POSITIONALITY AND INTERSECTIONALITY

Image from Shades Of Noir, Disabled People: The Voice of Many, p131

This task was a little dis-arming! Who am I? What makes me, me? How does that make me see the world? What experiences have shaped me? What do I know, or think I know? How do I live? Why have I made these choices? What do I think about these things? It’s DEEP and at times uncomfortable. I am privileged; I have been to University, I constantly benefit from a system that was not built to oppress me. I am a woman and I used to work in a very male orientated industry. I speak with an accent. There are so many facets and layers to my being, and what I experience through my families experiences too. Trying to sum this up and un-pick it in 300 words without much of a context was difficult…how much do I include? How much gritty detail do I go into? Trying to find the language and terminology to explain parts of me, what I am, and am not. It was a very interesting process. I have thought about it a lot. I have to admit I wasn’t fully aware of the term positionality before now, but had definitely reflected on aspects of it in my teaching. Imagining what students were going through based on some of my University experiences and living in other countries, moving to places where the language is not my own etc. and trying to understand other perspectives reflecting on my lived experiences and imagining what it is like to step into other shoes. My voice is shaped by my experiences. But my experiences are not the only experiences.

The task on filling out positionality based on an image only (as I was not aware who the people listed were) I found highly uncomfortable. I couldn’t do it, I’d be just making it up, making assumptions. It forced me to reflect on how often I probably do this in day to day life- a lot. What do I unconsciously assume about people based on my experience? What to I assume about students? Their gender from a name on a register? Where they are from by how they sound and look? Level of spoken English? Intelligence? So many things can be assumed from small daily transactions. Students and staff alike have assumed on many occasions that I am a Student, why?

We must be conscious about our own experiences, values and potential biases and how this affects our assumptions, what we do instantaneously, and check in with ourselves…why do we think that? What is it based on? What is the truth and not a conclusion that I jumped to in my brain? Open conversation, communication and reflection on how I engage with people. As teaching staff, we must be aware of the inherent power dynamics that come with our roles, and what the curriculum presents.

Intersectionality is a phrase that was devised by American professor of Law Kimberlie Crenshaw in 1989. Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and a leading scholar in the field of critical race theory.

Intersectionality is about acknowledging that we all live at intersections of multiple identities and how these as a combination, relate to society and politics. Examples of these aspects include, but are not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexuality, and so on. These intersecting and overlapping identities may be both empowering and oppressing.

We must be conscious of the multi-faceted aspects of people’s identities and be sensitive to what that means, how they are positioned in society, culture and in politics.