In Gail Lewis’s, “Unsafe Travel,” she discusses the ways in which European discourses often fail to include aspects of race when discussing intersectionality. For the most part, discussions of intersectionality have been very prevalent in the United States and Britain. Its conception was originally focused on how race and other socially constructed categories result in the different forms of oppression that people experience. However there seems to be a divide when it comes to how intersectionality is discussed in the United States and Britain versus the rest of Europe. It seems that the rest of Europe has not included race as a prominent category when dealing with intersectionality. They view it as a problem that is almost taboo, and that is mostly dealt with in the United States and Britain.
One of the main problems that Lewis touches upon is how theory changes when it travels. In many instances theories, like intersectionality, are transnational, but the problem is how much it changes throughout its travels. Is the theory going to be received appropriately in the context of the culture it is arriving in? Although there is the acknowledgement that theory should be able to change as new developments occur, the concern is whether or not it is going to be recognizable to what it was originally conceived as. Intersectionality is the idea that one’s identity is multifaceted. It suggests that there are multiple categories that shape our experience and agency in society. These categories include, race, class, sex, gender, sexual identity, and economic status. |
Depending on how someone identifies with these categories, their experiences are different. It is important to recognize intersectionality because it deconstructs the idea that there is one universal experience for everyone. Not every man shares the same experience, and not every woman shares the same exact experience. Intersectionality acknowledges the fact that there are certain factors that make each person’s experiences different from everyone else’s. In a sense, the use of intersectionality helps dismantle the idea of having a white male and a white female narrative that is supposed to somehow fit everyone’s lives.
The concept of intersectionality is greatly related to my research project. My research is focused on deconstructing the narrative that has pervaded the gay community for a long time. Although there is a lot of progress being made in the LGBTQ community, it seems as if the queer white narrative has been made to seem as the universal experience for everyone else. However, identifying as gay in other cultures and backgrounds does not always mean the same thing. Latinx men who identify as gay have a different experience when it deals with coming out and navigating their sexuality and identity. In my own research, my participants constantly felt pressured by their families to prove their heterosexuality. They were constantly asked about the elusive "novia" that they would never have. Since my research is focused on gay Latinx men and their experiences in society, I have to acknowledge the role that intersectionality plays in all of it. The knowledge that exists regarding gay men does not always fit for everyone, and that is why I am hoping that my research project can shine a light on the experiences of these men so that we can expand on a narrative that has not been entirely validated. |
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