Intersectionality

Paper details:

The life and work of poet Phillis Wheatley, who was sold into slavery as a child of seven and educated by the Wheatleys who bought her, provides a poignant example of an important concept in feminist theory today—intersectionality. The concept of intersectionality can be defined as the ways that interconnected social categories such as race, class, and gender interact to form experience and identity, especially as related to power.

Although the power structures are different from contemporary society, the dynamics of power and privilege are evident in the life and work of Phillis Wheatley. The young Wheatley, named after the slave ship (Phillis) and the slave-owners who bought her, ironically lived with limited privilege but still enjoyed some advantages for a black woman of her time. A slave by virtue of her race, she was privileged within the Wheatley’s home to become an educated woman. Although she flourished with the support of her wealthy owners, after she was freed, she died penniless. A common criticism of Wheatley’s work is her lack of race consciousness and that she did not empathize with the average slave or protest against it in her poetry while other critiques have found that assessment unfair (Hull, 1975). The essential point here, however, is the way the complex identities of her life impacted her work.

For this journal assignment, select one of the key creative women from Week 2 (Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz) and in three to four pages, analyze how the dynamics of privilege and power play a part in the woman’s creative expression. In your discussion of power and privilege, address at least one of the following categories in addition to gender: race, class, or ethnicity. In addition, as you reflect on this question, consider some of the following relevant questions: Did the creative woman benefit from family support or professional networks or was she excluded from them? Was training and education available to her? If she did challenge existing power structures (for example, religion, social custom, laws, etc.), how successful was she in doing so? Be sure to provide examples of her work (poems, paintings, sculpture, excerpts from larger writings, etc.) to support your discussion.