USC Intersectionality Memorandum

Analytic Memo

Please respond to the following prompt:

We have stated that our primary theoretical framework in this class in Intersectionality, which states that we should not view identity as ‘either/or’ but rather ‘both/and’ across different categories. From this point of view, we must work hard analytically to understand an individual’s ‘Standpoint’ on the basis of their relationship to categories of identity. Selecting at least two of the major categories of your own identity, discuss how those categories have intersected to shape your own life experiences, and how your experiences may be similar or different from others on the basis of one or both of those categories. A good example if Sojourner Truth’s speech “Ain’t I a Woman,” in which she points out that her status as a woman of color means she is not included in many of the conversations her fellow white feminists were having at the time.