But who do you really belong to — black studies or Women's Studies?

The Intersections of Dominant Discourses Across Race, Gender, and Other Identities

“…One of the reasons why the dominant discourses across race, gender, and other identities are intersecting is based on the customary norm by which people are evaluated in the United States. It is based on how close they are to being White, male, middle-class, Christian, heterosexual, English speaking, young, and mentally, physically, and emotionally able (Bronstein & Quina, 1988;Christian, 1989;Reynolds & Pope, 1991). Evaluative criteria regarding the status of identities is not healthy for anyonefor those who, by no choice of their own, hold membership in valued groups and for those who do not.…”

The Intersections of Gender, Class, Race, and Culture: On Seeing Clients Whole

“…Components of White culture that are pervasive and dominant throughout society include individualism, competition, patriarchal family structure, the Protestant work ethic, and empiricism (Sue & Sue, 1990). These values parallel the society's adherence to the experiences of upper middle-class, Euro-American, able-bodied, heterosexual men as the referent point for normalcy, regardless of race, gender, culture, and class diversity (Bronstein & Quina, 1988; Christian, 1989;Miller, 1984; Reid & Comas-Diaz, 1990). Undoubtedly, intolerance of and disdain for differences reduces humanity and impedes moral development.…”

“…Race has both biological origins and social dimensions (Pinderhughes, 1989). Although typical conceptions of race refer to non-Whites (Christian, 1989), race refers to both Whites and non-Whites. Clearly an immutable characteristic, race holds status and rank in society just as socioeconomic class, a mutable variable, does (Leggon, 1980).…”

“…1992). It refers to both men and women, although traditional notions of gender reference nonmales (Christian, 1989). Thus, there is an interrelationship between race, gender, and social class (Gibbs, Huang, et al, 1989).…”

“…The importance of considering the multiple intersection of class, race, culture, and gender has been raised across a variety of disciplines (see Christian, 1989;Collins, 1989;Reid & Comas-Diaz, 1990; Siegel, 1990). Such attention is warranted, considering that every human being's psychosocial identities are an embodiment of each of these and other immutable and mutable constructs.…”