Essentialism and intersectionality

I recently came across these two terms, "essentialism" and "intersectionality," while listening to the podcast by Cece Xie. The reason I felt excited about these two phrases is that I learned some new things from them. I did not know we get completely different perspectives on the same issue when we look through the prism of essentialism versus intersectionality. The difference is not subtle, and this just blew my mind away. I always feel excited when some of my notions are challenged with something better, something that teaches me about a different aspect of that issue that I never thought about. This is one such instance. 

We have the tendency to categorize issues and problems based on gender, race, caste, nationality, age, or any other differentiating factors and try to find solutions for them. Sometimes this approach works, but not always. Most of the time, the issues are more complex than just related to race, gender, age, caste, or nationality. Essentialism is when we consider each of these differentials separately and assume that the problem associated with race is the same across that race irrespective of gender, age, or nationality. When the approach involving essentialism does not give us the complete picture, but rather misguides us, we must think about intersectionality. Intersectionality offers us a better perspective on most issues. Many of the social issues are complex, they involve a mix of race, gender, nationality, age, and a few other factors. For example, race-related problems are different for black men compared to black women; the issue of maternity and paternity leave may result in different challenges for colored parents compared to white parents, especially mothers. Just because a company hires women does not mean women from minorities are also hired. Just because a company hires minorities does not mean they also hire women from minorities, maybe only men from minorities get hired. One can cite many examples where intersectionality gives us a better perspective on the issues compared to essentialism. 

I recommend everyone to read about intersectionality and educate themselves to get a better perspective of the challenges faced by our society. This will not only make us more sensitive towards these issues but also make us well-equipped to come up with effective solutions compared to what we have. 

Thank you for reading and please share your views on this topic. 

© Vinay Thakur, All rights reserved, Vinay can be reached at thevinay2022@gmail.com