2.07 (V) Identities and their intersections

Hi, everyone. Over the course of the next two videos we will be discussing the concept of intersectionality. We will look at intersectionality as a useful tool for analyzing and evaluating the marginalization of gender and sexual minorities. And the forms of oppression they face. We will look at intersectionality as a useful tool for analyzing and evaluating the marginalization of gender and sexual minorities. And the forms of oppression they face. Intersectionality is a tool for analyzing how identities and oppressions function in societies. It highlights how people are categorized in multiple ways as well as how social categorization is linked to various forms of interconnected oppressions. Today we will be focusing only in the first half of that definition. The next video will focus on the second half. » Societies categorize people in many different ways. For example, some people are categorized as city people, others as country people. Some are labeled office workers, and others are manual laborers. Some are identified as vegetarians, while others are considered meat eaters. But some ways that societies categorize people are more common and more significant than others. Gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, age, socio-economic class or status. Ability, nationality and regionality, and religion are the most common and impactful ways people are categorized. These categories are so important because they greatly affect how an individual is perceived and treated. These categories can also affect what opportunities and advantages an individual does or does not receive. » Intersectionality helps us to examine how individual categories intersect. That is, how they affect one another or come together to make up a person's sense of self or identity. » Intersectionality helps us to recognize how a person's numerous identities are connected. In other words, everyone has multiple identities because everyone is categorized by society in multiple ways. However, some categories have more privileges attached to them than others. » Privileges refer to extra or special advantages that someone receives by virtue of the position into which they are born and/or how they are socially categorized. Privileges can be social, legal, or both. And they can be both conscious and unconscious. They can ensure that an individual's identity is commonly represented and naturalized as normal or neutral. For example, think about why, in one instance, a news report might refer to a sports team as the Lions and in another as the Lady Lions. Privileges can also give an individual greater access to resources and power. For instance, as a white, cisgender, feminine presenting woman from an upper class family in the United States, I do not have trouble finding TV shows that represent people who look and sound like me. When I go to a store I can find Band-Aids in my skin tone. When I walk into a woman's restroom, I do not have to worry about someone attacking me for my gender presentation. If I have financial difficulty, I can rely on my family to help me without depleting my savings. » It's important to remember that while intersectionality is a concept that can and should be used to analyze the multiple ways any individual is categorized or identifies. It was specifically designed to help think about how multiple marginalized identities. Or categories that are disadvantaged and deemed insignificant or less important in a given society are intertwined with, and affect one another. » Next time we will be discussing how intersectionality illuminates connections between social categorization, marginalized identities, and various forms of oppression. See you then