Intersectional Experiences Research Articles

Intersectionality in Health Communication: How Health Communication Influences the Association Between Intersectional Discrimination and Health Information Seeking

With an intersectional orientation, we examine associations between discrimination, health communication, and information-seeking intention about HIV prevention in the context of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among cisgender women through an online survey (N = 341). We elaborate on the idea that intersectional discrimination is a social determinant of health by considering the context with differing power relations—day-to-day life and the healthcare field—based on Bourdieu’s field theory, and explore moderating roles of health communication in this relationship according to the structural influence model of communication (SIM). The relationships between intersectional discrimination and intention show different patterns by the context in which intersectional experiences are considered, and the relationships are moderated differently by the mode of health communication. We discuss how to conduct intersectionality-informed health communication research without sacrificing intersectionality’s foundational foci.

Using Intersectionality to Understand How Structural Domains Are Embedded in Life Narratives.

This study draws on life narrative data and an intersectional framework to explore features of narratives around structural domains, aiming to better understand the possible impacts of these domains on identity. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 177 young adults from primarily minoritized groups (73% Asian American or Latine, 59% Women, Median Parent Income = $50,001 to $75,000), we gathered 885 life narratives. Young adults narrated a domain-general, ethnic/racial, gender, social class, and intersectional experience. Features capturing the content (Presence of Structural Domains, Connection to and Between Structural Domains) and process (Meaning Making, Affective Tone) of narratives were explored. Structural domains manifested uniquely within narratives such that ethnicity/race was discussed most frequently across narratives, whereas gender and social class were mentioned more in narratives about those domains. Additionally, Meaning Making was highest in self-defining narratives and positively correlated with the number of structural domains present within and across narratives. Affective Tone was most positive in self-defining narratives and most negative in social class narratives, which also contained the lowest Connection to Structural Domain. This study combines an intersectional framework and life narrative data to understand how structural domains manifest within young adults' experiences, revealing how those domains are interconnected and may impact identity.

Disparities in Food Insecurity and Academic Achievement Among California Public University Students: An Intersectional Approach.

Background/Objectives: Historically racialized status (HRS) and low socioeconomic position (SEP) are independent risk factors for food insecurity and poor academic achievement among college students. Despite increased enrollment of students from historically racialized groups and low SEP, little is known regarding the intersectional experience of these contemporary student characteristics with food security status or academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to examine the intersections of racialized status and SEP with food insecurity and academic achievement among undergraduate students attending a public university system in California. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1170 undergraduates who utilized their campus food pantry between June and August 2019 at nine University of California campuses. Racialized status and SEP were used to construct four distinct intersectional positions: (1) White, not low SEP (i.e., traditional students; reference), and three contemporary student groups: (2) White, low SEP; (3) HRS, not low SEP; and (4) HRS, low SEP. Using regression analyses, these intersectional positions were examined with food insecurity and grade point average (GPA), while controlling for other student characteristics. Results: HRS, low SEP students had significantly higher odds of experiencing food insecurity (OR = 2.72; 95% CI: 1.52-4.97) and lower GPA (B = -0.14, p = 0.05) than traditional students, after adjustment. Conclusions: Contemporary students are at increased risk of food insecurity and lower academic achievement compared to traditional students.

Revising Gerty MacDowell’s Identity and Agency: An Intersectional Feminist Disability Perspective

Gerty MacDowell’s initial, albeit brief, appearance in James Joyce’s Ulysses has sparked debates regarding her identity and agency. In the critical literature, there are interpretations that characterize Gerty as a woman and disabled person whose actions conform to patriarchal beauty standards that objectify her. This paper argues for revising such readings by applying an intersectional feminist disability perspective attuned to the interconnections between her womanhood and disability. Rather than positing Gerty’s identities as inherently conflicting, I illustrate how her disability and feminine social position co-constitute and transform one another. Her self-care practices aimed at securing a husband, though partly conforming to norms, also foster confidence and counter pervasive cultural assumptions of disabled women as ugly, useless, and asexual. Gerty’s exhibition of sexual desire and pursuit of pleasure likewise contest views of disabled women as unsuitable for romance or unable to be agentic sexual subjects. Furthermore, conceptualizing agency beyond neoliberal notions of rational autonomy acting against all constraints upholds Gerty’s agentic power. She makes strategic use of available discourses and resources to expand her precarious options given material and ideological limitations. Overall, analyzing Gerty’s intersectional experience denaturalizes the reductive models of identity and agency that have dominated Ulysses criticism. Applying fresh perspectives opens new symbolic interpretations of embodied identity and sexuality.

Theatre of the Oppressed to Teach Medical Students About Power, Lived Experience, and Health Equity.

A difficult challenge in health equity training is conducting honest and safe discussions about differences in lived experience based on social identity, and how racism and other systems of oppression impact health care. To evaluate a Theatre of the Oppressed workshop for medical students that examines systems of oppression as related to lived health care experiences. Mixed-methods cross-sectional survey and interviews. Forty randomly assigned early first-year medical students. A 90-min virtual workshop with three clinical scenes created by students where a character is being discriminated against or oppressed. During performance, students can stop scene, replace oppressed character, and role play how they would address harm, marginalization, and power imbalance. Participants discuss what they have witnessed and experienced. Likert-scale questions assessing workshop's impact. Open-ended survey questions and interviews about workshop. Thirty-one (78%) of 40 participants completed the survey. Fifty-three percent were female. Thirty-seven percent were White, 33% Asian American, 15% Black, 11% Latinx, and 4% multiracial. Ninety percent thought this training could help them take better care of patients with lived experiences different from their own. Most agreed or strongly agreed the workshop helped them develop listening (23, 77%) and observation (26, 84%) skills. Twelve (39%) students felt stressed, while 29 (94%) felt safe. Twenty-five (81%) students agreed or strongly agreed there were meaningful discussions about systemic inequities. Students reported the workshop helped them step into others' shoes, understand intersectional experiences of multiple identities, and discuss navigating and addressing bias, discrimination, social drivers of health, hierarchy, power structures, and systems of oppression. Some thought it was difficult to have open discussions because of fear of being poorly perceived by peers. Theatre of the Oppressed enabled medical students to engage in meaningful discussions about racism and other systems of oppression.

Toward Postsecular Feminism: Intersectionality and the Religious Subjectivities of Women Migrant Workers in China

This article investigates the subjectivities of Christian women migrant workers within the context of China’s social transformation, characterized by the interactive advancement of global capitalism, rural-to-urban migration, and “Christian fever.” Despite the burgeoning literature on women migrant workers in global capitalism within geographical scholarship, there has been less focus on women migrants’ religious subjectivity and agency. Drawing on empirical research on the intersectional experiences of women migrant workers, this article seeks to advance a postsecular feminism by bringing intersectionality into conversation with debates on postsecularity and gender inequalities. First, we examine the intersectional “matrix of domination” imposed through state power, Chinese patriarchal culture, and the gendered and class-based disciplinary labor regime under global capitalism, which serves as an ontological condition in which women migrants’ religious subjectivities form and are shaped. Second, we use intersectionality to help understand the process of becoming and a relation of emergence, wherein multiple agential qualities of women migrants—manifesting as counterpatriarchal subjects or through docile, tolerant, self-sacrificial, and pious femininity—arise at the intersections of religion, class, gender, and family. We therefore argue that postsecular feminist critique needs to carefully consider the patterns and diverse effects of intersectionality where both domination and religious agency are engendered and interwoven.

Navigating Unique Intersectional Experiences: LGBTQ+ Community Organisations Addressing Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities' Needs.

This exploratory study aimed to enhance the understanding of practitioners' experiences within LGBTQ+ community organisations when providing interventions for LGBTQ+ individuals with intellectual disabilities. Three specific objectives were outlined: to document the situations and challenges encountered by practitioners; to identify perceived needs among LGBTQ+ individuals with intellectual disabilities and to elicit their suggestions for recommendations to improve services. A qualitative approach, involving in-depth interviews with 12 Québec-based LGBTQ+ community practitioners, underwent content analysis. Findings were organised around three themes: perceived support needs of LGBTQ+ people with intellectual disabilities; challenges experienced in intervention and recommendations to improve services. Findings reveal that practitioners frequently face significant challenges when supporting LGBTQ+ individuals with intellectual disabilities, who often struggle with multiple daily challenges and insufficient support. The study highlights the need to empower LGBTQ+ organisations with essential skills and foster partnerships with public service staff to ensure a more inclusive, intersectional approach.

Centering the Most Marginalized: Black Women Movement Actors and Misogynoir in the Movement for Black Lives

This research evaluates the extent to which 30 Black women movement actors (e.g., leaders, organizers, and protestors) narrate their intersectional experiences in the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Specifically, through the narratives and experiences of Black women movement actors (BWMAs) within contemporary social movements, this work uses sociological intersectionality as a theoretical conceptualization and analytical method to link misogynoir to movement literature. Misogynoir was a recurring, embedded concept that had a sustaining effect on movement goals. Also, the amount of time in movement acted as an important identifier of a structural analysis for BWMAs intersectional interpretations. Joya Misra, Celeste Vaughan Curinton, and Venus Mary Green proffer six tenets of sociological analysis that help to illuminate the tools BWMAs use to challenge local organizations to decenter male-centric goals and center women, queer, and differently abled needs for liberation, toward a more comprehensive movement. Implications for future research are discussed.

Examining the impact of daily discrimination on alcohol use among racially diverse, trauma-exposed sexually minoritized adults: A pilot study.

Identity-based stress and trauma are key drivers of alcohol use-related health inequities among minoritized people. Research on intersectional experiences of identity-based stress and alcohol use among trauma-exposed minoritized people is scant. This pilot study used a 30-day diary design to examine the effect of identity-based discrimination exposure on alcohol use in a racially diverse sample of trauma-exposed sexual minoritized (SM) adults (N = 47; 63.8% cisgender female; 65.2% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color [BIPOC]). Multilevel logistic regression models were used to evaluate whether days marked by any (vs. no) identity-based discrimination were concurrently or prospectively associated with increased likelihood of reporting a higher (vs. lower) level of drinking-and whether these associations differed by race/ethnicity. Discrimination was associated with increased likelihood of reporting a higher level of same-day drinking (B = 0.91, p = .03), but did not predict next-day drinking. BIPOC (vs. White) individuals were less likely to report a higher drinking level on or following nondiscrimination days (Bs = -2.18 to -1.52, ps ≤ .005), but more likely to do so on or following discrimination days (Bs = 1.13-1.60, ps ≤ .03). Results suggest that everyday discrimination may create insidious risk for coping-motivated alcohol use among SM BIPOC, a subgroup that otherwise exhibits resilience with respect to drinking. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Blackness in dual language bilingual education research: A call to expand constructions of U.S. Latinidad

ABSTRACT Though recent research has begun to problematize the enactment of anti-Black ideologies within dual language bilingual education (DLBE) research, fewer studies have explored how dominant raciolinguistic ideologies impact U.S. AfroLatinx learners. In this semi-systematic literature review, I examine how Blackness is (or is not) taken up in DLBE scholarship, focusing on three primary lines of inquiry: deficit orientations toward Black language, race-evasiveness, and the role of raciolinguistic ideologies in mediating identity development. This endeavor merges insights from raciolinguistic ideologies and Black-imiento to challenge the under-theorization of U.S. AfroLatinidad in DLBE and call for an expansion of research that specifically attends to the intersectional experiences of Black emergent bilinguals and developing an AfroLatinx historical consciousness in DLBE scholarship and pedagogy.

‘I’m looking as white and as straight as possible at all times’: a qualitative study exploring the intersectional experiences of BAME LGBTQ+ medical students in the UK

ObjectivesThe positive formation of professional identity is considered crucial in how medical students begin to feel and act as clinicians. Although, awareness of how Professional Identity Formation (PIF) may be...

Intersecting Expectations when Expecting: Pregnancy-Related Weight Stigma in Women of Colour.

Weight stigma is a social justice issue that can lead to weight-based discrimination and mistreatment. In pregnancy, emerging evidence has highlighted that weight stigma predominantly affects individuals who have larger bodies and is associated with postpartum depression and avoidance of healthcare. Racial and ethnic background will influence perceptions of, and responses to, weight stigma and therefore it is necessary to ensure diverse voices are represented in our understanding of weight stigma. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten women who were within one year postpartum; nine identified as Black or African American and one as Hawaiian. Thematic analysis led to identification of three themes: (1) sources of weight stigma and their response to it, (2) support systems to overcome weight stigma, and (3) intersectional experiences. Women reported that sources of weight stigma included unsolicited comments made about their weight often coming from strangers or healthcare professionals that resulted in emotional distress. Support systems identified were family members and partners who encouraged them to not focus on negative remarks made about weight. Intersectional accounts included comparing their bodies to White women, suggesting that they may carry their weight differently. Women shared that, although they felt immense pressure to lose weight quickly postpartum, motherhood and childcare was their utmost priority. These findings inform further prospective examination of the implications of weight stigma in pregnancy among diverse populations, as well as inform inclusive public health strategies to mitigate weight stigma.

Networked everyday lives in the ‘care-full’ city: A framework for examining the complexities of immigrants living with dementia, carepartners, and care workers

ABSTRACT The ways in which people living with dementia (PLWD) care and are cared for in urban and suburban environments is not fully understood. Specifically, there is limited research on the impact neighborhoods have on the intersectional experiences of well-being for PLWD and their formal and informal caregivers—particularly for immigrants, women, and those living in under-resourced suburban areas. Writing from the geographical context of the inner suburb of Scarborough in Toronto, Canada, we present a framework for understanding the everyday complexities of care practices in this triad of individuals—PLWDs, care partners, and care workers—that considers their diverse practices, contexts, identities, and relations through time. Documenting these networks of caring complexities, represented in social and spatial ways, can disrupt the ways in which neoliberalism has relegated the understanding of care to be a highly gendered and racialized problem, as well as an individual problem to be solved by the free market, and to be contained in the home between family members (not in the public community realm).

The burden of non-communicable diseases in India: Why the intersectionality lens matters?

In India, structures such as caste, class and gender have been shaped by socio-historical forces such as colonialism, development, capitalism and patriarchy. Many of the forces are still at play. The intersection of such structural bases happens in a complex manner in a dynamic socio-historical environment resulting in differential power and privileges for individuals and social groups in Indian society. NCDs are chronic and social determinism shapes the lifestyle choices (e.g. diet and physical activity) that people make. Intersectional experiences result in distinct life chances, shaping exposure to risk factors (both behavioural and environmental), care seeking behaviour, and health outcomes. It is, therefore, imperative to go beyond the individual in the discourse on NCDs. It is equally necessary to understand the complexity of the dynamic and intersecting nature of inequities playing out in socio-historical contexts that shape intersectional experiences of uneven exposure to risk factors, care seeking behaviour and resultant health outcomes for social groups and population subgroups in India. The epidemiological capture of the public health discourse on NCDs in India is reflected in the research and policy articulation of it. This can be limiting, both in terms of understanding NCDs, and responding to it in policies and programmes to secure population health. The appreciation of the importance of the intersectionality lens, and its adoption in research and policy formulation on NCDs in India, will be crucial in lessening their burden and promoting the health of its people. Using the lens in the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes on NCDs can advance equity in India.

"It's like having a superpower": Reclaiming creativity and the intersectional experiences of trans young adults of color.

Trans young adults of color experience systemic harm that contributes to negative health outcomes and hinders their ability to live freely. The present study used a grounded theory qualitative methodology rooted in a critical-ideological paradigm to understand the intersections of racial and gender oppression. Trans young adults of color from across the United States (N = 15; ages 20-29; majority racial identities: Asian, Black, and multiracial; majority gender identities: nonbinary and transmasculine) participated in a semistructured interview. Analyses identified a six-category empirical framework explaining major dimensions and processes of intersectional experiences of trans people of color. The core category, Reclaiming Creativity, reflected how trans communities of color use creativity to build their identities and communities beyond intersectional oppressive societal norms and imagine a better, more liberated world. The remaining five categories were Creating and Recreating Identity, Experiencing Discrimination and Its Impacts on Wellness, Surviving Oppression and Compromising Authentic Self, Embracing Identity Strengths, and Finding Liberation. They provided insights into the role of creativity within the intersectional experiences of trans young adults of color. In doing so, they provided directions to address structural injustice, pursue liberation, and allow creativity to flourish. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

From LiLLes to lilies: an autoethnography of coming out and coming in to a later in life queer eco-spiritual identity

ABSTRACT Most of my life I both pressed against social constructions of gender and sexuality and tried to fit within those same social constructions. After being married for twenty-six years as a cis-gender woman in a heterosexual relationship, raising three children, and serving as a pastor and faith-based nonprofit director in a conservative religious tradition and community, I leaned into and authentically claimed my sexual identity as a queer lesbian womxn. When I decided to pursue a PhD and research the intersections of gender, sexuality, spirituality, and religion, I discovered a large community of later in life lesbian womxn with stories like mine where I could belong. My spiritual journey into an authentic gender and sexual identity has also been a journey into belonging with the more than human world. Using a framework of queer ecofeminism and the method of critical autoethnography to engage my coming out later in life narrative offers the opportunity to explore how individual intersectional experiences of gender and sexuality can inform and impact collective social justice and environmental justice efforts in the work to dismantle oppressive binary systems.

The conditional inclusion of Muslims in medicine: intersectional experiences of Muslim medical students at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine from 1887-1964

Background: Archival research has unearthed processes of exclusion impacting the experiences of Black, female, and Jewish communities at Canadian medical schools. However, the history of Muslim medical students is little known. Our research is the first known study to examine when Muslim medical students with varying identities were first admitted to the University of Toronto’s (UofT) Faculty of Medicine (FoM) and their experiences. Knowing this history can contribute to ongoing equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts in medical school admissions and curriculum development. Methods: This is an exploratory case study with no clear, single set of expected outcomes. We consulted the UofT’s Archive & Record Management Services and looked for students who self-identified as Muslim in primary documents from the FoM between 1887-1964, including admissions applications, correspondences from the Dean’s Office, photographs, and yearbooks. We analysed the archival data for emerging themes. Results: We found six medical school applicants who self-identified as Muslim (n = 6) and were admitted between 1945 and 1961 and graduated between 1948 and 1966. We also found four (n = 4) postgraduates from one South Asian country who may have been Muslim, and who were granted fellowships from the Canadian government. Conclusions: Self-identified Muslim students were first admitted to the UofT’s FoM in 1945 and continued to be admitted infrequently until 1964. These early students’ experiences included financial hardships despite having privileged backgrounds; discrimination due to being foreign; and conditional inclusion while in medical school. We discuss the study’s continuing contemporary relevance, limitations, and directions for future research.

“Let the Kids Go, I Die”: the Experiences of Older Adults Who Survived the Earthquakes in Türkiye Through Intersectional Perspective

This qualitative study explores the experiences of older adult earthquake survivors in Türkiye, focusing on the intersectional challenges they faced after the earthquake of 6 February 2023. Older adults often have multiple vulnerabilities, such as age-related physical limitations, socioeconomic status, health conditions, and social isolation, which exacerbate their risks and needs during disasters. Using semi-structured interviews with 22 participants from different affected regions, this qualitative descriptive study sheds light on their problems with mobility, access to basic needs, and psychological distress. Using an intersectional framework, it explores how factors such as independence in transport, housing conditions, and family structure influence their experiences. The research emphasizes the importance of tailoring emergency response systems to address these unique challenges, including housing, healthcare, and psychosocial support. The findings show that older adults face both immediate physical and psychological challenges as well as long-term adaptation difficulties, emphasizing the need for comprehensive, inclusive disaster preparedness and response strategies. This study contributes to the literature by detailing the intersectional experiences of older earthquake survivors and advocating for policies and practices that ensure equitable support and resource allocation and ultimately promote more resilient communities.

Brick by brick bias: Arab Muslim experience of intersectionality in housing

ABSTRACT The study presented in this paper examined intersectional discrimination against individuals with multiple minority identities in the housing market, specifically those identifying as Arab Muslims. By sending inquiries from three fictitious applicants – a Swedish Christian, an Arab Christian, and an Arab Muslim – to 1,200 landlords in Sweden, we analyzed differences in landlord responses. Results showed the Swedish Christian received the most positive replies, followed by the Arab Christian, with the Arab Muslim receiving the fewest. The study underscores the compounded discrimination faced by those with multiple minority identities and challenges the conflation of ethnic and religious identities in prior research.

Intersectional Experiences of Rural Women: Analyzing Impact of Gender and Class in Aysha Baqir’s Beyond the Fields

Intersectional Experiences of Rural Women: Analyzing Impact of Gender and Class in Aysha Baqir’s Beyond the Fields