On Oct. 2, the Women on Wednesdays series sought to broaden the conversation of intersectionality on campus in the lecture “Stigma: An Intersectional Approach.”
The term “intersectionality” was coined by Dr. Kimberle Crenshaw, a professor of law and a leading scholar in critical race theory, to create a framework to understand the unique position of experiencing multiple oppressions. Intersectionality aims to focus on the needs of individuals who do not neatly fit under more general tents of identity.
People experiencing intersectional oppression are especially vulnerable to stigmatization, which silences and shames them into compliance. Intersectionality gives a language of specificity to liberate those rendered invisible by our current models of identity, and should be adopted by all professions and individuals alike to help better the lives of the masses.
Intersectional politics is not only essential from a theoretical standpoint; it can very often make the difference between whether one receives life-saving care or not. Biases within the medical profession lead many to receive inadequate care. Many still do not feel comfortable reporting pain for fear of being dismissed, a direct result of stigma weighing heavily on the psyches of marginalized people.
Stigma also affects another often neglected element of our well-being: mental health. Stigma creates environments of high stress and low self-esteem for stigmatized individuals, resulting in higher rates of anxiety and depression.
In order to build a world free of stigma, we must center the voices of the most marginalized. One size does not fit all; we need multiple perspectives to shape our conversations and direct our decisions. For too long, broad generalizations about human nature, health and more have been made based solely on the experiences of the most privileged people in society.
These generalizations have created the notion of an ideal subject, and that all who fall outside of those narrow boundaries are in need of immediate correction. However, it is our metric of normalcy that is broken, not the people who fail to live up to that metric.
For the health and well-being of all people, not just the select few, we would be best to apply the lens of intersectionality in all aspects of public and private life.
