2.4: What is Intersectionality?

Embracing Our Whole Selves

Definition: Intersectionality

Intersectionality is an analytic tool for studying and challenging complex social inequalities at the nexus of multiple systems of oppression and privilege, including race, gender, sexuality, social class, nation, age, religion, and ability. (Velez et al., 2020, p. 2)

The Framing of Intersectionality

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A Say Her Name print to raise funds for the global art sale Printmakers Against Racism fundraiser. (Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0; by Desiree Aspiras)

The concept of intersectionality is widely recognized as being coined in 1989 by legal scholar Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how various forms of oppression—such as race, gender, and class—interact to create unique experiences of marginalization. However, Crenshaw’s work builds upon a long legacy of activism and intellectual contributions from women of color, particularly Black feminists, who identified these patterns long before the term was formally named.

Crenshaw’s TED Talk: The Visibility of Intersectionality in Police Violence

In her 2016 TED Talk, The Urgency of Intersectionality, Crenshaw engaged her audience in an exercise highlighting the disparities in public recognition of police violence victims. When she asked the audience to recall names of Black individuals killed by police, many recognized Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray—all men. However, when she listed the names of Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, and Meagan Hockaday—Black women killed by police—most people were unfamiliar with them.

This exercise underscored a key issue: Black women who experience police violence often remain invisible in public discourse, not because their experiences are less significant, but because existing narratives lack the necessary frameworks to make their struggles visible. As Crenshaw explained, Black women have “slipped through our consciousness because there were no frames for us to see them… But it doesn’t have to be this way” (Crenshaw, 2016).

The Origin of Intersectionality: Emma DeGraffenreid’s Case

Crenshaw’s framing of intersectionality emerged from a legal case in which courts failed to recognize compound discrimination—discrimination that stems from multiple, overlapping social identities. She tells the story of Emma DeGraffenreid, a Black woman who filed a lawsuit against a car manufacturing plant for employment discrimination.

DeGraffenreid’s case was dismissed on the grounds that the company hired African Americans and hired women—but what the court failed to acknowledge was that African American men were hired for industrial jobs, and only white women were employed in secretarial roles. As a result, DeGraffenreid and other Black women were excluded from both hiring pools. The court’s refusal to recognize the dual nature of her discrimination claim exemplifies why a framework like intersectionality was necessary: it was not simply racism or sexism alone that shaped DeGraffenreid’s experience, but the intersection of both.

To explain this concept, Crenshaw developed an intersection metaphor: imagine a workforce structured by race as one road, and a workforce structured by gender as another road. Black women, standing at the intersection, face discrimination from both directions—making them uniquely vulnerable in ways not captured by a single-axis analysis of race or gender alone.

Expanding Intersectionality: Social and Structural Oppression

Intersectionality extends beyond race and gender. It helps illuminate how different forms of oppression—classism, ableism, xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, religious bias, and more—interlock to shape social experiences. As Crenshaw (2016) notes, intersectionality “exposes the tragic circumstances under which African American women die,” underscoring the urgency of a more inclusive framework.

In Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\), I illustrate Crenshaw’s analogy of an intersection into overlapping lines that represent the intersectionality of structural oppression. One line represents “sexism and patriarchy,” which intersects with “racism and white supremacy.” Those lines all overlap with other forms of oppression including: nativism, classims/capitalism, ableism, transphobia/cisheteropatriarchy, and homophobia/heteropatriarchy. In Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\), I created another graphic to represent intersecting social identities. One line representing our gender or gender identity, another our racial/ethnic identity. These overlap with citizenship/nationality, socioeconomic class, physical or mental ability, and sexuality.

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): Intersectionality of Structural Oppressions: Graphic Representation. (Licensed under CC BY 4.0; by Kay Fischer)

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Intersectionality of Social Identities: Graphic Representation. (Licensed under CC BY 4.0; by Kay Fischer)

Intersectionality in Psychology: Understanding Overlapping Identities and Oppressions

Psychology has increasingly adopted intersectionality as a framework to understand how individuals experience multiple, interlocking systems of oppression and privilege. Psychological research recognizes that a person’s mental health, identity development, and lived experiences are shaped not only by single social categories (e.g., race or gender) but by the complex ways these categories interact. This has led to intersectional psychology, an approach that examines the combined impact of race, gender, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, and other identities on mental health and well-being.

1. Intersectionality and Identity Development

Psychologists studying identity development acknowledge that traditional models—such as Erik Erikson’s (1950) theory of psychosocial development or Jean Phinney’s (1992) model of ethnic identity—often failed to capture how multiple identities intersect. More recent theories, such as the Multidimensional Model of Racial Identity (MMRI) (Sellers et al., 1998), highlight how individuals can hold multiple, shifting identities that interact with societal structures of power and oppression.  We will cover racial and ethnic identity formation theories in another chapter. 

For instance, research shows that:

• Black women navigate racial and gendered experiences simultaneously, leading to unique identity development processes (Settles, 2006).
• LGBTQ+ individuals of color often struggle with double marginalization, facing racism within LGBTQ+ spaces and homophobia/transphobia within their racial/ethnic communities (McConnell et al., 2018).
• Disabled women of color may experience ableism, sexism, and racism in ways that multiply stress and discrimination (Gómez & Rattray, 2018).

These findings reinforce that identity is not additive (e.g., race + gender) but interlocking and dynamic, shaping psychological experiences differently depending on context and social power structures.

2. Intersectionality and Mental Health

Intersectionality has been used to understand mental health disparities among marginalized groups. Research indicates that individuals with multiple marginalized identities face heightened stress, discrimination, and barriers to healthcare, leading to poorer mental health outcomes.

Minority Stress Theory (Meyer, 2003)

This theory suggests that individuals from marginalized groups experience chronic stress due to societal stigma, discrimination, and prejudice. Intersectionality refines this model by showing that:

• Black transgender individuals experience both racial and gender-based stress, leading to higher risks of depression and anxiety (Seelman et al., 2017).
• Undocumented Latina immigrants face unique forms of stress related to immigration status, gender roles, and racial discrimination (Perez Foster, 2001).
• Low-income queer people of color encounter compounded stressors due to economic instability, racism, and homophobia (Bowleg, 2012).

These intersecting stressors contribute to higher rates of PTSD, depression, and anxiety among affected populations, reinforcing the need for culturally competent mental health interventions.

3. Intersectionality and Psychological Research Bias

Traditional psychological research has often focused on single-axis studies—examining race, gender, or class in isolation. However, scholars have criticized this approach for erasing the experiences of those with intersecting identities (Cole, 2009).  We will cover how psychological research considers intersectionality in a future chapter. 

For example:

• Clinical psychology research has historically examined depression among women without considering racial disparities, leading to the underdiagnosis of depression in Black women, who may express symptoms differently (Watson & Hunter, 2015).
• Cognitive psychology studies often rely on WEIRD samples, ignoring how culture and identity shape cognition (Henrich et al., 2010).
• Workplace psychology research has examined gender discrimination separately from racial discrimination, failing to capture how Black women and Latinas experience both simultaneously (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008).

Intersectionality in psychology corrects these oversights by urging researchers to:

1. Use diverse, representative samples.
2. Design studies that account for multiple identity factors.
3. Analyze power structures and their psychological effects

4. Intersectionality in Therapy and Counseling

Mental health professionals increasingly incorporate intersectional approaches in therapy to address clients' unique experiences of marginalization and privilege.

Culturally Responsive Therapy

Therapists applying intersectional psychology:

• Use feminist therapy techniques that address power dynamics in clients' lives (Brown, 2018).
• Recognize racial trauma and how it intersects with gender-based or queer trauma (Comas-Díaz et al., 2019).
• Challenge traditional diagnostic models that pathologize behaviors without considering cultural and social context (American Psychological Association, 2017).

For example:

• A Muslim woman who wears a hijab and experiences workplace discrimination may struggle with both Islamophobia and gendered oppression.
• A Black gay man may need a therapist who understands the unique pressures of heteronormativity within Black communities and racism within LGBTQ+ spaces.
• A disabled Latina woman may experience medical gaslighting (e.g., her pain being dismissed due to both ableism and racial bias).

Intersectional therapy acknowledges these nuanced experiences and tailors interventions to support the client holistically.

5. The Role of Intersectionality in Social Justice Psychology

Psychologists advocating for social justice increasingly use intersectionality to analyze:

• Educational inequities (e.g., how low-income students of color face intersecting barriers to higher education).
• Health disparities (e.g., how trans people of color experience discrimination in medical settings).
• Criminal justice inequalities (e.g., how Black and Indigenous women face higher risks of police violence and incarceration).

For instance, community psychologists use intersectionality to:

• Develop anti-racist interventions that consider gender and class.
• Train police officers and healthcare providers to recognize implicit biases in decision-making.
• Advocate for intersectional public policies that address mental health access, education, and employment discrimination.

References

• American Psychological Association. (2017). Multicultural guidelines: An ecological approach to context, identity, and intersectionality. APA.
• Bowleg, L. (2012). The problem with the phrase women and minorities: Intersectionality—An important theoretical framework for public health. American Journal of Public Health, 102(7), 1267-1273.
• Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy: Theory and practice. American Psychological Association.
• Cole, E. R. (2009). Intersectionality and research in psychology. American Psychologist, 64(3), 170-180.
• Comas-Díaz, L., Hall, G. N., & Neville, H. A. (2019). Racial trauma: Theory, research, and healing. American Psychologist, 74(1), 1-19.
• Gómez, L. E., & Rattray, N. A. (2018). Addressing health disparities in multicultural psychology. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(4), 580-589.
• McConnell, E. A., Janulis, P., Phillips, G., Truong, R., & Birkett, M. (2018). Multiple minority stress and LGBTQ youth mental health. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(6), 747-754.
• Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674-697.
• Purdie-Vaughns, V., & Eibach, R. P. (2008). Intersectional invisibility: The distinctive advantages and disadvantages of multiple subordinate-group identities. Sex Roles, 59(5-6), 377-391.