1. Intersections And Identity
From Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives by Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey

2. Identity: how we define ourselves at any particular moment in life and how others define us
The result of a complex interplay of a range of factors and is an ongoing process…
Who am I ?

3. Answer these questions
Which social groups do I want to affiliate with?
Who/what do societal institutions (schools, the law, religious institutions) say I am?
Who am I?
What do others think I am?
Where/what/ who are my home and community?
Answer these questions

4. Micro, Meso, and Macro
Three levels of identification

5. Micro I am… What did you answer for the first question?
For example, what are your family roles?
Micro

6. Meso In relation to community (neighborhood, workplace, school)
What did you answer to the second question?
For example, what groups were you part of in high school?
Meso

7. Macro In relationship to the social structure
Social categories such as gender, class, and race are used to establish and maintain a particular kind of social order
In each category, one group is deemed superior and the others are deemed inferior
Macro

8. Categories Gender Race Class Nation Ethnicity Sexual Orientation
Religion
Physical Ability
Age
Language
Categories
Can you name the dominant and subordinate groups in each?

9. Identities are Complex
People are not simply dominant and subordinate
Many are privileged on one or more dimensions, and at the same time subordinated on the other dimensions
Identities are Complex

10. Social Location Where all the aspects of one’s identity meet
We live with multiple intersecting identities
They operate together to:
Privilege or subordinate people
Social Location
Analyzing this complexity is called intersectionality