Coined by civil rights scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, the term intersectionality refers to overlapping and interconnected discriminations and how racism and sexism share a symbiotic relationship. The term was initially coined in the context of Black feminist activism to describe the “intersecting, disadvantaging factors” in legal cases. The term is now used in broader contexts including LGBTQ issues. 

One common misunderstanding of the theory of intersectionality is that it describes a mathematical process of addition. The theory, in fact, concerns overlapping and interconnecting factors that lead to discrimination. As Crenshaw explains it in 2017, “intersectionality is a lens through which you can see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects.”

The term went mainstream in the twenty-first century. The Oxford English Dictionary included the word intersectionality in 2015. Organizers of the Women’s March in 2017 used the term to highlight women’s “intersecting identities.” Minorities are “impacted by a multitude of social justice and human rights issues.”

Suffice it to say, everyone stands at a crossroad where they are shaped by multiple social factors and roles. This is the case even if someone seems to have an identity that aligns with a dominant community.