Modern theoretical theories, including race and gender aspects, allow for reaching a deep understanding of the racial contribution to the complexity of our societies and facing historical unfairness as the perspectives from margins allow us to see one’s power and systemic injustice with greater clarity. This essay discusses the intersectionality of race and gender’s contribution to dismantling powerful discourses that marginalize individuals based on their sexual identities; it also seeks to make the theoretical frames more all-encompassing and representative.
Importance of including unique perspectives
Theorizing incorporating the aspects of race and gender captures dynamics pertinent to general theoretical work. These perspectives provide insights into the experiences of those belonging to the people around marginalized groups, consequently giving insights into historical imbalances and notions of social justice. By integrating the race and gender analysis, room for a critical appraisal of the power dynamics and systemic injustices is created. It creates room for inclusivity by including voices at the margins of traditional theories. Such perspectives finally result in more nuanced, intelligent theories taking account of the complexity of human societies, contributing to much needed more equitable social discourse.
Discursive domination
Discursive domination primarily reflects the use of power by dominant social groups according to their ability to manipulate and control the discourse. This process is apparent the moment the colonial context prides itself on having shaped the language, symbols, and representations towards creating and consolidating stigmas and images inferior to those in the communities. The concept of Orientalism by Edward Said has portrayed how the Western powers used the discourse to project the Eastern cultures as barbarian and exotic to validate colonial rulership. Equally, early twentieth-century novels and films also projected the stereotype of Arabs and Muslims being passive and backward to reinstate Western supremacy(Longhofer & Winchester, 2016). Power unequal dynamics are thus maintained through the manipulation of discourse as the dominant groups, on their part, maintain positions and privilege in the society while, at the same time, giving justification to the same.
What does she mean by “subjugated knowledge”?
Patricia Hill Collins describes that Black feminist thought is a subjugated knowledge, and this fact ought to be illustrated by the point that its location within mainstream discourse is marginal. This term underlines its status as a historical pattern of suppression and rejection of the Black Feminist experience in which dominant systems of objectivity and self-evidence have been swept over it. With the conceptual backdrop of centering the voices of Blaçlk women and providing alternative explanations to examine social reality, black feminist thought becomes a challenge accorded to reigning discourses. In expressing an awareness that it is dominated, Collins reiterates the imperative role of the expression and substantiation of black feminist voices in academic and public discussions within society.
Criteria that lead to oppression
- Objectivity: Positivism overemphasizes objectivity, attempting to provide knowledge devoid of personal bias or subjective influence. However, this sense of objectivity often side-steps the varied perspectives and knowledge born from lived experiences such as those of black women(Longhofer & Winchester, 2016). In the quest for objectivity, positivism tends to forget all the subjective realities and other knowledge emanating from such experiences.
- Universality: Positivism tries to find truths and principles applicable in all contexts. However, universality views often disregard the location specificity and intersectionality of oppression. Black feminist thought emphasized knowledge’s interpretation within its concrete social and historical context and thereby confronted the existence of universal truths that could account for all people within society(Roberts et al., 2021).
- Neutrality: Positivism aspires to reach some level of neutrality in the process of knowledge, whereby it approaches a neutral and independent position. It will only reinforce the existing power relations as it further looks at the views of the critical groups while sidelining other knowledge (Roberts et al., 2021). Black feminist thought claims that true neutrality is impossible because all knowledge is affected by social location and subjectivity.
Own lived experience
I stopped to wait for the bus, and several men were molesting a pretty young woman. I felt abashed and decided to come to her rescue, but instead of a kind answer, mockery and some disgusting words about me have reached my ears. As someone who noticed the incident, I felt societal pressure to keep silent and fear of exacerbating things. This experience brought to my attention the intersectional nature of gender and entered me into power dynamics, where my effort to question oppression met with resistance on account of my gender and apparent lack of ‘authority.’ It underscored how systems of oppression come together in everyday interactions to shape many of our experiences in quite complex and often wholly unpredictable ways.
In conclusion, including race and gender perspectives in incorporating theory into integration is challenging prevailing discourses that have otherwise made the provision of inclusive and equitable theories impossible. Intersectional analyses enrich theoretical frameworks with deeper insights into power dynamics and social injustices by centering the voices of the marginalized and critically questioning traditional notions of objectivity and universality. Affirming intersectionality nurtures a more hearty and sophisticated dialogue essential in grappling with the complex realities of human societies.
References
Longhofer, W., & Winchester, D. (2016). Social theory re-wired: New connections to classical and contemporary perspectives.
Roberts, S. O., Bareket-Shavit, C., & Wang, M. (2021). The souls of Black folk (and the weight of Black ancestry) in US Black Americans’ racial categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 121(1)
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