Intersectionality is the complex crossroads of the social identities that make up a person. These different identities create individual privileges and disadvantages, both caused by discrimination.
What are social identities?
Social identities are the categories that have been created by societal pressures and institutions. These categories divide to people into specific groups including but not limited to:
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Socioeconomic class
- Gender
- Age
- Language
- Religious beliefs
- Sexual orientation
- Nationality
- Abilities
- Family structure
What can I do to help?
Knowing the ways in which you hold power and privilege within your community, and recognizing how this relates to your own social identities is a great start! It is also important to have conversations about topics like intersectionality and discrimination with those around you. Keeping others and yourself accountable by respectfully discussing your differences and addressing disagreements can help to disrupt this pattern and reduce its effects.