Intersectionality

At the root of writing with awareness about identity is an understanding of intersectionality. “Intersectionality” is a relatively new word to describe a very old concept. The term was coined in 1989 by Black feminist lawyer Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how the discrimination faced by Black women is simultaneously based on race and gender. In a seminar at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, Crenshaw used the metaphor of a traffic intersection to describe how women of color must simultaneously navigate multiple forms of oppression:

Intersectionality is what occurs when a woman from a minority group . . . tries to navigate the main crossing in the city.. . . The main highway is Racism Road. One cross street can be Colonialism, [the other] Patriarchy Street.”^[1]

Rather than cross each road in isolation of the others, the woman of color must navigate them all at the same time.

While the term intersectionality was initially coined to describe the struggles of Black women in the feminist movement, it can be used even more broadly to understand how systems of oppression are interconnected, and how individuals and groups face discrimination based on multiple identities. When intersectionality is overlaid with power imbalances, those with multiple marginalized identities—such as being Black and female in the U.S., or disabled, Queer and poor—experience oppression and discrimination against several aspects of their identity.

As you write, consider the ways that intersectionality applies to your topic. For example, if you are writing about salaries in the United States, explore how they intersect with gender (e.g. men make more money than women, gender non-conforming, and trans people), race (e.g. white women make more money than women of color), and ability (people with mental and physical illnesses have a harder time acquiring and keeping jobs than their able-bodied counterparts). At the same time, be careful about highlighting an aspect of someone’s identity if it may not actually be relevant.

Language Toward Gender Inclusivity

Sexism refers to discrimination against individuals based on sex and has historically described discrimination specifically against women. The perceived social and biological inferiority of women has existed for centuries in the West (and also throughout the globe), and although women in the last century have made advances—the right to own property and vote, for example—sexism prevails, especially against women of color and trans women. Women still, on average, earn lower wages than men; women are much more likely than men to be raped or stalked; and women are still underrepresented in positions of power and leadership. Importantly, women of color, at the intersection of race and gender, face each of these challenges to a greater extent than White women. Examples of such intersectional injustices are how, on average, White and Asian American women make about 20% less than White men, while Black and Latina women make about 30 and 40% less than White men respectively. Part of writing with awareness and respect means that you as an author are attentive to the context of historical and current discrimination that women face and cognizant of how the choices you make in writing engage with that context.

In English, many words and phrases have historically contained inherent assumptions about sex and gender. When writing, one should avoid using gendered terms. For instance:

The exception, of course, is if you are specifically calling attention to one gender or another.

Pronouns are also an important consideration in using inclusive language.

• If a writer fails to use inclusive pronouns, he risks excluding many of his readers.

Think about that previous sentence. It’s grammatically correct, in that English has traditionally used the masculine pronoun as a generic, third-person singular pronoun. But in reading it, can you imagine this speaker as anything but a male? Instead, we could try:

• If a writer fails to use inclusive pronouns, he or she risks excluding many of his or her readers.

This version is a bit more inclusive, but it leaves out those who don’t identify as male or female (and it sounds clunky). Grammatically, the best solution may be to use the plural here:

• If writers fail to use inclusive pronouns, they risk excluding many of their readers.

With the trend toward more gender-inclusive language, you are probably more likely to hear the plural pronoun they used as a singular pronoun—especially in everyday spoken English. For example:

• If a writer fails to use inclusive pronouns, they risk excluding many of their readers.

While the singular they offers the advantage of being gender-neutral—and it may soon become the accepted norm, as it was officially accepted by the APA in 2019—for now there are mixed opinions about it, and you may want to avoid it in your academic writing. When in doubt, consult your instructor’s preferred style guide.

In the case of individuals who use they as a singular pronoun to refer to themselves, it is grammatically correct to use they as a singular pronoun (per the Chicago Manual of Style, one of the predominant authorities on grammar and style). (The University of Chicago Press. “Grammar & Usage: Singular ‘they.’” Chicago Manual of Style, 2017, p. 241.)

Language Toward LGBTQ+ Inclusivity

LGBTQ+ spans a wide and complicated range of sexual orientations, gender identities, and diverse bodies. The acronym itself stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer/Questioning and others. Even this list does not cover the full range of identities represented by the acronym. The language of the LGBTQ+ community is ever-evolving, so it may not always be clear to you which term to use.

Language Toward Neurological and Physical Inclusivity

What is considered an illness or disability has changed throughout history and also varies between cultural contexts. Disability has also been stigmatized and wielded as a form of social control; consider drapetomania, an “illness” that white psychologists hypothesized as the cause for Black slaves to want to run away from enslavement in the 19th century, and hysteria, which was used as a form of social control for women. Today, both of these illnesses are considered pseudoscience and understood to be part of a long history of scientific racism, and sexism respectively.

Despite the progress that has been made, disabilities and illnesses continue to be stigmatized, and the way we write about them has the power to break down or perpetuate stereotypes that directly affect the lives of people with these conditions. Additionally, many terms carry that we, as writers, aren’t always aware of; for instance, while in the early twentieth century people classified as “idiots” were subject to forced sterilization, we now use the word casually. By learning the history behind the words we use and choosing to write respectfully about people with mental and physical disabilities we help create a culture that rejects ableism. One way of thinking about disability is that any time we spend able-bodied is really time spent “temporarily able-bodied” since we will all experience disability in our lifetimes.

Many advocates and activists, especially in the disabilities-rights community, have recommended using People-First Language to avoid defining someone according to a characteristic, state, or disability. For instance, one might refer to a “person with mental illness” rather than a “mentally-ill person” or “people experiencing homelessness” rather than “the homeless.” Other advocates, however, have rejected PFL as awkward or apologetic (“People-First Language”). Like many linguistic interventions, PFL is part of an ongoing conversation about representation, rather than a prescription. When in doubt, it’s usually best to take your cue from the most recent and reputable sources you have available.

Language Toward Racial and Ethnic Inclusivity

Both ethnicity and race can make people targets of stereotyping, prejudice, and violence, and at the same time provide a sense of belonging or pride for people. Like most other identities, the categories of race and ethnicity have differed between places and across time. For example, in the United States, court cases such as Dow v. United States (1915)—which determined that Syrian people were not “white”—have been part of sculpting the racial categories we are familiar with today. Racial and ethnic categories continue to drastically impact all of our lives, and so, while complicated, it is important to be aware of the histories behind the words we use and the ways we write about race and ethnicity in order to not perpetuate racist ideologies.

Racial prejudice and racism, though related, are distinctly different. Racial prejudice is discrimination against someone because of their race. Racism is a sociocultural phenomenon that takes into account histories of racial inequality and describes a system that benefits people in a dominant racial group (whether or not they want to benefit) through the oppression of other racial groups. Because racism is a result of dependent on past and present systemic racial inequality, “reverse racism” does not exist. For example, in the United States there has never been a set of laws and political and economic institutions that enforce the dominance of people of color over White people as there have been in support of White supremacy. Therefore, while a person of color may hold racial prejudice towards a White person, there is no structural support for their prejudice that enables them to exert “reverse racism.”

Racism has manifested in many different ways. Some forms are overt, such as “Whites Only” signs during the Jim Crow era; other racist histories are embedded in language in less obvious ways. For example, the term “Caucasian” as a synonym for White has its origins in pseudo–scientific theories about the racial divisions. Although white-skinned people might feel uncomfortable with a racial descriptor such as White, using that term is one way to use equivalent terms; there is ethnocentric bias in assuming whiteness as a standard and using terms like Black, Asian, and Latino to designate people as different from that standard.

When in doubt, do some research and do not be afraid to engage in conversations about appropriate usage. When referring to a particular person or group, use the term that they prefer (though when directly asking people, be mindful of the burden you may be placing on them to educate you). You may not get unanimous feedback on what the best terminology is; lots of terminology is in flux, and what is respectful or correct is contested. For example, there remains no consensus about the proper capitalization of “Black,” especially in relation to “White.” Additionally, the distinction between “Native American” and “American Indian” is also contested. You can ask your professors for their preferences and, as always, research the implications of each usage; it is always best to be intentional and open-minded.

Language Toward Socioeconomic Inclusivity

Writing about social class can be difficult because information about non-technical, correct, and respectful language can be hard to come by. While the last few years have given rise to more conversations around race, gender, and sexuality, discussions of socioeconomic differences have been comparatively lacking. Socioeconomic status is an important topic in many social sciences and relates to a variety of identities people may hold such as being a first-generation college student, being homeless, or being rich or poor.

Writing about socioeconomic status or class without acknowledging inequalities in opportunities does injustice to the people that those inequalities affect. Avoiding classist language is an important step toward changing the classist ideologies that underlie and reproduce the structural inequalities that lead to economic disparity.

Language Toward Religious Inclusivity

The majority of people in the world identify with a religion, and most religions span huge swaths of the globe and encompass very diverse groups of people. Additionally, religions are often interpreted and practiced very differently depending on the cultural context, and people may identify with a religion religiously, culturally and/or ethnically. All of these factors make it complicated to write about religion inclusively and without over-generalization.

Despite this complexity, it is important to take the time to learn about the nuances of religion in order to avoid perpetuating stereotypes and spreading misinformation that contributes to religious discrimination or persecution. Both religious discrimination (the treatment of a person or group differently because of their religion) and religious persecution (the systematic mistreatment or discrimination of an individual or group because of their religion) have long and persisting histories. From the forced conversion of Native Americans to Christianity by European Americans in the late 19th century, to the murder of millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust, to modern U.S. immigration policies that disproportionately affect Muslim people, the histories of systematic religious oppression are extensive.  Although the subject of religion is complex, it’s is vital to take the steps to learn about the nuances of religion before writing about it.

A common misconception about religious communities is that there is a single experience shared by everyone in the community, and that there is agreement about how the religion should be practiced or interpreted. In reality, there is a lot of disagreement within most faith communities about religious beliefs, practices, interpretations, and even about who belongs to the community.  Individuals within a religious community have experiences, beliefs, and practices as diverse as the individuals themselves. Individuals’ and groups’ religious practices are informed by their cultural context as well as their other identities. For instance, a Sunni Muslim, upper-middle class, merchant family from Damascus, Syria will likely have very different perspectives and practices than a Muslim farmer from Sinai, Egypt, despite their shared Muslim identity. For this reason, it is important not to oversimplify the experiences, beliefs and practices of individuals and religious communities. When writing about a religion, take care to be precise about what specific sects you are referencing, and don’t generalize one group or individual’s experience as representative of others just because they fall under the same umbrella religious term.

Another intricacy about religious identity is that people don’t always identify with a religion religiously; they may also identify with it culturally and/or ethnically. For example, someone who is raised Catholic but identifies as atheist may identify as culturally Catholic. While they may not share the same religious beliefs and practices as the Catholic community they were raised in, their worldview was nevertheless shaped by growing up in a Catholic community.