Intersectionality is widely used a feminist context as a way to integrate all aspects of humanity, including sexuality, religion, class, race, gender, and ethnicity. Society constructed variables called gender and race to identify people, which were established years before. A person does not need to accept society’s definition of gender, but has to somewhat acclimate to the societal constraints of race. HOWEVER, claim to a race is DIFFERENT than gender. The argument is based on the Trans view of social constructs such as gender and race, although the underlying tones and historic significance of the two are entirely different.
A question is posed that our gender is a “choice”, but race is something that you’re born with. With this way of thinking, we can logically say that the two are different in meaning therefore application of the “trans” view is null void. Independence vs. collective thought is the approach when determining if we can have “choice” in our gender vs our race. Gender is more flexible in choice because of the physiological and environmental influences in the world. We can be born as a certain sex that participates in the typical gender that sex pertains to or there could be biological differences triggered by environmental stimuli that help shape what individuals think they are. The difficulty in comprehension is because that view makes it seem that gender and sexuality have to be correlated, when in fact it doesn’t have to be. The feeling of being a “woman” is not defined by a person’s sexuality or feminine action but instead by individual feeling of what a woman is. Basically, gender is fluid enough to shape what roles fit the individual that believes they are meant to be “a man” or “a woman” or “ a trans”, it’s not always a binary look on life or gender. A clearer explanation is that gender is whatever the individual strongly believes they are suited for, regardless of the biological or environmental influences of what their gender is.
In the case of Rachel Dolezal, she misunderstands this school of thought and independently chooses her race based on what seems to work for her at the time. She feels more comfortable with black culture because of her appreciation of blackness. However, blackness and black culture isn’t a module in which individuals can choose to become, it is an experience developed by historical factors which built the dynamic culture in the first place. Race is not a choice, although it is a social construct. Unlike gender, flexibility of race is extremely low, the only exception is usually bi or multiracial individuals and identity crises. The inflexibility of race comes from a socio-economic and historical significance of those certain groups of people in their environment. In my experience as an African American living in America, my race is usually seen as more of a threat because of the racial pressure that was developed in America since before 1776. I simply can’t change my race due to my circumstances, although I participate in white American culture every day because there’s a historical and social significance of that action. It is an ownership of identity shared by similar people, it isn’t ANTI everyone else, and it’s just the upbringing and tradition that is somewhat sacred.
Minorities in general do not have the benefit to fully participate in white American culture, because there is a privilege or socio-economical advantage of acceptance in that culture. So of course trans-racial advantages won’t work for minorities, therefore it can’t flip flop through races. This brings out the idea that the concept of race isn’t individual, it’s a group or community, sacred in its arts, and it is okay to appreciate another person’s culture (which is tied to their race in most contexts), but to switch is impossible and downright disrespectful. An understanding of someone’s culture doesn’t give you the right to become one of them. I know a lot about Latino culture and Spanish, but that doesn’t make me apart of the black Latino community. Therefore, in the Independence vs collective thought, one must understand that gender is a choice, but due to societal circumstances, culture is developed without individual choice, it’s a community effort which individuals simply cannot choose.