As a Latina woman, who also identifies with her African roots, I often find myself criticizing a movement when it lacks intersectionality. Intersectionality is defined as "the interconnected nature of social groupings such as race, class, gender, and sexual orientation, which often overlap one another in one way or another." For me, a straight Latina woman those are three subcategories that intersect for myself. I am just so tired of reading articles and seeing on the news about all of the horrible ways women of color are being treated. And as a women of color myself I think it’s time someone stand up and say something about the need for intersectionality, because like my mother says “Estoy hasta la coronilla!”

The first reason why this is a crucial necessity for any movement is having to remember that everyone’s experiences are uniquely different due to what circumstances we are born or grow to fall into. A prime example is the misinterpretation of feminism, and the fact that feminism for women of color is distinctively different from feminism for white women. A great example is the situation that occurred between Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj on Twitter. Taylor tried to make an issue that was clearly about race an issue about women. Another artist is Miley Cyrus who is constantly appropriating black culture, and objectifying black women while trying to make a “feminist” message. Anyone who has heard Lily Allen’s “It’s Hard Out Here” would be all for the song and then see the video and be flabbergasted that a song talking about not being someone's flunkie (for lack of a better word) has a plethora of black women being objectified repeatedly. White feminism often fails to realize that women of color face bigger opposition than just being women. We face the opposition of being minorities as well as other aspects, in regards to sexual orientation, religion and ableism, etc.

I have had several encounters within academia, especially that have made me realize how necessary intersectionality is. My first year in college was my biggest eye opener. I was the only person of color in the class but I was also one of the only ones who came from an extremely underfunded high school. Going to college I knew I would have to work twice as hard to keep up. That was an understatement. I constantly feel like I need to prove myself. Having graduated Valedictorian, I felt pride to be where I was due to my hard work and dedication, but it always felt like I was being undermined if not by my peers then by my professors. This encounter also factors into my opinion on how vital intersectionality is for women like myself.

Now moving forward intersectionality is necessary for movements like “Black Lives Matter” and the more current “LGBT+ Love Wins,” to be successful. Black women often face the largest amount of obstacles, no matter how privileged they are, (search Malia and Sasha Obama), they still face an intense amount of oppression.

While many women stand in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, they are often times bashed by the same men they are supporting, who don’t care to support or appreciate their natural hair movement. Black women are often undermined constantly. Looking at the number, black women are the highest populace receiving degrees, yet there are only an actual handful of black women in CEO positions. Now imagine being a black woman, who just happens to also be gay and poor, imagine being a part of all of these subgroups, and not being able to fully identify in one or another movement. Having to be split into categories to fight for rights that should be given to a person. Being pulled into three movements, and not having your own unique experience as a member of said community acknowledged. The same goes for minority men. For some reason being gay, especially in the Latino and black community, is one of the hardest obstacles to endure. It’s like the minute they “come out,” they have these huge targets on their backs, and have no support from the men from their own communities.

There comes the profound issues that come from a lack of intersectionality in movements, especially to women. Perspective is everything. Currently the biggest push for intersectionality is coming from the Feminist movement. However, there are some people who would say that intersectionality isn’t needed because if a women experiences racism it’s just that, if she experiences sexism it’s just that, but somehow it’s not deemed possible that a woman can experience both, thus making it harder to identify. If a person can be sexist can they not also be racist? Can a woman of color automatically assume that her discrimination is in one form or another?

Moving even further down the ladder, can you tell me that a homosexual white male, and a heterosexual black female don’t experience discrimination in different ways? Unless the male expresses his sexual orientation one would not know and thus he would be going on his day to day life, living and reaping the benefits of being a white heterosexual male in today’s society. Whereas the woman cannot hide her blackness, she cannot hide her woman-ness, everywhere she goes she is perceived as what she is a black female, reaping the misfortune of being a minority in America.

While there are only a few of groups of people who are being discussed here, I’d like to be clear that every group of people, whether it be women, LGBT+, minorities, religious, disabled, everyone experiences obstacles based on their circumstances. And to quote a wise man, “There is no universal experience.” I cannot speak for all minorities, and I cannot speak for all women, but I can speak on what I know to be true in my experiences.

The point remains that when it comes to social movements, or any interaction really, intersectionality is something that should always be implemented. Whether it be in a classroom, in the community or anywhere, it is something that should be thought about. Especially because we live in a world where people have been enduring their struggle in silent for so long.