How do anthropologists study intersectionality in gender research?

Anthropologists study intersectionality in gender research by examining how various social categories—such as race, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and ability—interact with gender to shape individuals’ lived experiences. The concept of intersectionality was first introduced by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in the late 1980s, and it has since become central in many fields, including anthropology.

Here’s how anthropologists approach it:

1. Holistic Approach: Anthropologists often use a holistic approach, meaning they examine gender in the context of broader social systems, including politics, economics, religion, and kinship. This helps reveal how gender identities and experiences are shaped by multiple intersecting factors.
2. Ethnography and Fieldwork: Much of anthropological research involves ethnography, where researchers live within communities and observe daily life. Anthropologists focus on how people’s experiences of gender vary depending on their intersection with other social identities, like race or class. This allows them to document the ways in which gender roles are not monolithic but are instead fluid and contextual.
3. Focus on Power and Inequality: Anthropologists using an intersectional lens often examine how power dynamics shape gender relations. They look at how certain groups may experience compounded forms of oppression due to the intersection of gender with other categories, like race or socio-economic status. For example, they might study how Indigenous women face different gender-based challenges than women from mainstream society.
4. Cultural Contexts: Anthropologists emphasize that gender is not universal but culturally specific. By studying different cultural contexts, they reveal how intersecting identities (like gender and class) manifest in unique ways across societies. This comparative approach highlights the diversity of gender experiences and the ways in which they are shaped by larger structures of power.
5. Engagement with Indigenous and Marginalized Voices: Intersectional gender research often centers voices that have been historically marginalized. For instance, anthropologists may focus on the experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals, women of color, or people in economically disadvantaged groups, offering deeper insights into how these intersecting identities affect access to resources, power, and social acceptance.
6. Reflexivity and Positionality: Anthropologists also consider their own positionality and how their gender, race, and class might influence their research. By being reflexive, they acknowledge how their personal experiences may shape the way they understand and interpret the experiences of others.

Through these approaches, anthropologists highlight the complexities of gender and challenge simplified, one-dimensional narratives, showing how people’s identities are multi-faceted and fluid. This intersectional perspective has become crucial in understanding gender as it operates in real-world contexts.