Intersectionality, as described by Patricia Hill Collins, is “involving interlocking systems of oppressions that reinforce each other in a matrix of domination” (Collins, 2000). This intersectionality includes four important oppressions that reinforce one another: race, gender, class, and sexuality. Prime examples of these intersections can be found within the three waves of feminism. These intersections are also connected to power in many ways, and where the power lies. It is important to analyze the three waves of feminism in an intersectional way because many people face oppressions that do not fit into just one single category, but multiple categories of oppression at the same time.
In the first wave of feminism, which lasted from around …show more content…
The multi-cultural groups created during the second wave such as the Third World Women’s Alliance, Women of All Red Nations, La Raza, and the Asian Sisters can demonstrate an example of race within this wave (Euler, 2016, 5b). These groups show that these women were oppressed through not only gender, but race as well. Within the second wave, working class felt that they were unheard and looked down upon by middle class women (Euler, 2016, 12a). This example of class shows how although women were oppressed, even women were oppressors to women who were of a lower class than themselves. This makes working class women believe that power lies with the middle class, even women. Joan Scott created the gender binary theory; the discourse of one gender relies on the oppression of the other (Scott, 1986). As definitions and meanings of gender change, the power structure of male supremacy will also change (Euler, 2016, 9b). As we change gender norms, power begins to shift. To round out the second wave, an example of sexuality was radical lesbian feminism (Euler, 2016, 7b). Lesbian women believed that they must be acknowledged and their needs addressed (Euler, 2016, 7b). In 1972, Bunch stated “lesbians cannot grow politically or personally in a situation which denies the basis of our politics: that Lesbianism is political, that heterosexuality is crucial to maintaining male supremacy…” (Euler, 2016, 7b). Again this statement shows that power lies within heterosexuality and
In the first wave of feminism, which lasted from around …show more content…
The multi-cultural groups created during the second wave such as the Third World Women’s Alliance, Women of All Red Nations, La Raza, and the Asian Sisters can demonstrate an example of race within this wave (Euler, 2016, 5b). These groups show that these women were oppressed through not only gender, but race as well. Within the second wave, working class felt that they were unheard and looked down upon by middle class women (Euler, 2016, 12a). This example of class shows how although women were oppressed, even women were oppressors to women who were of a lower class than themselves. This makes working class women believe that power lies with the middle class, even women. Joan Scott created the gender binary theory; the discourse of one gender relies on the oppression of the other (Scott, 1986). As definitions and meanings of gender change, the power structure of male supremacy will also change (Euler, 2016, 9b). As we change gender norms, power begins to shift. To round out the second wave, an example of sexuality was radical lesbian feminism (Euler, 2016, 7b). Lesbian women believed that they must be acknowledged and their needs addressed (Euler, 2016, 7b). In 1972, Bunch stated “lesbians cannot grow politically or personally in a situation which denies the basis of our politics: that Lesbianism is political, that heterosexuality is crucial to maintaining male supremacy…” (Euler, 2016, 7b). Again this statement shows that power lies within heterosexuality and