Intersectional feminism stemmed from the frustration of black128 and lesbian feminists129 that they felt the depth and broadness of their oppression had not been fully vocalized by most radical feminists. Similarly, black feminists often thought that anti- racist writings ignored the inequalities within black families and the harmful sexist behaviours of black men.130 There was a definite lack of understanding by radical feminists such as MacKinnon that black women often felt that racial barriers were as essential to understanding their experiences as black women as feminist theory.131 Not only did they ignore this important aspect of women’s lives, they were actively hostile to its inclusion in feminism.132
Black women133 felt compelled to write about their experiences having faced discrimination both through gender and race – and not always being able to pinpoint why 124 Crenshaw (n 22) 1249. 125 Crenshaw (n 67) 168. 126 hooks (n 23) 55. 127 MacKinnon (n 12) 107. 128 Hill Collins (n 110) 755-756.
129 Adrienne Rich. Blood, Bread and Poetry: Selected Prose 1979-1985. (Virago 1986). 130 hooks (n 23) 47-48.
131 Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill, ‘Theorizing Differences from Multiracial Feminism.’ (1996) 22 Feminist Studies 321, 322.
132 See above discussion, in section on radical feminism.
they encountered a specific instance of oppressions. In coining the term
“intersectionality”, which would be used for this multilateral branch of feminism, Crenshaw described it as being similar to a traffic accident which occurs at an intersection, writing,
Discrimination, like traffic through an intersection, may flow in one direction, and it may flow in another. If an accident happens in an intersection, it can be caused by cars traveling from any number of directions and, sometimes, from all of them. Similarly, if a Black woman is harmed because she is in the intersection, her injury could result from sex discrimination or race discrimination.134
At other times, it is all too obvious that women of colour are discriminated against not solely as women or due to race, but because of a combination of both. The discrepancy between the average pay of white men and women of colour, for example, is wider than either white women or men of colour face.135 As noted previously, Crenshaw also uses the example of the domestic violence women face – black women are abused within the home because they are women, but services intended for middle class white women fail them due to the economic and social discrimination they face as black women.136
bell hooks also writes extensively on black women’s struggles to carve a place for themselves both in the feminist movement and in the movement for racial equality. She notes that the first step is for black women to become the authoritative authors of their own experiences – writing by white men is still seen as the most authoritative, even when it relates to the lives of black women.137 She also notes that failure of many feminists to focus on race could be related to the feminist cry that the “personal is political” – while it urged women to understand the wider oppressive context of the micro-aggressions they experienced, it also encouraged women to focus on their own discrimination in what hooks perceives as a self-absorbed manner.138 This, she believes, has led white women to
134 Crenshaw (n 67) 149.
135 See Wouter Zwysen and Simonetta Longhi, ‘Labour market disadvantage of ethnic minority British graduates: university choice, parental background or neighbourhood?’ (2016) Institute of Social & Economic Research 2016-02 < https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/research/publications/working- papers/iser/2016-02.pdf> last accessed 23 July 2017.
136 Crenshaw.(n 22) 1249. 137 hooks (n 23) 83. 138Ibid 181.
focus on issues such as abortion139 while ignoring the role that they, even while
discriminated against as women, play in maintaining power structures which grant them advantage over black women. hooks argues that racism is commonly understood to mean hatred of those of colour, when often there is no particular malice involved, just a desire to continue to benefit from the structures of white privilege.140 White women have the freedom to believe that patriarchy is the root of classism and racism and distance themselves from their role in perpetrating these oppressions.141
Intersectional feminists cite specific examples of the ways in which white women and black women have different needs from feminism and feminist theory. hooks
references Betty Friedan’s seminal work, The Feminine Mystique,142 which explored the loneliness and the lack of emotional fulfilment of educated suburban white women who had opted to become housewives rather than enter the paid workforce in the 1950s and 1960s. hooks noted that this was a specific fear of educated, middle class women who were interested in intellectually challenging roles that white middle class men held; these women were not interested in the roles that black working class men and women were forced by economic necessity to fulfil.143
Black women have had very different experiences of exploitation within the workplace,144 while also being denied autonomy in their homes. Instead of black families unifying within their homes as a form of protection against racism, hooks argued that black men chose to exert power within the home in order to combat feelings of
powerlessness in larger society.145 She notes that, unfortunately, this not only contributes to the hurdles of black women, but also means that marriage becomes a method of
oppression rather than a partnership,146
Would men but generously snap our chains, and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience, they would find us more
observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers – in a word, better citizens. We should then love them
139 hooks (n 106) 32. 140 hooks (n 23) 193. 141 ibid 44.
142 Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (Penguin Modern Classics 2010). 143 hooks (n 106) 40.
144 ibid 5. 145 ibid 65. 146 ibid 65.
with true affection, because we should learn to respect ourselves; and the peace of mind of a worthy man would not be interrupted by the idle vanity of his wife, nor the babes sent to nestle in a strange bosom, never having found a home in their mother’s.147
It is interesting that there are similarities between hook’s writings and the Catholic Church’s focus on the negative effects men face for perpetrating oppression,148 as hooks also considers the pain that patriarchy causes men.149 The distinction is that hook recognises that men who oppress black women are also often oppressed themselves as victims of racism.150 She notes that in intersectionality, a more complex view of oppressors emerges. White women can be racist and black men can be sexist; it can be difficult for black women to ally themselves with either.151
Intersectional feminism is also a theory which continues to evolve over time, as awareness increases of various societal oppressions. bell hooks may understand the difficult intersection of race and gender, but her writings display a limited understanding about the barriers, discrimination and oppressions that LBT women face, even suggesting that most lesbian or transgendered women primarily face violence outside of gay bars rather than in the home.152 While this may be hooks’ belief, it is unsupported by academic research about the particular vulnerabilities that women in lesbian
relationships153 and transgendered women154 may face within the home. It is interesting that while hooks is able to verbalise her own oppression, she is less understanding and knowledgeable about those of other women facing multiple discriminations, illustrating that understanding of oppressions is not necessarily transferrable. Women who
understand the geography at their particular intersection cannot always read the map at another. Baca Zinn and Thornton Dill also caution that even women from minorities backgrounds do not necessarily have insights into each other’s experiences: the racism 147 ibid 186. 148 John Paul II (1988) (n 39). 149 hooks (n 106)186. 150 Hooks (n 23) 47. 151 ibid 46. 152 hooks (n 23) 212.
153 Ellyn Kaschak, ‘Intimate Betrayal: Domestic Violence in Lesbian Relationships’ (2001) 23 Women & Therapy 1.
154 Kae Greenberg, ‘Still Hidden in the Closet: Trans Women and Domestic Violence’ (2012) 2 Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law and Justice 198.
black women encounter is distinct from that which Asian women combat.155 As more women from diverse backgrounds continue to write about hurdles they face,
intersectional feminism will become more complex and varied. One wonders if hooks would respond to black lesbian writers with the same venom as MacKinnon or whether she would embrace an increased understanding of the intersections between race, sexual orientation and gender.
Erez, Adelman and Gregory specifically focused on the difficulties and
oppressions that immigrant status creates for women.156 They note that the experience of migration can be quite isolating and lonely – women are separated from their family group and broader community to relocate to a new state.157 Migrant women also face discrimination as migrants in their new community – while this can be linked to racism, it is still encountered by migrant women from an ethnic majority background.158 These women are often left extremely vulnerable to violence within a relationship due to the vulnerabilities imposed by the migration process.159 While plenty of spouses are able to use the threat of financial dependence and child custody to maintain power and
dependency, this threat is obviously increasingly worrying to women who have insecure migration status and are constantly vulnerable to removal from their child’s country of residence.160 Migrant women often also receive mixed messages about abusive
relationships – both from the culture they come from and from the receiving state, both of which likely condemn abusive relationships while urging women to put emotional energy into maintaining nuclear families.161 It is naïve to expect that migrant women have the same support network for exiting abusive relationships that women with secure migration status are able to access. When planning services and legislation aimed at targeting refugee and migrant women, it is insufficient to simply expect women to separate from their husbands; services need to take a holistic view and understand the variety of
155 Baca Zinn and Thornton Dill (n 121) 326.
156 Edna Erez, Madelaine Adelman and Carol Gregory, ‘Intersections of Immigration and Domestic Violence: Voices of Battered Immigrant Women’ (2009) 4 Feminist Criminology 32. 157 ibid 33.
158 ibid 34. 159 ibid 36. 160 ibid 47. 161 ibid 50.
dilemmas that these women face, and difficulties which can feel so insurmountable that remaining in an abusive relationship can feel like a necessary decision.
Intersectional feminism can often feel less like a series of answers and more like a list of questions – instead of, like MacKinnon, providing a clear road map to impose a feminist understanding of human rights, intersectional feminism is less directional and simply focuses on the myriad of different factors which complicate women’s lives. Intersectional feminism challenges the idea of a universal experience of domestic violence and notes that the influences keeping women in violent homes differ greatly based on women’s race, class, sexual orientation and immigration status. Unfortunately, this does not seem to be incorporated into many states’ policies on combating domestic and sexual violence, instead opting to treat women as a universal monolith who require the same supports for domestic and sexual violence. Intersectionality considers gender to be one of a number of important factors, rather than a unique experience. This evolved lens through which to consider gender is an important change in perspective – from viewing gender as a monolith to a more fractured aspect of women’s lives. Obviously, this change will greatly influence the type of legislation which affects migrant women’s lives.