Within the whole of society, there is the concept of intersectionality. Intersectionality can be defined as the multiplicity of oppressions or discriminations (gender, race, class, sexuality, ableism, etc.) that are interlocking and cannot be looked at individually from one another. The intersectionality that I have experienced in my own life was learned through the lives of the indigenous women. All women experience oppression based on gender, but some experience oppression on other bases in addition to gender. Indigenous women have, without a doubt, experienced plenty of oppression. As a result of settler colonialism, they are continuing to be discriminated against based on both gender and race. I learned through aboriginal women that there is a complexity of hardships that each person has to endure and that gender based oppression is not commonly experienced separately. .
Often, people do not realise how greatly intersectionality relates to them or the people around them. The reality is that most individuals who experience one type of oppression, are also affected by another because they are all complexly joined together. There are so many different means of discrimination that it is difficult to distinguish what exactly an individual is affected by. This is made even more difficult due to the fact that most cases of oppression are interlocking with another, making them indistinguishable. The history of discrimination has a lot to do with how some individuals experience intersectionality, such as women. Oppression and discrimination are behaviours that are learned over time. We as a society create stereotypes and expectations of people based simply upon how they were seen throughout history. .
Women have always fought for their right to be equal to men. It has been such a struggle for them because history has laid out the rules for how a woman should live and act. Oppression against women is a concept that is still very prevalent due to the thought that the status of women should be similar to that of the past.
