Talk:Intersectionality

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Redirect

I have no idea why this was a redirect to radical feminism, but I've fixed that now. This is by no means the best entry that could be written on intersectionality, but I have a decent grasp of it (but my most in-depth exposure to it is in the context of anti-VAW work) and I figured a stub would be adequate for now. The Literate Engineer 06:07, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

What an ugly word. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.162.30.164 (talk • contribs)

Adjustments

I've made a lot of adjustments to this page. I think the original ideas were good, but I did some clarifying to the topic as a whole, and took the old article as a base from which to expand. I think that that the Intersectionality and Intersectionality Theory pages should not be merged. While they deal with the same general theory, the Intersectionality Theory page is discussing simply how it applies to Feminism and more specifically Black Feminism, rather than the Intersectionality movement as a whole. While they are related, I would leave them as two separate pages, and simply rename the second page. --Kellymeredith 22:04, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

Merge with Intersectionality theory

I vote for merging. The two articles are redundant. Sjclarknh 02:08, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I also vote for merging; it's the same topic. --Irn (talk) 00:01, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

Definitely, definitely merge. It's disorganized. I had to read both entries to figure out what was going on and make sure i wasn't missing something from the other entry--precisely the kind of thing wikipedia is supposed to take care of with its single definitive entries. --Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.173.60.170 (talk) 20:04, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Crenshaw

Since Crenshaw was born in 1959, it's very unlikely that she started the intesectionality theory in the seventies. Her book cited in the article is from 1991. --Preceding unsigned comment added by 189.21.130.1 (talk) 17:33, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Needs a critique section

As a white male who surfs through life on my privilege oppressing all I meet unconsciously, I demand, as anyone who lives life atop the pyramid would, that this article needs a critique section.

I do appreciate the article, as it seems to say that Intersectionality is a way to put a partial ordering on the oppression wars (I am more oppressed than you!).

Who is more oppressed, a fat white male retard in a wheelchair or say, a female african american secretary of state?

With Intersectionality, I now understand why it's the latter and not the former.

So thanks article editors! --Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.29.232.165 (talk) 21:17, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Well, the sarcasm wasn't necessary, but I do think a criticisms section would be helpful, if the critiques exist and can be found. 137.150.173.10 (talk) 21:22, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Intersectionality isn't about competing to see whose oppression is the worst; it's about examining the way the different kinds of oppression interact. The article has a heavy focus on the intersection between race and gender, I agree, but that's because the concept of intersectionality developed within black feminism, not because black women claim to be most oppressed. Black feminists have been examining intersectionality the longest, so there are more reliable sources about the intersect of race and gender than about the intersect of dis/ability and weight. Nobody's implying that a white male can't be oppressed, or that your particular oppression isn't "good enough". --154.5.119.176 (talk) 17:23, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Reliable sources come from the preponderance of factual data and the logical conclusions that result; not from the prepoderance of voices repeating the same concepts. Be careful about assuming that just because there are a dozen more books supporting the subject in so many years automatically means that the theory is in fact predictive (which is required for any theory to be a theory). It's far too easy for an author to take others' works and simply colate and restate them and call the result their own without doing any actual relevent research. Yes. I too think there should be a critique of this. Without a qritique, this concept is just an argument, not a theory as is stated. With a valid refutable critique, the strength of the subject will become clearer and it will either be firmly a theory, or forever hyperbole. Personally, as a systems analyst, I understand how interconencted systems can interact un sometimes unexpected ways. But in this case, what has to be shown to me is how these social interactions exceed in magnitude the individuals own life choices and in particular the choices they make in not resisting the choices of their immediate peers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.98.225.170 (talk) 21:38, 27 February 2012 (UTC)

It certainly feels as if the article was written originally as an essay presenting the essential features of intersectionality, as suggested below. As it stands, the article isn't up to wikipedia's normal standards- a critique section could address some of the commonly cited issues with intersectionality as a theoretical framework. Namely: the lack of a well-defined corresponding methodology, the use of black women as the prototypical intersectional objects, the ambiguity present in the definition of intersectionality (alluded to elsewhere on this talk page) and issues regarding the desirability and practicality of incorporating intersectionality into a coherent political agenda. Although intersectionality is certainly in fashion, it is far from being as unquestioningly accepted as the article implies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.198.199.178 (talk) 23:32, 8 August 2013 (UTC)

Adding another voice to the chorus in favor of a critique section. Just today I was reading an article in the New York Times written by the Politics Editor at Bustle who was complaining about how, as a Zionist, she didn't feel that there was any room for her in the Feminist movement, because for example on International Womens Day they had made part of their Feminist Manifesto to "decolonize Palestine". On Twitter people have been calling her a white supremacist over her New York Times editorial. Meanwhile, one of the women listed as an official organizer of International Womens Day events is a literal Muslim terrorist. These people are abusing the concept of intersectionality to push an anti-Western, anti-Enlightenment agenda. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/opinion/does-feminism-have-room-for-zionists.html?_r=0 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.227.77.46 (talk) 20:49, 8 March 2017 (UTC)

The critique section is still very weak, and in the first paragraph includes a source from the ECPI, a Democratic/Union thinktank. That line needs to be removed or add one of the articles debunking the 83 cents on the dollar claim. ```````````` — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.83.44.57 (talk) 23:11, 7 August 2017 (UTC)

textbook definition?

If intersectionality examines many forms of group membership aside from gender, why would a "textbook definition" be ""the view that women experience oppression in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity"? Would it be more accurate to say that this is a prototypical example of the topics addressed by intersectionality? Inhumandecency (talk) 19:47, 17 August 2009 (UTC)

Though the history of intersectionality is rooted in gender issues, I have located a more neutral definition that I incorporated into the article, in addition to and following the existing (read originally written) definition. This definition comes from a sociology text book, as cited in the entry. Though heavily Canadian, the text provides a more neutral approach to defining intersectionality as a theory. Elynif (talk) 06:51, 7 March 2014 (UTC)Elynif

That's less of a neutral definition, not more. The history of intersectionality isn't rooted in gender issues, it is a gender and race issue. Crenshaw made this abundantly clear in 1989, and since. Stripping away a necessary condition, such as the quintessential intersectional subject, the black woman, you're not providing a more neutral definition, you're just providing a different definition. Intersectionality is teleological, not deontological. One of the issues with the article is, and I mean absolutely no offense, that most (if not all of the editors) have little to no education on the subject. There is no such thing as deontological intersectionality, by definition. Teleology is a necessary condition of interseciontality, which of course is diametrically opposed any deontological based definition as you've provided. Intersectionality can't be, by definition, a pure procedural system because it has a very specific goal. In fact, Crenshaw, and every other writer I've ever met, studied and worked with, from Williams to Collins to Zack to McCall to Matsuda and on, all hammer away at this point.

Also, the opening sentence in the historical background section is just patently false. Even worse, whoever footnoted that first sentence either had no idea what they read, or just lied. Read the source, Thompson, absolutely and without question, does NOT say what is claimed in the article. Heck, the 1960's addition was a complete fabrication, and she certainly does NOT even address intersectionality, at all. She clearly talks about multiracial feminism in the 1970's. Again, another example of how poorly Wikipedia really does handle some subject. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.25.129.82 (talk) 03:39, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

Citation style and NPOV

Hello, please fix the inline citations in this article. It appears to be a copy-paste from a student's essay on the topic. Essays often violate WP:OR and WP:SYN. Please review these policies as well as WP:Citing sources. Wikipedia does not have a preferred citation style, but short citations appear to be the normal style. I will mark this page and return to it in the future to address any issues that are not resolved. Thanks, Rgambord (talk) 17:43, 9 April 2013 (UTC)

I have added a section to this article on the applications of intersectionality. The content is based on several research articles and recent events and materials. Please kindly let me know if you have suggestions or can point to additional material to support this contribution. CNoemiM (talk) 02:18, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

CNeomiM - the applications section looks very well-written and sourced to me, though I have only scanned it. The only issue is that the citations are done like a typical academic paper and not according to Wikipedia's style. So all the "(Viruell-Fuentes, Miranda & Abdulrahim 2012)" type citations, for instance, need to be written in using a template citation (Templates > cite book or cite journal in Edit Source, or Insert > Reference in the visual editor). See WP:Citing Sources or the [[1]] for more info. And thanks for your contribution! Phette23 (talk) 18:47, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

I'll third that. These citations need to contain more information about the source and be put in the footnotes like pretty much all citations on Wikipedia. -wʃʃʍ- 08:43, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

Article deletion discussion

Hello all. An article I have created, SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen, is up for deletion. Please join the discussion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/SolidarityIsForWhiteWomen if interested. Any input is greatly appreciated.ErykahHuggins (talk) 18:42, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

International?

Hi I cannot see how this theory can really be applied universally around the world. I am new to wikipedia editor. but i know that earlier cultures Paleolithic/Neolithic were relatively more less gender equal as we appear to see them today, and that these subjects tend to base their evidence in the traditional "battleground" of North American culture, I would like to see more citations from more diverse cultures and times or have that warnings questioning this as as local phenomena/observation. Sorry this is my first day =) 60.241.64.10 (talk) 02:59, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Actual evidence or sociological/psychological studies that would support these large claims

I wanted to find out more about intersectionality, so I turned to this topic on wikipedia. One thing I do not quite understand is that there are extremely large, society - and even civilization wide assertions being made, but nowhere in this article is it seen as necessary to actually include studies or evidence supporting these huge claims. I mean shouldn't there be a reference to sociological or psychological research either supporting or debunking these claims? Is evidence and actual data about this topic not important? I see a lot of writers cited who have made claims, but by what data they are supported is left out. I am left to think after reading this article that these are unsupported cultural theories. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.217.180.74 (talk) 16:00, 6 September 2014 (UTC)

I agree with you. More than this, the article doesn't support the views of those who are against theories of Intersectionality, or critique them (as with 'discourse'-oriented theories more generally) as pseudo-academic nonsense. The Orientalism page, for example, has recently been improved in that regard -- you would be hard pressed to find a well-read academic, after all, that unreservedly believes in and proselytizes for Edward Said! Sadly, this page seems to show the vulgar political bias that reifies certain schema as God-given. American Community College Ahoy! Sad really. 130.216.235.1 (talk) 23:28, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not supposed to "support" anyone's view. Rather it is to describe views. But maybe there is other views that need describing. But never "supporting". mike4ty4 (talk) 08:42, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

Humanism?

I don't think a link to the humanist page goes here, any more than one to communism or socialism would be, because, like those ideologies that may have merely picked up on this concept, intersectionality was not integral to humanism when it was being developed, and so the presence of the link merely indicates that some humanists have also had a "sure, that too" observation. It's like scrambling to get followers by liking anything that has reached public notice. As for communism and socialism, takeover of the whole economy would come first for them, and the sorting out of justice would come later; linkage would be just something done to gain followers while waiting for the time to take over. None are not primarily concerned with the topic of intersectionality and its promise as a project for social change. 209.6.175.150 (talk) 17:41, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

A Marxist-feminist critical theory

There seems to be a lack of actual Marxist feminists in the section titled "A Marxist-feminist critical theory" There seems to be only those who pick and choose aspects of Marxism that they like and apply it to intersectionality theory. 68.84.235.198 (talk) 12:21, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

The worst of this page's issues right here. 130.216.235.1 (talk) 23:29, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

In an academic context Marxism tends to be used differently than in a political context. What they really mean is that utilize Marx's concept of the dialectic, descended from Hegel. This does not mean that they accept all elements of Marxism, the ideology. By nature they tend to pick and choose what parts of Marxism they find useful for developing their philosophical arguments. 2601:140:8980:106F:6597:706B:90EF:C4C1 (talk) 21:32, 3 June 2018 (UTC)

Include this article in humanism

only half said in jest.

It's not a very feminist theory, is it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.160.33.132 (talk) 01:44, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Substantial issues with this article

As Rgambord mentioned, this reads a lot like a college essay, complete with original theses throughout. What is appropriate for an essay is not necessarily appropriate for an article in an encyclopedia. There is a lot of work to do to convert this article to WP:NPOV beyond presenting critiques; I've only done the superficial work. In refactoring this article, the guiding principle should be that if you're saying it for the first time or you're making broad generalizations without citing sources that very clearly support those generalization, it doesn't belong in a Wikipedia article. There is some nice work in there, tho, so I hope we can refactor the article to Wikipedia's standards. And, for the record, I don't necessarily disagree with the assertions made in this article; I just want to see Wikipedia's coverage of feminism be as solid and well-written as possible. -wʃʃʍ- 08:55, 15 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified

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Removed theophobia from the list of "-isms"

Including the term theophobia in this list was a gross misuse of the term. Theophobia refers to a pathological anxiety disorder where believers in Divine Punishment obsessively attribute perceived negative events to minor or imperceptible sins. Religious people are generally not the targets of discrimination in most societies today, but "Religious discrimination" as been used as a pretext for homophobic and transphobic legislation. Atheists, however, are the targets of [[Discrimination against atheists |discrimination]], imprisonment, assassination, and execution.

Epikouros~enwiki (talk) 02:27, 24 April 2016 (UTC)

Ok to add ethnicity?

I'd like to add 'ethnicity', is this a problem? Race/Nationality are different and don't include everyone. Thanks!Paolorausch (talk) 07:51, 28 May 2016 (UTC)

This article badly needs a criticism/other views on... section

The best articles on Wikipedia usually has a criticism or alternate views section, and for good reason. It's not interesting only to hear what adherents to a particular theory say about said theory.

As it stands, this article is hardly encyclopedic, and reads more like a subpar essay on intersectionality. How does everybody feel about including a section with criticism of intersectionality, that could feature (for example) kyriarchy vs. intersectionality: What is the criticism of intersectionality from that viewpoint? Intersectionality is anchored in critical theory: What do critics of critical theory say about intersectionality? Intersectionality has a lot of support from feminists, but there are also feminists critical of the concept, what are their criticisms of intersectionality? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.191.189.22 (talk) 18:41, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Agreed--hopefully someone can step up and do some of the work involved in this. I'll try to find time to contribute at some point and I hope others call for this will do this as well. -Pengortm (talk) 20:43, 3 June 2016 (UTC)

How did this one slip through the cracks?!!

28 Oct. 2014 Chrismartin76 added the following to the section on Psychology...

Moreover, intersectionality theory has been falsified by psychological research, showing that the additive effect of "oppressed" identities is not necessarily negative.[citation needed] For instance, black gay men are perceived as possessing positive traits.[40][41] Nevertheless, some recent publications point to the development of a psychology of intersecting identities.[42] See also

It has been "falsified"?!? According to anybody else but Chrismartin76? Doesn't sound very encyclopedic but rather like ignoring WP:POV... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.191.189.22 (talk) 19:28, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Violates the "Neutral point of view" policy

Without a "criticism/other views on" section it does not provide a neutral point of view. Quality rating should therefore be below "C". 87.154.134.5 (talk) 06:20, 21 August 2016 (UTC)

I agree! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:F153:F000:9970:EFED:5E52:4D68 (talk) 13:38, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

I don't know why I bother to explain this to anonymous critics of Wikipedia, but "neutral point of view" does not translate to representing every critic and fringe view on notable topics. Per Wikipedia:Neutral point of view: "Indicate the relative prominence of opposing views. Ensure that the reporting of different views on a subject adequately reflects the relative levels of support for those views, and that it does not give a false impression of parity, or give undue weight to a particular view. For example, to state that "According to Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust was a program of extermination of the Jewish people in Germany, but David Irving disputes this analysis" would be to give apparent parity between the supermajority view and a tiny minority view by assigning each to a single activist in the field." Dimadick (talk) 17:41, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

Sojourner Truth?

I am not an expert on Sojourner Truth, but I am not completely sure that that quote is about exclusion from a women's movement. I had always thought it was an ironic remark in reference to the fact "women" were described by men as the weak sex, the fair sex, etc. while black women had been and were being subjected to work on the level of draught animals. I believe she was commenting on this discrepancy with irony. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:F153:F000:9970:EFED:5E52:4D68 (talk) 13:41, 10 December 2016 (UTC)

You might be right. I just read over the article on the speech, and I think that characterizing it as a speech that "critiqued the exclusion of black women from the mainstream white feminist movement" isn't quite right. I've gone ahead and changed it, with a source for the interpretation offered, which is just what I was able to come up with with a few minutes of Googling. Perhaps someone who knows the relevant scholarship better could do a better job with that. -- Irn (talk) 17:38, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

Is being female a necessary precondition?

It seems, from my reading of this article, that "female" is always the base of the intersectionality layer-cake. No matter how many of the other attributes he has - gay, black, poor, disabled, etc. - no man will ever be admitted to this "multiple discrimination victims club". Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 20:36, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

Is there a particular part of article that contains an error or inaccuracy? If so, please point out the particular section(s). Otherwise, this is not a forum for discussing the concept of intersectionality itself. EvergreenFir (talk) 20:54, 11 December 2016 (UTC)

It's not one specific part, the entire article only discusses intersections that include (or imply that they include) "female" as one of the intersecting factors, thus a reader can reasonably deduce that this concept somehow excludes males. Adding a few examples that do include, or at least do not exclude, maleness, would really help. The concept itself clearly emerged out of (amongst others) feminist scholarship, but surely it is not a "no boys allowed" subject. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 17:20, 12 December 2016 (UTC)

An Evening of Resistance Building

IntersectionalityInBoise.jpg nicely illustrates the outsider within subsection: the young Afro-American female STEM student is at its center. Too, she is a member of the BSU Afro-Black Student Alliance at a grassroots organizational event which was intersectional, and indeed specifically publicized itself as such. kencf0618 (talk) 21:16, 18 February 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing me to the talk page. It would have been simpler if you did this the first time before reverting my explained edit without explanation. The picture is one of a black woman and three apparent white people talking. I don't think it adds anything substantive or illustrative and should be removed. It strikes me as primarily decorative and distracting - see MOS:IMAGERELEVANCE. -Pengortm (talk) 19:28, 19 February 2017 (UTC)

The black woman, Camille Eddy, is an engineering student and a member of the BSU Afro-Black Student Alliance; she introduced President Obama when he spoke here. As a black woman in STEM she nicely illustrates the outsider within. See WP:IDLI. kencf0618 (talk) 03:10, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

Not sure how her name or introduction of Obama are relevant. I re-read the outsider within passage. The picture doesn't illustrate any of those abstract points which are not evident in any real way in the photo. -Pengortm (talk) 06:37, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

If a photo of diverse people at a meeting about intersectionality doesn't illustrate intersectionality, what does? kencf0618 (talk) 21:42, 20 February 2017 (UTC)

"Images must be significant and relevant in the topic's context, not primarily decorative." This strikes me as primarily decorative. I don't have a suggestion for a better photo, but articles don't need to have photos.-Pengortm (talk) 02:24, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Intersectionality is an abstract concept; it's necessarily going to be hard to illustrate. I don't see how this photo aids a reader in understanding the concept. Why would "a photo of diverse people at a meeting about intersectionality" illustrate intersectionality? Also, it's not a very good photo. I don't know, either, what would be a better photo, but I could imagine a picture of a sign, say, from the recent Women's March that uses an intersectional analysis or something like that. -- Irn (talk) 17:02, 21 February 2017 (UTC)

Caste and gender example

The Caste and gender section consists largely of a blockquote that is about two Indian women, one Dalit and the other of a more privileged caste. Both women wish to study mechanical engineering. The admissions test is in English, and the privileged woman has had more opportunities to learn English, and passes the entrance exam, while the Dalit woman fails the entrance exam, but is admitted anyway because of a quota. However, she still can't attend engineering school because she can't afford the tuition. This is supposed to illustrate intersectionality, in this case, of caste and gender. But, in my opinion, it fails to do so. For the Dalit woman, the quota cancels out the effect of her lack of opportunity to learn English and her status as a Dalit, and in the end, the only reason she doesn't attend engineering school is she can't afford it. But not being able to afford it could happen to anybody, male or female, Dalit or non-Dalit, rural or urban, or whatever. If India has a problem that people who want to improve their lives through higher education are denied that opportunity, India can solve that problem by making student loans and need-based scholarships more widely available, and (in my opinion) that, and not intersectionality, is what is illustrated by the blockquote example. A more illustrative example of actual intersectionality would have a person in two or more oppressed groups not being able to take advantage of an educational opportunity because of the synergistic interaction of being in multiple oppressed groups, rather than a person who can't take advantage of an educational opportunity for ultimately one reason. For example, if the illustrative example told of a low-income Dalit man and a low-income non-Dalit woman who received student loan and were able to study engineering, but a low-income Dalit woman was denied a student loan and couldn't study engineering, that would illustrate the intersectional effect of being both Dalit and female.

It may be that I am simply not getting the point. It may be that the blockquote really is a bad example for the purposes of illustrating the intersectionality of caste and gender and should be replaced with a better example. (It may be that the whole concept of intersectionality is muddled and that the illustrative example actually serves to illustrate how muddled the concept is.) I encourage greater experts than myself to improve this example and the article as a whole.

Respectfully, —Anomalocaris (talk) 02:45, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

P.S. The section was inserted 12:18, 18 November 2016‎ by IP user 49.206.123.65, who doesn't have a talk page and who has made only two edits to Wikipedia: this one and the article about Kirthi Jayakumar, author of the blockquote. If nobody comments here, and nobody does anything to improve this section, eventually I am going to remove this section altogether. —Anomalocaris (talk) 05:55, 17 July 2017 (UTC)

Dismissal as nonacademic

The concept of Intersectionality was coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Williams, she is one of many scholars of gender and social science that come from a background in jurisprudence. Alan Dershowitz is one of the pre-eminent legal scholars in the US. --tickle me 19:48, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

Crenshaw is a lawyer but also a critical race scholar. Her concept is not a legal one but a social science one. As such, it makes little sense to have lawyers who are not social theorists commenting on it. There's an issue of WP:UNDUE as well; the dismissal of intersectionality is not exactly mainstream. EvergreenFir (talk) 19:55, 6 October 2017 (UTC

Mrs Williams has a bachelor's degree in government and Africana studies, else, all her learned expertise is in legal. I liken this to the criticism of Siegmund Freud, who would eschew the scientific method altogether relying on intuition and theory. You wouldn't need to be a psychologist to criticise this approach scientifically. --tickle me 20:58, 7 October 2017 (UTC)

women of color

Is there another expression that can be used rather than "women of color"? The term is meaningless - it is meant to imply non-white, of course, but neither black nor white are colours! As the meaning is "non-white women", why not simply say that?203.80.61.102 (talk) 00:49, 24 October 2017 (UTC)

Distractions

While I feel that the parts of this page support the topic a number of the sentences are awkward or extremely long and difficult to follow. I found them distracting to read and quite often lost track of the point of the sentence. The last sentence under "Intersectionality in Practice" is huge and takes so many turns by the end I am not quite sure what was trying to be conveyed. I think reworking it into a three or four smaller sentences would have greater impact on what is trying to be said. The second and third sentences under "Psychology" are very awkward. Jenmom1973 (talk) 04:37, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

Misrepresentations of a source

I can’t find that the ideas expressed in the first sentence of this article are supported by the source that’s cited. The essay by Patricia H. Collins doesn’t discuss “creating a whole” out of “oppression, domination," etc. Also Collins essay doesn’t define intersectionality as a theory. The essay states that the term has “definitional fluidity”, and Collins discusses the topic as three sets of concerns: (a) a field of study; (b) an analytical strategy; and (c) as critical praxis.

The second sentence of the article refers to “These aspects of identity”, and those "aspects of identity" clearly seem to refer back to the previous sentence, where the aspects include: "related systems of oppression, domination" and so on, (not all of which are "aspects of identity"). However the words being quoted in the second sentence do not refer to those aspects of the first sentence, instead the source refers to different aspects such as: “race, class, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, nation, ability, and age.” So what is stated in the source, has been given a “spin” or a “twist” and a different meaning when it appears in this Wikipedia article. That’s not accurate editing, and not a proper use of a source. This problem is easily verified because the citation (which is an article by Patricia H. Collins) links to the source essay. This needs to be corrected, but considering that it involves the first two sentences of the lead section, I’d like to invite any thoughts or suggestions. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 00:52, 6 December 2017 (UTC)

It seems to be suggested in the essay by Patricia H. Collins and also in an interview with Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in the NewStatesman (“Crenshaw on intersectionality: "I wanted to come up with an everyday metaphor that anyone could use”) that there have developed different definitions of the term. I think the issue of multiple definitions can be dealt with the way a dictionary deals with definitions, but I think the first definition by the person that coined the term should be given first place, and replace the start of the lead that’s there now, and which seems to be (as I indicated above) unsourced and not based on the citation that follows it. Here’s my suggestion, which I’m considering putting at the start of the lead (it’s based on the interview with Crenshaw in the NewStatesman):

Intersectionality is a theory that considers that various human aspects, such as race, orientation and gender, do not exist isolated and separated from each other, but have complex, influential and interwoven relationships; and those relationships are essential. When systems of justice or other entities attempt to separate and isolate each aspect, then misconceptions may occur and essential understandings may be lost. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 16:37, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

I've edited the lead section as discussed above. I’ve added a reference with a citation, and I haven’t deleted any reference. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 05:01, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

Addition to Intersectionality in Practice

Hello. I added a healthcare perspective, and included a worldview as well; all of my sources are from scholarly articles and journals. Please let me know if anyone would like to critique or review my changes.Gabbyaaguilar (talk) 00:41, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

It wasn't perfect, but it looked okay to me. I disagree with the assertion by @Pengortm: that it's "not clearly linked back in meaningful ways to intersectionality and appears to dependent on primary sources". Journal articles are not primary sources, and they clearly add a layered perspective of discrimination based on intersecting identities, which is to say, intersectionality. -- irn (talk) 15:41, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

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Neutral point of view?

I added this tag:

to the article today. Reading this Talk page, it appears the article's point of view has been questioned with some regularity over the past several years. ¶ My perspective: A criticism section was added, which is a modest improvement. However, I would prefer to see critiques woven into the article where appropriate, as opposed to a separate criticism section. (Having both is also an option.) I highly recommend this essay: WP:CRIT. A quote from the essay:"In most cases separate sections devoted to criticism, controversies, or the like should be avoided in an article because these sections call undue attention to negative viewpoints. Articles should present positive and negative viewpoints from reliable sources fairly, proportionately, and without bias." ¶ I am personally sympathetic to many of the perspectives included in the article. At the same time, most of the article comes across as "preaching to the choir" i.e., the article assumes that the reader already agrees with the theories and perspectives presented. ¶ The article is biased, with much more emphasis given to pro-intersectionality (for lack of a better term) viewpoints. Let's discuss how to retain most of the current article, while weaving in other perspectives.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 22:43, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Comment - WP:CRIT is an essay. It has no weight as "policy"; in fact it appears to have failed approval as a guideline. & I disagree with the opinion that it expresses. It is much easier for readers to process the criticism of a concept/subject in a separate section, than when it is buried (& often hidden, dismissed, explained away, & gradually eliminated) from the body of a "laudatory" text. tl,dr - it's a "backdoor" to minimizing critical-dissenting opinions in articles; especially when there is a "prevailing opinion". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.197.164.128 (talk) 04:57, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

The article would also benefit from copy editing, i.e., improving the structure, organization, grammar, and clarity of expression. However, I suggest that we focus first on achieving fairness, proportionality, and balance. (Of course, if you want to copy edit parts of the article, please do so! :0)   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 22:57, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Hello, Mark D Worthen PsyD, I respectfully disagree with this section (your “Neutral point of view?” section), with its premise, and also with the way you have “tagged” this article. I appreciate your concern, and I assume you are acting in good faith. But you haven’t presented anything substantial to support your ideas. For example, you claim that the article’s point-of-view has been questioned over the years. I notice very little indication of that. There is indeed a “POV” mention that goes way back to April of 2013 (!), but the article has been changed so much since then. You need to go back to 2013 look at the issue as it was expressed then, then look at the problem in the article that was targeted in 2013, and then you need to compare what you find with the article as it stands today. If you still see a problem — and can find support in reliable sources and can be verified — then you might have a point that you could make, if only about old comments. That might seem a bit of work, but if you don’t do it, then you must be expecting others to do the work that you’re suggesting. Also you mention the concept of “pro-intersectionality (for lack of a better term)”. I have no idea what that is. What is it? Actually, to be clear, I’m not asking you personally, Mark D Worthen PsyD, I’m only interested in content ideas you might find in reliable sources. That’s the way Wikipedia works, of course. I did an internet search for “pro-intersectionality” and found nothing to help you. Perhaps you will have better luck. But this is the kind of effort you need to make before you tag things. You claim the article is biased. That’s a strong charge. What makes you say that? Any examples? The tag is terribly heavy handed, and seems to be pointless. Correct me if I'm wrong about that. You really should discuss things on this page first. Rutabagasubu (talk) 02:46, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Here are some examples of overstating the case:

Law and policy - "Intersectionality applies in real world systems within policies, practices, procedures, and laws in the context of political and structural inequalities." ==> Bold claim without any discussion of alternative viewpoints.

Social work - The 2nd paragraph discussing women with disabilities makes several statements as if they are proven facts.

Psychology - More unsubstantiated claims stated as fact. The arguments also lack coherence.

Intersectionality in practice - "Intersectionality can be applied to nearly all fields ..." While this paragraph provides citations for some fields, the initial claim ("nearly all fields") is hyperbolic.

Marxist-feminist critical theory - "... anti-miscegenation laws effectively suppressed the upward economic mobility of black women." That statement at least needs some explanation. As it stands, it implies that marrying white men was the path to upward economic mobility for black women.

Nonetheless, Rutabagasubu convinced me that the tag is heavy-handed, so I removed it. I believe that as the quality of writing improves, the article will come across as more balanced, particularly if the criticisms are woven in to other sections of the article.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 10:35, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

I also made some substantial edits--mainly removing most of the introduction and a couple of incoherent sections.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 11:19, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

Support the nnpov-tag. Do not have any trouble seeing how one-sided, & "uncritically accepting" of certain concepts, the article is. The other editor's complaint about the use of tagging is typical & "formulaic" for Wikipedia editors who resent criticism of "their" articles. Tags exist for a reason, & the editor who applied this one has done so correctly. That user has outlined their concerns in a clear & understandable manner. For the most part, I agree with them. Respectfully, I would strongly oppose removing the tag based on the 2nd user's glib dismissal of the criticism. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.197.164.128 (talk) 05:05, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Wikipedia editors should not be so in love with their own opinions that they don’t see the need to support them or to find any reliable source. For example, just above, an editor claims they “Do not have any trouble seeing how one-sided … of certain concepts, the article is”, but does the editor give an example? No. And above that an editor invents a term and claims there is some kind of “pro-intersectionality” going on, but does the editor give an example? Again, no. I think the article WP:CRIT (that was cited above) does have value and should be considered. There is a fallacy that the word “criticism” is defined only as a “put down”. Which is an example of moronic “high school” thinking. Yet, as the article WP:CRIT indicates, that kind of thinking lives on in Wikipedia. But if you read a good book on any topic, you don’t usually find a chapter at the end devoted to critical “put downs”. In fact, the idea of “criticism” should include all kinds of thought. Any critically challenging ideas should be welcomed into the article and not shunted off in a corner where you will find the fallacy that thinks criticism can only be defined as a “put down”. Rutabagasubu (talk) 14:46, 14 February 2018 (UTC)

Intro

The intro section is far too long. Ben Finn (talk) 12:46, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

Sloppy and biased

Heavy focus on women leads to the conclusion that the article was written by an intersectional feminist (the word women appears more than 70 times in the article in contrast with 5 or so appearances of the word men) with little regard for objectivity or neutrality. The term 'of color' is ill-defined. Does it mean non-white? If so, why not put it that way to avoid any confusion? Intro should be shortened for brevity and so that criticism (one sentence) is not drowned out by the rest of the (oversized) intro. Perhaps the incident from the Evergreen State College article could be linked, along with other student protests and incidents in the last year or so caused by clash of intersectional feminism with personal freedoms (maybe even mention Trigglypuff, Smugglypuff, R2dindu...). Overall, the article looks very sloppy as far as adherence to standards goes. Nikolaneberemed (talk) 11:43, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

What is neutral is determined by what the literature about the topic includes and how it presents it, and so is the vocabulary we should use. So kindly present some reliable sources about intersectionality that can be the basis for your suggested edits. The intro is on the long side, but it is not very oversized according to the guidelines, and the weigfht given to different viewpoints in the lead should reflect the weight they have in the article.·maunus · snunɐɯ· 12:57, 16 February 2018 (UTC)

A question about content and source in the sub-heading: “Dismissal as nonacademic”

Under the section headed “Dismissal as nonacademic”, this article is claiming that Jonathan Haidt is making a comment about “intersectionality” (the topic of this Wiki article). That's not true. The citation comes from Alan Dershowitz who says that Haidt is discussing “intersectionality”, and Dershowitz then quotes Haidt on the Charlie Rose show. The problem is that in the quote (and on the Charlie Rose show) Haidt never mentions “intersectionality”, Haidt doesn’t discuss intersectionality, and Haidt never says anything to suggest that he is thinking what Wikipedia claims he’s thinking. Dershowitz is free to spin and interpret Haidt loosely, but for Wikipedia (in this article) to claim it is what Haidt is thinking — is not accurate. Also the heading “Dismissal as nonacademic” is false because Haidt does not say anything resembling that idea. So all this needs to be corrected. I deleted it, but my deletion was undone. I welcome any discussion of this. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 18:02, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

So the problem appears to be that although this article is accurately representing what the source says, the source is misrepresenting what was actually said by Haidt. What's needed is a better source. But as it stands at the moment, the article is accurately representing what the RS says, so it's a pretty grey area until a better source can be found. Anastrophe (talk) 18:57, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

When an apparently credible claim of misrepresentation is made against a source, it's wrong to refer to it as a RS without refuting the claim of misrepresentation. It either is misrepresenting the issue or it is an RS, it cannot be both. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 19:08, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

That's not the definition of an RS, actually. This would require deeper investigation, I haven't listened to the interview, and don't really have a dog in the fight. Anastrophe (talk) 19:42, 5 March 2018 (UTC)

That Washington Examiner Dershowitz piece is an opinion piece, so it can't be used an RS for anything other than Dershowitz's opinion, anyway. -- irn (talk) 01:16, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

I added citations to Haidt's "The Age of Outrage" speech at the Manhattan Institute. I also changed the title of the section as it seemed editorial. It's now titled, "Oversimplification".   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 11:22, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

The footnotes that editor Mark D Worthen PsyD has found still don’t accurately support the content in the article that’s being discussed here. And why should they? The content that’s being discussed is supposedly based on Alan Dershowitz’s opinion piece: “Intersectionality is a code word for anti-Semitism” — Dershowitz’s primary point in his article seems to be to equate intersectionality with bigotry. Rather than shopping around to find sources that will support Dershowitz’s opinion, someone could write honest content that reflects what Haidt is actually saying. I also respectfully don’t think that a lengthy Youtube video is a good source here. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 15:46, 6 March 2018 (UTC)

After some discussion here, I thought I would go ahead and edit to change the paragraph, I kept Haidt, along with one of the references where Haidt is addressing intersectionality. Its difficult to paraphrase, so instead I used a block quote. Zugzwanggambit (talk) 05:18, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

I'm not a fan of using block quotes in this sort of situation, but I think that does a much better job of representing Haidt's actual argument, which is an improvement. -- irn (talk) 14:04, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

Excellent! The paragraph makes a lot more sense now. :o) // Re: YouTube videos, I agree they are generally not a reliable source. I included the video because it came directly from the Manhattan Institute and because the YouTube citation was accompanied by a reliable citation to the City Journal. But it's not a big deal, i.e., let's leave it as is.   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 22:10, 7 March 2018 (UTC)

WP:UNDUE

The section of criticism needs to be balance according with WP:UNDUE and needs to have "good and unbiased research, based upon the best and most reputable authoritative sources available "WP:BESTSOURCES, is not a place for soapboxing WP:NOTSOAPBOX by unrelated persons with political bias WP:POV. Rupert Loup (talk) 03:34, 21 September 2018 (UTC)

Re: “unrelated person”, I am not familiar with that term in this context. Would you elucidate?   - Mark D Worthen PsyD (talk) 23:09, 21 September 2018 (UTC)

Related to sociology, it is a sociology related article. The content deleted fail several points of WP:NPOVHOW, is not balanced in content nor in tone, stating opinions as facts, and didn't indicate the relative prominence of the opposing views. We need consensus to include this opinions. WP:ONUS Rupert Loup (talk) 21:23, 2 October 2018 (UTC)

Yes, sociology has relevance to this article, but it is broader than that. Crenshaw who introduced the idea to feminist theory is a civil rights advocate and lawyer--no degrees in sociology--but yet we still cite her. Intersectionality is a term linked to both a broad swath of scholarship and activism and prominent publically. Critiques can come both from scholars and other commentators in society--as long as they are properly qualified for what they are (e.g. not suggesting that a journalist is a scholar on the topic). I am not saying these critiques are valid--but they reflect a prominent strain of critiques for the publically prominent concept and should be reflecting this reality. If you feel that these critiques could be well juxtaposed with responses to these critiques to help balance things out, than by all means try your hand at this. -Pengortm (talk) 03:21, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

Crenshaw is a professor who specializes in race and gender issues. Rupert Loup (talk) 04:03, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

@Pengortm: You are adding quotes that are not in a neutral tone WP:IMPARTIAL. Please stop warring and discuss. Rupert Loup (talk) 10:18, 3 October 2018 (UTC)