Mapping the Margins

[alikayaa]

Today in class when we were discussing Crenshaw's reading, the topic of identity politics came up.  This was an interesting subject for me because I feel like it helps to sum up Crenshaw's argument a bit.  It does this because it can be seen as "a source of strength, community, and intellectual development" (pg. 175) that many minorities and oppressed groups lean on to provide support for each other.  The problems however that Crenshaw points out seem to out way the positives.  She points out that when it comes to violence, women generally ignore the "difference within groups contribut[ing] to tension among groups" (pg. 175) leading to more problems within the groups involved.  This passage helps to set up rest of the reading discussing intersectionality which stems from these intergroup problems created by violence.