Image for representational purpses.
Intersectionality as a concept first entered feminist and gender narratives following a paper by legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989. The term, ‘intersectionality’ is used to describe a scenario where gender, age, religion, class, race, and neurodiversity among others overlap and interact with gender. Think of a Venn diagram, where all the different identities are circles, and they converge at some points.
Gender intersectionality refers to the ways in which gender interacts or intersects with other identities, such as race or religion rather than a one-dimensional way of looking at inequalities within the gender space.
For the LGBTQIA+ community, intersectionality helps in identifying points of convergence and divergence; it helps individuals see each other as layered and complex people, wherein they experience different aspects of their personalities at the same time. An example of intersectionality in the LGBTQIA+ umbrella is when you could identify as trans and lesbian, at the same time. LGBTQIA+ people could also have other identities of race or class, and they can intersect.
Understanding intersectionality helps because it can usher in policy changes and a greater sense of empathy for people with complex and multiple identities.
Curated by Savitha Karthik
( Decoded is a column that demystifies gender concepts and breaks them down into easy-to-understand language.)