The urgency of intersectionality, a TED talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw discusses what intersectionality is and what it means in the context of the real world. I found this tall to be very impactful and got its point across clearly. When talking about things such as civil rights or feminism many people fighting for these causes forget to include separate categories for intersectionality and how these connections between race, gender, sexuality, etc can change the perception of how people will view you. To a straight white woman, I am a woman who can relate to the fact that we both face oppression and both live in a patriarchal society. However, the similarities stop there the fact I face discrimination for other things that they will not have to face like my race, ethnicity, sexuality, body size, etc. Not only do I have to face the challenges of being a woman but I also have to deal with the challenges that come with being all those other identities and to a straight white woman these are not issues she has to deal with or even acknowledge. Now let's take the example and bring it to a real-world problem let's say that say straight white woman is also a feminist and a prominent one who does work for the community because she is ignorant to these issues people who intersect have will not advocate or fight for these issues not out of malice but out of ignorance. We ignore intersectionality because it's easy to do. You're expected to support one thing and keep other systems of oppression in their separate bubbles but life is not an easy-to-read line graph. Like Crenshaw says it's like a crossroad and each identity you have intersects with another when we fight for things like feminism we have to acknowledge the women of color who are often left behind and how their experiences are unique and important. When we fight for civil rights we should acknowledge the fact that people with disabilities are often ignored and treated as second-class citizens.
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