Intersectionality can be defined as, “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage”. Intersectionality considers people’s overlapping identities and how they relate to the prejudices they face. This is a concept that was new to me this quarter, I had heard the term before but I was happy to become more educated on this concept. Racism and discrimination exist today and people are often disadvantaged due to multiple sources of oppression. This can include somebody’s gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, etc. And yet what do these categories all have in common? They are all means of identities for folks. Intersectionality is important to me because it allowed me to see a more clear view of my identities and how they overlap. A big part of my identity is my ethnicity. I am Mexican and white, and this has been a huge part of my life. My culture is extremely important to me and for the majority of my life, I was raised in a household that practiced a lot of cultural norms and values and my family mostly spoke Spanish in the house. It wasn’t until my parents’ divorce that I began to realize just how much my culture means to me. When my parents divorced, my mom stopped speaking Spanish, she stopped making traditional meals I was used to, and she converted to a different religion. To her, this was going back to her way of life and her values that she had before meeting my dad, but this took a lot of getting used to for my siblings and I. I had to move from Everett to Mukilteo with my mom and brothers after the divorce and I went from a diverse school with kids who had similar struggles as me to a new school where the kids were very different and mostly white. Growing up my I always questioned my identity and I was always trying to fit into a category. I was too Mexican for the white kids at my new school and now too white for my old friends at my previous school, it’s still something I struggle with today. Along with my ethnicity, another important aspect of my identity is my sexual orientation. I come from a very traditional and strict family, we don’t really talk about that kind of stuff. Discovering more about myself and preferences has been a journey, but I have also faced some aversions because of it. People have told me that I am “not allowed” to claim one identity when I contradict it, but our identities are what make us unique. I grew up in Everett Washington and my family lived paycheck to paycheck. My parents worked extremely hard to provide for my siblings and I, we didn’t always have the nicest things or the nicest clothes, but we always had shelter and food. Kids at my new school would call my brother and me poor and for a long time, I was even embarrassed for them to know where I lived since all of my peers in Mukilteo lived in big houses by the water and I was living in a small duplex on the corner of a busy street. Despite these being disadvantages for me at some points in my life, they are what make up my identity and they have taught me so much about myself. I don’t see these as obstacles or sources of discrimination anymore. Being from a low-income family taught me the importance of working hard- I worked extremely hard to get into college and to get a scholarship so that I could afford my school. Being Mexican-American has made me more appreciative of not only my culture but other cultures as well, I have done more advocating for social justice issues. Being bisexual has taught me to be comfortable in my own skin and to not let somebody decide what I can and can’t label for myself. I have faced many obstacles where people would insult me and target these identities of mine, but I feel more empowered than ever in my life.
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