Feminisms, Intersectionality and narrative practice: An introduction
This chapter introduces some of the histories of feminisms and intersectionality and describes the ways in which these movements have shaped narrative practice. We’ll learn many stories, private, collective and professional, of tension, dilemma, resistance and emergence which are as relevant today as they ever were.
Let’s dive in!
To get us started, Cheryl White describes experiences of living through the women’s liberation movement in the 1970s and 80s and its profound implications for the field of family therapy and the emergence of narrative practice.
Feminist challenge and women’s liberation by Cheryl White (she/her)
Taimalieutu Kiwi Tamasese reminds us why gender and culture cannot be separated. She speaks about the practice of researching liberative gender arrangements within cultural histories, the responsibilities of women from dominant cultures and the power of meaningful partnerships of accountability.
In 1989, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality to describe the ways that forms of race and gender discrimination were converging for Black women resulting in different consequences to those faced by Black men or white women. These ideas had been named over the previous decade by other Black and brown women including members of the Combahee River Collective. In this interview, Kimberlé describes the origins of the term ‘intersectionality’, her journey into feminism and racial justice, and how the lens of intersectionality can be applied to the ongoing police and state violence exposed by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Sarah Hayat (she/her) interviews Kimberlé Crenshaw (she/her) about Intersectional Feminism [9:57]
Dulwich Centre is based on Kaurna Land, in what is now known as Australia. The following article by Pat Dudgeon and Abigail Bray from the School of Indigenous Studies at the University of Western Australia describes how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women continue to be at the forefront of decolonization and the Australian civil rights movement. This history of Aboriginal women’s activism provides a powerful examples of the significance of intersectionality.
A diverse range of narrative practitioners contributed to the following paper about feminism, therapy and narrative ideas. Compiled by Shona Russell and Maggie Carey, this piece describes the feminist ethics woven into the foundations of narrative practices and how feminist challenges continue to influence the field.
Extra reading
For a further exploration of feminist histories in the fields of narrative practice, please see this interview of the influential Johnella Bird by Cheryl White: Creating contexts for discovery: A conversation with Johnella Bird
Contemporary intersectional narrative practice feminist engagements
Now let’s hear from three practitioners from diverse social locations about what intersectional feminist narrative practices mean to them.
‘Intersectionality is a point from which we must proceed if we are to offer an account of how power works’. Dương/Ocean Đặng describes her journey to find a practice that politicises suffering and refuses to erase or minimise contexts of colonialism, political and religious repression, and histories of war and violence.
Why intersectionality is the starting point for my feminism by Michelle Dang* (she/her) [5:49]
*Dương/Ocean Đặng was formerly known as Michelle
‘[F]or any of us to be free from oppression means all of us being free’. Social scientist Anita Franklin speaks about Black feminist histories and their challenges to white-dominated mainstream feminist movements as well as her experience of congruence with the narrative approach, particularly its attention to dominant discourses and the practice of deconstruction.
Black feminism and ‘intersectionality’ by Anita Franklin (she/her) [37:09]
Nihaya Abu-Rayyan describes the complex interaction of patriarchy and the oppression and violence of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She speaks about the importance of resisting ‘man-blaming’ and her approach to fostering conversations that make visible women’s oppression while honouring multi-storied relationships with husbands, sons and fathers.
Palestinian feminist narrative practice by Nihaya Abu-Rayyan (she/her) interviewed by Kassandra Pederson (she/her) [32:54]
Reflection questions
An essential part of intersectional feminist practice is being able to identify and address privilege and dominance as it shows up in practice and beyond. The following reflection questions have been adapted from ‘An invitation to narrative practitioners to address privilege and dominance’.
Think of a form of privilege that you commonly have access to in your work. It’s especially useful to consider a form of privilege that those you work with do not have access to. For example, if you are white, perhaps you might focus on race privilege; if you are a man, male privilege; if you are heterosexual or cisgender, heterosexual or cisgender privilege. You may focus on class privilege, or if that is not something you grew up with, educational and professional privilege; if you are able bodied, you might concentrate on ability privilege. Then consider the following questions:
(We have provided some links for optional deeper exploration)
- Why is it important to address privilege in your practice?
- What can get in the way of noticing, speaking about or addressing privilege?
- What sustains you in learning about and attending to privilege?
- How does privilege show up in your practice?
- How do or might you remain vigilant about inadvertently enacting privilege in your work?
- How can you find out when this occurs and respond? What processes of accountability do you have in place to take care in relation to these issues?
Optional further activities
To gain a greater appreciation of the relationships between racism and feminisms, we encourage you to engage with these key resources:
- In her introduction video, Tileah mentions the groundbreaking book ‘Talkin’ up to the White Woman: Indigenous women and feminism’ by Goenpul woman, Professor Aileen Moreton-Robinson, which has been influential in her practice. Professor Moreton-Robinson conveys the continued relevance of this work 20 years on in this article and this video interview.
- Speaking Out with Larissa Behrendt: Racism, Sexism and Gendered Violence.
GoodAncestor Ruby Hamad on How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color.
And know that there are many more incredible resources exploring the intersection of race and gender including throughout the rest of the course.
Vanessa
January 9, 2023What a fantastic first chapter. It’s the first time I have encountered the phrase Intersectionality to summarise an understanding of complex and multiple layers of oppression. I found Anita Franklin really interesting in particular, perhaps because I am practicing here in the uk. I have also witnessed how roles which really need an understanding of power and oppression seem increasingly to be occupied by people without an appreciation of these forces. I wonder how this has come about, that ideas such as socialism or feminism or racial oppression have become almost taboo to talk about in the uk. I do wonder about the impact of our media being owned by the far right, and how it is used to pathologise those desiring an anti oppressive world.
Michelle Tamara Wylie
January 21, 2022This was a great chapter. I particularly appreciated listening to the interview between Nihaya and Kassandra. Thank you Nihaya for sharing how narrative practice facilitates “a bridge of safety” to “talk about the issue, not about the person” – and how this allows women to start to open conversations about the effects of masculinity discourse on themselves, their family and their husbands. I think that this is an important skill that can support many of us in our work, as it allows space to have conversations about the impact of these systems and discourses without individualising it and without risking it impacting negatively on the relationships in our lives.
This interview also made me think about the work I have been doing alongside people surviving torture and injustice in Australian immigration detention systems. I learnt a lot about how the occupation impacts Palestinian women and that the occupation and gender assumptions cannot be separated. I really appreciated how Nihaya was able to use narrative practice to bring the effects of the occupation into the conversation and make visible those effects. This is so important to do when working alongside people who are experiencing human rights abuses.
I lastly found Nihaya’s quote very powerful – “It’s not good for me to accept oppression. Always be aggressive with oppression, not accept it”. Thank you very much for sharing.