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Writer's pictureReem Rizk

A Starter's Guide to Intersectional Feminism

Updated: Oct 18, 2022



Let’s start by defining the key terms in the phrase “intersectional feminism”


Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. (Oxford dictionary)


Intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. (Oxford dictionary)

When we combine these concepts, we get intersectional feminism. We now know that:


Intersectional feminism: A movement recognizing that barriers to gender equality vary according to other aspects of a woman’s identity, including age, race, ethnicity, class, and religion, and striving to address a diverse spectrum of women’s issues (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)


A quick example:

  • A white woman has marginalized gender identity, and a privileged racial identity.

  • A black man has privileged gender identity, and a marginalized racial identity

  • A black woman has both a marginalized gender identity and racial identity.


Many marginalized identities exist within women. Examples include Women of colour (WOC), Women loving women (WLW), Trans women, Disabled women, etc…. Intersectional feminism must be taught and practiced by all to ensure that socially marginalized groups are heard. The acknowledgment and awareness of intersectional feminism will allow for efforts to be made to counteract the disadvantages marginalized groups face.


The originator of the term “intersectional feminism” is Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. She noted and spoke up about black women facing not only racial or gender discrimination, but a combined discrimination against both of these social factors.


“The way we imagine discrimination or disempowerment often is more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion. The good news is that intersectionality provides us a way to see it.”

-Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw


The following are links (ranging in comprehension and ease level to welcome beginner and expert theorists). I strongly encourage you to visit to further understand intersectional feminism.

The Urgency of Intersectionality


What is Intersectionality and Why is it Important?

Sometimes You're A Caterpillar

Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics



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