. The main goal is to respect one each other with our different identities and also privileges. As women, we need to learn how to make society realize to build power to strength our diversity. The different identities represent the most powerful about individuals in the lens of intersectionality. Intersectionality is very useful for examining those experiences to defined as a privilege or as an oppression. Intersectionality in the lens of feminism developed to discuss how women are being oppressed by the society, women are trying day by day to have the same privileges as men. To knowledge our multiple identities we have to avoid discrimination and seeing it as a single experience. Each person have primary identities that makes them unique. Feminism has helped me understand my bias. Overall, intersectionality and feminism has help me become aware of my biases and will help me in the future with my clients to see them as unique.
