Kimberlé Crenshaw’s definition of intersectionality suggests that gender, race, and culture are some of the factors that make up a person’s identity. My title says "two birds, one stone" because I think of it as intersectionality (one stone) hitting multiple characteristics (two birds) of a person's identity, such as gender, race and culture. In the articles of Dorothy Allison, Helen Clarkson, and Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectionality is shown to have a large connection to violence against women. Not only does being a woman put them at a higher risk for rape and violence, but also their race and culture.
In Dorothy Allison’s memoir tells about the violence and rape she had experienced as a young girl living in a poor community. Not only does she share the stories of her history of dealing with violence, but also about the women in her family who had gone through similar problems. Her origin of living in Greensville, South Carolina gave way to the violence that surrounded her. Similarly, in Helen Clarkson’s article about rape being used in war, women were being raped due to their race and their culture. In this situation, rape and violence towards women is used as an attack on their villages during war. These military men have “spread terror through the population by looting and burning villages and raping and murdering their inhabitants” (Clarkson 613). Also, in Kimberlé Crenshaw’s article, she describes how woman who have immigrated to the United States often have troubles with rape and violence in their marriages and cannot seek help for fear of being deported. As she describes, “when faced with the choice between protection from their batterers and protection against deportation, many immigrant women chose the later” (Crenshaw 201).
In all of these situations, not only did gender play a factor in the violence, but also their race or culture. But how do we get these women to stand up against the violence when they have greater fears? This is the question that Crenshaw discusses in her article. One woman, who is living on the streets for several days with her son, tries to reach shelter, but is turned down several times due to the fact that she doesn’t speak English very well. She was not able get help because of her language barrier and her culture. It pains me to think that a shelter would turn down a woman due to her culture. These women that are turned down could be on the streets in risky situations, which could lead to more violence or even worse, death. Like we discussed in class on Thursday, why can’t we pick out the similarities instead of the differences of these women? Instead of rejecting someone because of their culture, why can’t we accept them because she is a woman who is in danger or needs help?
I’ve always liked this song, and I feel like it relates well with the subject matter. Lyrics are here if you’d like to follow them.
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Reading your post I was reminded of some of my own biases and the ways I broke down author Dorothy Allison instead of recognizing her many layers and the intersectional being within her. When you described why you used the title “two birds, one stone,” I realized that I viewed the violence that happened to Allison as impacting her as a girl, poor, and smart. One of the main ways she identifies, being a lesbian, did not enter my reading at all when I read about her early life as a young girl. I think this was because in reading her to be 5 years old at the time of the rape I assumed this was before she was gay. Even in her book she identifies as being an intersectional being and there is not a delineation between when she was gay and after. Other people in the book make this assumption, namely her therapist, but she only identifies the opening of doors to her that allowed her to express who she was. She does not tease out parts of herself and give them a beginning within her identity. I am not sure why when reading your explanation of your title this hit me so hard, but I think it reveals cultural bias that I have and see portrayed in culture that we are heterosexual until we turn gay. I really enjoyed reading your take on these writings and reading your post brought me to new insight about my assumptions. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYour analogy of two bird’s one stone was a very interesting way of explaining intersectionality. This idea helped me to understand what intersectionality was more clearly. The idea of intersectionality is that a person can be of one group similar to many others but also have many other variables that shape who they are and how they are affected by society.
ReplyDeleteI also liked your remarks on Dorothy Allison’s piece about how her growing up in South Carolina could also have been an influencing factor to why she was abused as a child. In one of my criminal justice classes at Eastern Kentucky we learned about a “Southern Subculture of Violence”. The culture of the south is proven to have an effect on the rate of violent crimes in particular we studied homicide. I believe that studying these different risk factors like we did in that class is very similar to us studying intersectionality in this class.
Your point about Crenshaw’s article was very similar to a point in my blog. The fact is we may be able to offer these women who are being abused aid but it may sometimes be very difficult for them to be able to take it like you state – “But how do we get these women to stand up against the violence when they have greater fears?” Sometimes we think that the solutions to these very complicated issues are simple and really we have to look at the underlying causes of the problem in order to create a real solution.