credit: Hidden Figures

Intersectionality, multiple jeopardy, & the matrix of domination: black feminist frameworks for understanding oppression

These essays are meant as my own preparation and supplemental synopsis for my students. Last essay in this series. Related essay:

Mapping the margins of Lemonade: An intersectional reading through Kimberlé Crenshaw & Patricia…

Black feminist thought has contributed some of the most powerful analytical frameworks for understanding the lived realities of women of color whose experiences have been systematically erased in dominant discourses of law, politics, and feminism. Among the most influential contributions are Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality, Deborah King’s notion of multiple jeopardy, and Patricia Hill Collins’ theory of the matrix of domination. While the course material does not cover King, she is mentioned here as an important bridge between other critical thinkers, highlighting how Black women’s oppression cannot be reduced to a single axis of race, class, or gender, but rather must be understood through the compounding and intersecting vulnerabilities that shape their lived realities. Here is how we can think of King for the context of the class; I will also…