[faeriechangling]

What is the “intersectionality” hypothesis? I felt intersectionality was a concept so obvious, that intersecting identities create unique experiences that might not be shared by other members of the constituent identities, as to be unremarkable.

The example frequently given is the proverbial workplace that in order to hire enough black people and women, hires many black men on the factory floor and white women in the offices while black women don’t get hired and despite this people declare that equity has been accomplished. People paid attention to women’s issues and black issues, but not the INTERSECTION of those issues.

My criticism is that intersectionality is that it’s blindingly obvious and there is limited value in literally deviding up identity groups into an exponentially expanding amount of subgroups. Once you start exploring the intersection of 3 identities you’ve already kind of lost the plot and may as well start talking about issues on the personal/individual level.

I have no idea what people THINK intersectionality means. I think people who know what that word means keep using it without explaining it and people get really confused and think it’s just a general term for woke ideology and never stop to think what the “intersection” they’re referring to is.

[jwarden]

> Once you start exploring the intersection of 3 identities you’ve already kind of lost the plot and may as well start talking about issues on the personal/individual level.

At the limit, intersectionality approaches individualism.

[SpicyLemonZest]

Most people in my circles understand "intersectionality" to refer to exactly the claim you're disputing, that it's good to identify and focus on an exponentially expanding amount of subgroups. I don't think this is an unreasonable interpretation - the Center for Intersectional Justice, a large nonprofit in the area, says one example of intersectionality (https://www.intersectionaljustice.org/what-is-intersectional...) is that you shouldn't attempt to address the gender pay gap without also thinking about race, socioeconomic status, and immigration status.

[faeriechangling]

I mean it’s cool to propose that and all but how does that work in practice? At some point you need to be a “big tent” to get things done.

How do trans immigrant women feel about the gender wage gap? How do male Irish steelworkers feel about it? So on and so forth… and don’t you dare tell anybody their identity group and their unique intersection of those identities isn’t important.

It’s an ideology I would try to convince my enemies to adopt to encumber them with endless amounts of petty political bickering so they never got anything done.

[dudul]

This last paragraph is totally a conspiracy theory I believe.

This whole intersectionality business is spreading way too fast, being too prominent in the media and front and center everywhere to not be at least encouraged by an hostile nation.

[sidlls]

The use of propaganda and indoctrination to play sub-factions against each other in order to keep the larger group at a disadvantage is a tried and true tactic used by those with power since the beginning of recorded history. This specific implementation may or may not be true, but it’s hardly irrational to suspect.

[hjgjhyuhy]

Either a hostile nation, or economic elite trying to turn people’s attention away from the real issues of income inequality and taxation. Race, gender, whatever, in the end money is what primarily makes things right.