In the year 1989, Kimberle Crenshaw, a professor at the University of California, coined the term intersectionality. The name was meant to describe the overlapping of various individual factors such as gender, class, and race, and its resulting impact on a person's life. The concept of intersectionality is illustrated by the experiences of women of color in their daily life. Women of color are condemned double discrimination since they are black and female and are thereby subject to inequality based on race and gender. The discrimination of women of color due to a combination of two or more protected classes (racism and sexism) is what people refer to as intersectional inequality towards black women (Jane, 2019) . The study discusses intersectional bias towards black women as a gender inequality issue.
Effects on individuals, group and society
Intersectional inequality towards black women has led to numerous challenges. One of the main causes pertains to the racial division of labor that is presently witnessed in multiple work environments. An overwhelming number of black women are assigned to work on low-paying domestic chores/labor, while the better paying and prestigious jobs are reserved for women from white, middle, or upper-class backgrounds. Regardless of their education qualifications, black women are still stuck in low paying jobs. They constitute over 33% of employees in low paying jobs, where they work as health aides, personal caregivers, fast food, and retail employees. Another challenge that women from the black society face is the inequality of pay. Employers think that black women do not deserve equal pay as other people (Toni & Sadie, 2018) . Presently, women of color make about $0.61 for every dollar earned by white male employees, while Asian and white women make $0.85 and $0.77, respectively. When certain situations arise, that is, economic recessions, black women are usually the first to be laid off even when they were the last to be hired. To make matters worse, when these women seek legal redress due to dual experiences of racism and sexism in the workplace, their cases are thrown out (Pappoe, 2019) . The reason, the legal system does not allow one to seek legal justice through a combination of two or more protected classes.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Selection of the creative medium to engage gender inequality
A poem highlighting the intersectional inequality of black women is used as the creative medium of sensitizing members of the public. The decision to use a poem as the awareness medium rests on its simplicity and ability to influence social change. Besides, poetry is the best tool that can invoke empathy and cause people to see something from an entirely different perspective. Thus, these characteristics make poetry the most suitable tool for highlighting and publicizing this issue of intersectional inequality of women of color.
Why public awareness of the issue is important
Public awareness initiative efforts ought to be undertaken to reduce the suffrage of black women. People are ignorant about the intersectional inequality of women of color, either due to a lack of knowledge or previous experiences. However, public awareness is an excellent method of educating members of the public and assists in creation of appropriate measures towards prevention of intersectional inequality. It also sensitizes on the need to implement more programs, policies, and research aimed at easing the burden of the marginalized and vulnerable people/women of color. Public awareness is also useful in enabling collaboration between organizations, the influence of donors, and the bringing together of like-minded individuals to create an enabling environment that encourages intersectional approaches (Chaplin, Twigg & Lovell, 2019). For instance, AnitaB.org has teamed with like-minded organizations to publicize the Black Women's Equal Pay Day, which is aimed at ensuring that black women earn the same pay as their white male colleagues.
Change through creative medium
Public awareness through poetry can make people that reproduce interactional forms of inequality to change their view. Since words are powerful and at times, an oppressive medium, they have the potential to liberate. Poetry effectively communicates the message of equity, and when used effectively, it liberates the oppressors of black women from their toxic racism, masculinity, and their sort of desperation.
Poem
Why do you oppress me?
Do you fear I might become more in life?
Is it because I am black?
Is it because I am a woman?
Or is it because I am both?
As a woman, I suffer daily.
As a black woman, I suffer even more.
Don’t you mistake my meekness for weakness
I might not be muscular or have a huge statue
But when I do speak, I will leave you utterly speechless
Don’t be swayed by your righteousness.
Don't be so confident in your power.
You are yet to read my story.
Because you took a single look at me,
And condemned me to my fate.
Because my melanin and gender blind you.
You fail to discover the more that is in me,
Than I enable you to see it.
Open up your eyes.
Awake from your slumber.
And watch out for me.
I make my own decisions.
With only the Almighty’s permission.
References
Chaplin, D., Twigg, J., & Lovell, E. (2019). Intersectional approaches to vulnerability reduction and resilience-building.
Jane, C. (2019, May 28). The intersectionality wars . Retrieved from Vox: https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/5/20/18542843/intersectionality-conservatism-law-race-gender-discrimination
Pappoe, Y. N. (2019). The Shortcomings of Title VII for the Black Female Plaintiff. U. Pa. JL & Soc. Change , 22 , 1.
Toni, C., & Sadie, G. (2018). The Challenge of Intersectionality . Retrieved from American Society on Aging: https://www.asaging.org/blog/challenge-intersectionality
