Intersectionality... What is it?

In this day & age, people face different challenges everyday. Emphasis on the "s" in challenges. Most people are too narrow minded to see past one problem and acknowledge the fact that somebody might have several issues, and that those issues might overlap. That's where my dear friend #intersectionality comes in!

If you don't know what intersectionality is, let me explain. Intersectionality is the #overlap of social categorizations and identities that apply to both groups and individuals, creating a system of discrimination and oppression. If that makes sense so far, awesome! If not, stay with me here, while I #unpack my own.

I am a #black, #straight, #woman and I fall between the middle/middle upper class. Now, this is the way I identify myself according to the boxes #society gives us, but I, personally, would rather not label myself. The reason there are so many issues with our society is because everybody labels themselves, and those who choose to not are immediately outcast. What kind of society are we if we just outcast our own people because they refuse to label themselves, or merely haven't figured it out (not so fun fact: this is the society we live in)?

Don't get me wrong, some people love to label themselves because it's empowering! But some people would prefer not to label themselves for their own personal reasons. There are two sides to every story and both of them make sense, depending on who you're talking to.

Your intersectionality can be recognized in two different ways: by your physical traits and what you #identify yourself as. Things such as your gender and race can be assumed and concluded by your appearance, where as identities such as your sexual orientation and social class are things people will come to find out about you- if you wish to share.

The combination of identities may put you at the bottom of the pyramid in our society, but it all really depends. Remember, we live in a society that is heavily based on the way one looks, so race will always #dominate everything (until we change our mindset as a whole). I say this because I want everybody who reads this to understand that a white female who identifies as gay, will face different issues than a black woman who identifies as gay. Although they both have the same sexual orientation, their battles are different.

Most of you reading this may think to yourselves: why? why are their battles different? The simple answer is because your race is the first thing people see about you- it's not even your gender, it is your race. Now to this, you may ask why? The truth is, there are a multitude of reasons & I could honestly write a book about it all- but the main one is because of our society's tunnel vision (#tunnelvision).

I know I covered a lot, but this is honestly one of the broader topics i'll be unpacking when it comes to societal struggles... so get ready and I hope you'll keep up! I want to end this post with a quote that might help shed some light on intersectionality, said by the famous Audre Lorde. For context, Lorde is a feminist activist, a poet, a cancer survivor and she is a black woman who identified as lesbian: "I am not free, while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own".