In her Ted Talk, Kimberle Crenshaw explains that there is a framing problem present within our society and it leads to people being recognized by only one aspect of their identity rather than their whole identity itself. Crenshaw goes on to explain how black women in particular have fallen victim to this because people cannot accept both their identities and just take them at face value. She goes on to talk about intersectionality and defines it as the overlapping of multiple social justice problems that add many levels to injustice. Essentially what Crenshaw was saying is by taking into account the multiple intersections of our identities we can suitably address the problem going on.
I want to point out that when Crenshaw was talking about one of the cases about a black woman trying to find a job at a plant and being shown racial and gender discrimination Crenshaw said “There was no name for this problem and we all know when there’s no name for that problem we can’t see a problem and when you can’t see a problem you pretty much can’t solve it.” This is the same problem of recognizing our privileges that Alan Johnson talked about in his book “Power, Privilege, and Difference”. While Johnson may have been talking primarily about privilege through his novel he repeatedly says that we have to call our behavior for what it is. We have to recognize that there is a problem within our perspective that creates difficulty in the intersections of our identities.
It also connects to S.C.W.A.M.P when recognizing the different identities that exist and how certain privileges and challenges come with the intersections of both. By being able to recognize the privileges of our identities of S.C.W.A.A.M.P. as Johnson says we can recognize the difference that those identities have within our society. By doing so we can name the problem for what it is. It is by doing that we can see the problem and work towards solving it.
Now how can we use this information to help navigate our intersections? How can we start to recognize our blindness to problems so we can properly read the different frames of identities within our society? The article The Intersections in "Intersectionality" provides a thoughtful breakdown of what intersectionality is what the intersections of what an intersection is.
I thought it was very interesting how you connected different past readings to the TED talk. We need to become more aware of the different intersections around us and help others break away from the oppressions against them.
ReplyDeleteHi Maddie! I really enjoyed your perspective on the TED talk. I also really liked how you connected what Crenshaw had to say to the ideas we learned in class and to the Johnson reading. By identifying the problems within our society we will be able to take a stance and break away from oppression and discrimination.
ReplyDeleteHi Maddie :) Your connections to the other articles were really well formed!! These connections really point out how intersectionality is intertwined it is in our society when we recognize that is a part of other reading we have done in class.
ReplyDeleteMaddie, I also related Crenshaw's talk to Johnson and SCAAMP. I think a big part of the messages these readings/videos are trying to send is to be direct. If we want to see change in the world we need to be straightforward and address what's wrong. And if there isn't a name for a problem, we need to find one. Because like you and Crenshaw said, when there's no name for a problem we can't see or solve it.
ReplyDeleteHi Maddie, I like how you connected Crenshaw's material with readings we've done in the past.
ReplyDeleteMaddie, I also connected Crenshaw's TED talk to Johnson and SCWAAMP. It's so easy to seeing that they discuss similar, important topics! Identifying the problems head on is so important and needs to be done to make change happen.
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