Intersectionality: An Explanation and Critique

This video is an explanation of intersectionality as developed by Kimberle Crenshaw. I discuss the ideological foundations of this movement, and then give criticisms, explaining the reasons why I find intersectionality to be flawed.

[mariang]

I think Crenshaw’s reason for developing the concept of intersectionality is not meant to
judge or exclude people who are privileged. I think you have missed the point of her work which is that it is meant to shed light on the people who are effectively erased because they fall at an intersection of identities such as race and gender. It is rather meant to identify them, their vulnerability, the structural inequalities they are subject to and therefore address it. This does not mean excluding others and it is not about finding how many different identities there are and trying to class people according to that. I think you would enjoy Crenshaw’s TED talk and her talk at the Southbank centre. Unfortunately the popularity of the concept has resulted in its distortion by different groups over the last 30 years.

[makeawkwardcomments]

I think you are missing a huge point which is that these categories aren't arbitrary, they are politically and historically important. Disability is not the core of my identity, but it is part of my identity and it affects every area of my life every day. When disabled people come together it's not like gathering up all the blue-eyed people or all the athletic people - it's politically and personally relevant. It also isn't an attempt to just cluster people with similarities together. Disabled people know that we are all different and the obstacles faced by a blind person vs a mentally ill person vs an amputee are all different. But we are all marginalized in similar ways and face overlapping burdens and discrimination. We need legal protections and how can I advocate for that if I'm just thinking of 'M's own unique experience'?

[Graanvlok]

Hm. "Intersectionality is not primarily about identity. It's about how structures make certain identities the...vehicle for vulnerability." - Kimberlé Crenshaw
It's possible that this is commonly misunderstood.

[yqafree]

Individualism answers and resolves the problems perceived within intersectionality, there's really no general advantages not general disadvantages for about 70% of the categories

And it is only collectivistic thinkers that impose these problems onto themselves or other perceived groupings/demographics

[Rambleon]

It sounds like a competition to see who the biggest loser is, and someone on the lowest part of the totem pole (the winners) needs to pay somehow.

[worship]

I think your critique is fair. The best way to think of intersectionality is like salt for cooking in this case the meal is diversity and inclusion.
Adding just enough increases your enjoyment of the meal. Adding too much salt i.e. turning it into a numbers game and losing the essence of the individual ruins the meal

[Rambleon]

Intersectionality is mainly used to grab power by tribalism.

[saintpreferred]

Intersectionality = another way to promote CRT, sexual indictrination, and racism to kids.

[libertyprime]

Marxist ideology has a strong means of memetic transmission. If you're a member of a social species, empathy for those who are bullied is a strong, natural reaction (at least as long as they are a member of the in-group).

There's a lot of currency in being oppressed. It means you're, to whatever degree, immune from accountability - and thus criticism - not to mention that you're most certainly due some form of compensation.

It has evolved to the new environment, just enough that it sometimes flies under the radar of the immune response. Rather than a simple bourgeois versus proletariat model, it uses "intersecting" axes. Unimpressive, uninspiring.

Main problems are basically everything that it ignores.
Oppressor/oppressed relation prioritized. Why?
People most accurately viewed as demographic collective. Why?
Equal outcome assumed to be:
1) necessarily symptomatic of oppression, never natural causes, individual choice etc... Why?
2) a good moral goal despite the fact that implementing it would necessitate systemic prejudice of immutable characteristics.

It's trash. Unfortunately it looks like it might be quite popular the next few generations. Hopefully kids outgrow it sooner rather than later.

[mikepinkerton]

One way to understand intersectionality is that it is essentially victim hustling.

[aaronh]

It seems to me that the logical conclusion of intersectionality is a sort of individualism, which means that the solution to the problems they try to solve is individual justice.

[BillBuck]

Oh brother! What else can people come up with to justify their feeling of being oppressed or being victimized?

[thelordakira]

at least you are one of the few who talks and explains this without blocking comments.

[larrytangel]

You have missed the main point of the categories. They are all oppressed. No one is oppressing attractive people or unattractive people. The intersection of multiple membership in oppressed groups is greater than the sum of each. And we as white male able bodied heterosexual appearing need to listen to those in the intersection of their oppression. And meet them in their world.
Finally to be critical of the genius’s of their ideas because they began with a white guy demonstrates your ignorance. People of color have not had the privilege of Foucault, which further supports Dr Crenshaw’s work.

[tartanhandbag]

very balanced, careful dealing with the topic. well done.

[itstrysten]

Dr. Cooper, you disappoint me. You failed to extrapolate your opponents logic and you've given easily defeated argument at 8:00. Of course! Of course those additional categories you mentioned are important to intersectionality, and they are increasingly considered. Attractiveness, physicality, and social ability are so obvious to include as intersectional criteria that I feel you've made yourself look like a fool. You make valid points about additional categories, then jump to the conclusion the theory will be overwhelmed with a quantity of categories! But what of your own philosophies? Are they so overwhelmed by the complexity of life that you cannot use them?

[danieljones]

Thank you for the overview of "Intersectionality". It seems like it is yet another way of studying the differences between Human Beings. Some of the differences seem to be changeable, some partially changeable and some unchangeable. Differences should be better understood in order to build ways of tolerance (Live and Let Live), as opposed to excuses for conflict (You are less, therefore I am entitled to oppress you and take from you).

[tommyst]

I have asked PHDs who push the "theory" for the papers showing how it's a really important thing for us to know, and they never present them. It's almost like a religion: lots of feelings, little in the way of evidence.

[GeoffShrt]

Thanks for a very clear explanation, but I can't understand why the concept of intersectionality has been embraced so enthusiastically. It seems to me no more than common sense. Yes, some people suffer more forms of oppression than others but what is supposed to follow from that statement of the blindingly obvious?

[IAmisMaster]

Intersectionality is a new morality contrary to sola scriptura and the gospel.