Some very important words from a friend of mine, posted on her blog. NEVER FORGET THE MONEY, would be my summary. Over to Rosa:
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Intersectionality is the theory that multiple social identities and related oppressions overlap, with
these social identities and oppressions being categories such as race,
gender, sexuality, age, and class. The fact that these overlap, means
that feminism must take into account all of these different aspects and
understand the oppression these groups face, and not just work for
white, heterosexual, middle-class or upper-class women. It has been
embraced by feminism across universities and in political groups such as
the Young Greens. I think intersectionality has been embraced in this
way because, essentially, it seems very easy to understand:
someone who is Asian and identifies as non-binary, for example, has a
very different experience and faces different oppression than someone
who is Asian and identifies as a woman. But, I believe, after a certain
stage, simple interpretations of intersectionality fails precisely because
of these rigid categories that we try to put people into, and because
some of the discussions that I have seen, fail to take into account the most important factor: economic circumstances and class.
Here’s the crux of it: my oppressions, much of what I have
gone through, come from one huge, distinct part of my identity: I was
poor. Not just the kind of poor that means you still are able
to live in a house and go on a small holiday once a year and scrape
together enough money to pay off a mortgage. No, it was the kind of poor
which meant I ended up homeless and living in a women’s refuge
for families fleeing from violence, when the rest of my sri-lankan
family decided me and my mum were not worthy enough to help, because we were poor, unimportant and lacking social status.
Every year, my mum faced harrowing tribunals to be able to get benefits to have enough money
to feed me. The debts mounted up, I was terrified every time I heard a
knock on the door in case it was a bailiff again. I developed horrendous
anxiety and recurring panic attacks because of our financial and
housing situation. Once I went to university with a scholarship and got a
job, I started paying off all of these debts and a cloud lifted. I was happy, and felt free, because for once, I was free from financial burden.
Then slowly, I felt myself becoming ill. I tried to put it aside for a
long time, decided to leave accountancy and work for a PhD studentship
(with a stipend attached) hoping for more flexibility, and hoping that
it would make me feel better and that the never-ending fatigue,
unexplained pain, nausea and migraines which had been slowly invading my
life would lift. But in the end, my illness got the better of me and I
became bed-bound, and my stipend money will now stop until I am well enough to return to university.
I have not left my house for a month, because of course I do not have money to hire a private occupational therapist. Even if I were to leave the house, I cannot tolerate sitting in a wheelchair
for long because I bought a cheap, manual assisted wheelchair that does
not provide support and jerks so much that the pain in my joints and
muscles being unbearable. I do not have a carer paid for by the state,
because my local council has a waiting list that is 6 months long. In a
second, many of my current oppressions and past oppressions could have
been reduced or even taken away, if society was more caring and equal, or I had different economic circumstances.
Yes, being a person of colour plays a part. It plays a part because I
have a family who decided to throw me and my mum out when we were at
our most vulnerable. Yes, I suffered oppression due to being a person of
colour, because of my family. Yes, I do suffer from micro-aggressions,
which are termed as behaviours that happen to women and other oppressed
groups that can have a large impact over time. For example, I have had
people treat me or talk to me as if I didn’t understand English, or
something exotic or different, because I am a Sri-Lankan woman, I have
had trouble with jobs and men in workplaces treat me as inferior, and I
have been cat-called and sexually harassed and other things that women,
and in some instances particularly women of colour, face.. But these
micro-aggressions pale in comparison to the havoc that was wreaked on me by my economic circumstances and lack of support networks growing up.
Someone who is Sri-Lankan, experiences very different cultures and
oppressions from someone who is from a different Asian background. And
two women who are Sri-Lankan, can have very different experiences
depending on the village or town or city they were born to, their caste
and family status, and even status (financial and otherwise) within their family. Family support and networks (or lack of it) is crucial. The
interplay is so complex, and results in such vastly different
experiences, that I am uneasy in saying that another woman of colour
would face the same oppressions as me. Many of the women and people of
colour that I know, live in a world so highly privileged and so separate from me, that I would say we are worlds apart.
When it comes to having money to eat, having a home which I feel safe
and comfortable in, being healthy and feeling free: I have far more in
common, both in terms of my oppression and my identity and experiences,
with anyone from poorer backgrounds (both women of colour and not), than with people who identify as women of colour or disabled and are from middle-class or richer backgrounds.
I believe that past and present economic circumstances, as well as class, is so important. It is the most important factor to take into consideration, when combined with other oppressions.
Women from poorer backgrounds and without support suffer
horrifically: yes, if they are poor and white, they may not face the
same micro-aggressions that people of colour face, and the oppressions
that other disadvantaged groups face. Yes, they may find it easier to
get an interview than a poor woman of colour or a poor woman who is not
heterosexual. Yes, they may not receive islamophobic threats and abuse.
But, money and class is a stepping stone. Even if it’s harder to get an interview, connections and work experience opens doors that disadvantaged people do not get: moving to a more desirable, liberal neighbourhood becomes easier, having a job becomes the norm rather than an anomaly. I
have seen this time and time again, with privileged friends who are
people of colour (both men and women) getting very high paying jobs very
quickly, when those who are both people of colour and not people of
colour, from very low economic circumstances, sinking even further into
difficulty.
And those without such luck and due to an accident of birth
or circumstances may have to rely on the state to feed and clothe them.
The oppression and difficulties faced from this one thing alone, is
unbelievably huge. They may live in constant fear: the fear that you
will never know until you are in that situation, the fear of constant
tribunals and court cases, of bailiffs, of debts, of declining health,
of food, of mortality, of not finding work and having no one to rely on.
Those from disadvantaged backgrounds, those in poverty, deal with
things that most people from middle-class or upper class backgrounds
have never even thought about. Having money,
growing up having it, having your basic needs always provided for and
not living hand to mouth, already affords such a huge privilege.
And throughout all this, the reason why I suffered like this, is because of my economic circumstances. It is the elephant in the room,
the issue that seems so hard to talk about, even within the Green Party
and to fit into discussions about intersectionality. I see discussions
about people of colour, about women and rape culture, about women with
disabilities, about LGBTIQA issues; all of these valid and important.
But all of these issues are compounded and intertwined with economic circumstances, by money, and cannot be separated.
We are all separate people, with vastly different experiences, and
simply because someone is a woman, or is disabled, or is Sri-Lankan, it
does not mean that my experiences or oppressions are even remotely the
same as that person. In fact they probably are not, unless they come
from a similar social and economic background and have the same family and social networks.
The Green Party and other liberal left-wing groups are often accused
of being too liberal, too middle-class, too white. Ironically, by
embracing this simple form of thinking of intersectionality, in which people are placed into neat boxes and have ready-made oppressions placed upon them, and failing to take into account class and economic issues, the green party and the young greens are showing their own privilege. Intersectionality is important, but it is not a simple answer.
There are many nuances and every story and every oppression is
different, because every single person is different and feels things
differently.
The fact that many people cannot see or fail to discuss economic
circumstances whenever other issues are discussed, shows that they are
indeed privileged and have not had to deal with the huge, over-arching oppression of poverty that casts a shadow over every aspect of life.
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Here is a link to the original article on Rosa's blog, it's a newish blog and therewill be more to come:
https://rosaamongstthethorns.wordpress.com/2015/11/04/when-intersectionality-fails-and-people-are-too-privileged-to-see-it-perspectives-of-a-disadvantaged-woman-of-colour/
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