Analysis of The Problems Faced by Intersectional People

Introduction

All of us know that if a person is Black, Gay, disabled, or belongs to another social group that is often discriminated against, it means that their life is significantly harder than the life of a white straight man, for example. Such individuals face discrimination and misrecognition every single day. However, what happens if the person is, for instance, an Asian Trans disabled individual? What type of oppression do they cope with? The answer is: this person struggles with multiple kinds of discrimination, which is called ‘intersectionality’. People who face different types of oppression struggle enormously, and everyone must be aware of terms such as ‘intersectionality’ and ‘politics of recognition’. In my essay, I aim to explore the inequality problems that intersectional people are dealing with.

Intersectionality in the World of Comedy

To illustrate the struggles faced by people with different social identities, I would like to first consider the cases involving Black, Gay comedians. Being successful in the business of making people laugh is only possible if the person is liked and recognized by the audience. Do people understand and like your jokes? Will the jokes make the crowd laugh? These are questions that all comedians ask themselves. But what if your own identity becomes a barrier to achieving success in your career? For two Black, LGBTQ stand-up performers - Sampson McCormick and Tammy Peay - their intersectional identities introduce numerous challenges.

“I had to show up so well as a person, so people would want to see me. I’m a Black man first, but as a gay man, others will say, ‘People don’t want to see that.'' Such situations likely occur because people are prepared to comprehend only one aspect of McCormick’s identity – as a Black man. Society is focused on one problem, but not multiple. “I’m not a shady person,” McCormick says, “I’m not apt to throw shade, but sometimes our community throws shade at us.” Echoing McCormick's sentiment is Tammy Peay, a popular comedian and New York-based LGBTQ advocate. While performing, Peay reaches out to the mainstream in much of what she does. It is evident that LGBT jokes may not be recognized and liked by all people. Their intersectionality offers McCormick and Peay a unique perspective, but balancing identity and appeal is sometimes a razor-sharp tightrope walk. Support for these performers is not always easy to garner, even within the LGBTQ community, and both artists acknowledge that this is part of a larger issue. “At Pride celebrations, when it comes time to book talent,” Peay lamented, “they will find a coked-out disco queen right out of rehab before they’ll sign up a Black, LGBT comedian." It makes the job of both comedians even harder.

Intersectionality at Dyke March

Let’s examine another case of oppression that took place at Dyke March in 2017 in Chicago. Three women carrying Jewish pride flags — rainbow flags embossed with a Star of David — were expelled from the celebration at a lesbian march in Chicago because, as one of the march organizers said, their flags were a 'trigger.' This meant that the celebration of these women’s whole identities was forbidden. One of the women expelled from the march, Eleanor Shoshany Anderson, said she had attended Dyke March for four years and participated in the event this year with a Jewish Pride Flag because 'I really wanted to just be Jewish and gay in public and celebrate that.' Consequently, a march that was supposed to be intersectional prohibited the celebration for Jewish women who wanted to honor both their sexual and racial identities. This situation illustrates precisely when it is necessary to understand intersectionality. Why were those women allowed to celebrate only half of their identity? Who decides which part of a personality is better or worse? These questions don’t have any particular answers.

Accordingly, people in both situations described above have been forced to choose their one, ‘better’ identity and hide another. Intersectionality seeks to solve problems like this. Regrettably, experience shows that it is extremely demanding to cope with such 'double discrimination' due to the fact that society is not ready to understand the struggles of people who face not only one kind of oppression.

Intersectionality in Education

Following the first part of the essay, I would like to examine other struggles people with various identities face. As an example, I will look into the treatment of marginalized students in American schools, based on three types of identities, such as class, sex, race, and gender identity. Discrimination due to class and race occurs when students of color in schools are less likely to receive coursework that is targeted to grade-appropriate standards, reflects higher-level cognitive demand, and is meaningfully engaging and relevant. When discussing student’s sex and race: a study conducted by Crenshaw, Ocen, and Nanda (2015) examining the experiences of girls in school found that 2% of White girls were subjected to exclusionary suspensions compared to 12% of Black girls. The study showed that teachers often encourage Black girls to adopt more “acceptable” qualities of femininity, typically associated with appearance and demeanor—standards that seem to reflect a White, conservative ideal of femininity. Further, students of color who identify as LGBTQ+ experienced bullying more frequently, compared to White LGBTQ students, based on their race/ethnicity and sexual orientation.

Conclusion

All of the examples presented make it clear that living with various types of social inequality is exceedingly arduous. What can society do about this? The main and significant thing is to esteem and accept other people’s identities, stop judging people for their gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, etc., and realize that each of us has a spectrum of social and political identities. For this reason, it is highly significant to be aware of what ‘intersectionality’ is. As Anntaninna Biondo, a visual journalist, said, “We give too many platforms to hate groups, and that takes away opportunities to hear the voices of young black girls. Or a transgender man or woman’s voice. Or someone who is non-binary. It’s easy to “other” marginalized groups of people. Grouping together all of these individuals only to largely ignore them belittles their unique lives. That’s why we have intersectionality. It adds context, nuance, and complexity, and calls attention to the gaps in law and society. It doesn’t, however, mean it’s so complex that we can’t change, understand, and empathize.”

References

Crenshaw, K., Ocen, P., & Nanda, J. (2015). Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected. African American Policy Forum.