On Intersectionality
I write this blogpost in the wake of the UK supreme court ruling that clarified the terms ‘woman’ and sex’ in the Equality Act as referring to biological women and biological sex (Carrell 2025), which was a hugely disappointing regression for trans- and women’s rights. Despite the beliefs of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, the category of ‘woman’ as a social construct is a foundational feminist argument that seeks to destabilise the constraints and ideologies applied to women as historically contingent (see Scott 1986). At the heart of this ruling seems a move toward privileging the bodies and power of a system of global hegemony defined by heteropatriarchal, racial capitalist values. As I was watching our assigned videos and hearing this news, I couldn’t help but think that our value as a person in this framework of the world is determined by our fitness to produce capital. If one is not able-bodied, they are deemed an unproductive worker. If a woman is not having children, they are no longer productive to the needs of the nation-state in the production of labouring bodies (for more on this see Rubin 1975). Or if a racialised person is seeking equity, they are told they are asking for too much.
What struck me in the conversations with Ade Adepitan and Christine Sun Kim was their exceptionalism, particularly in the discussion with the para-Olympians. Their respective interviews highlighted their intersectionalities between disability, racialised identities, and perhaps gender, but it was not lost on me that both of these people were highly successful in their respective fields. I struggled with this, as I also grappled with Kim’s discussions of accessibility, communication, and visibility; Kim articulated how her desire to be visible was represented in the increased scale of her artworks. The model minority was a stereotype created by the white elite in the 1960s to encourage Asian Americans to succeed by merit (Yu 2006). This has created further separation of collective action. Communication seemed to be a common thread in the last two videos, with a desire to fit into a hearing, and a cis-gendered gay community respectively. Adepitan spoke about how making societal adjustments for people that were not able-bodied could allow people to shine and live up to their potential.
Inclusive practices in these interviews seemed to imply a levelling of the playing field, allowing people with disabilities and their intersectional identities to overcome systemic discrimination. These expressed desires, however, seemed to reinforce the hierarchies of our capitalist society, where our virtue is defined by our productivity. Is it too radical to dismantle these systems altogether? In my own lived experience as a racialised woman, I have developed a sense of perfectionism to mitigate systemic bias, for it has never been enough for someone like myself to be mediocre or to merely exist. This is so tiring, can we not just exist? In my own teaching practice, I draw upon decolonial frameworks that map and outline these drives toward capitalist success through coloniality/modernity, illuminating how institutional practices reinforce such ideologies.
To answer the last part of the blog task: our teaching team provides lecture slides days in advance, with layouts on a blue background to assist students with colour blindness. A 2023 report from UAL noted that 15.3% of the student body has a declared disability, with a ‘particularly large percentage of dyslexic and neurodivergent students’ (Careers and Employability at University of the Arts London, 2023). My own research interests lie within material culture, so I teach with tangible objects, and touch-based senses which employs multisensory learning.
Works Cited
Careers and Employability at University of the Arts London (2023) Evidence – inquiry into employment and career support for young disabled people leaving education and entering the job market and workplace. Careers and Employability YDP0017. London: University of the Arts London. Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/124755/pdf/ (Accessed: 19 April 2025).
Rubin, G. (1975) ‘The Traffic in Women: Notes on the “Political Economy” of Sex’, in R.R. Reiter (ed.) Toward an Anthropology of Women. New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1975: pp. 157-210.
Scott, J.W. (1986) ‘Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis’, The American Historical Review. 91.5: pp. 1053-1075.
Carrell, S. (2025) ‘Legal definition of woman is based on biological sex, UK supreme court rules’, The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/critics-of-trans-rights-win-uk-supreme-court-case-over-definition-of-woman (Accessed on 18 Apr 2025)
Yu, T. (2006) ‘Challenging the Politics of the “Model Minority” Stereotype: A Case for Educational Equality’, Equity & Excellence in Education 39. 4: pp. 325-333.
7 replies on “Inclusive Practices: Blog Task 1”
This is a powerful and thoughtful piece of writing Christin. I really appreciate the way you connect personal experience, political context, and educational practice so seamlessly, it feels authentic, grounded, and deeply considered. Your references to theorists like Rubin and Scott are well-placed and strengthen your argument without making it feel overly academic. I also really admire how you bring in your own emotional response to systemic issues, making the piece feel urgent but still measured. Your critique of “exceptionalism” is strong, a quick mention of “model minority” ideas could sharpen it further, also softening the shift into teaching by highlighting your efforts to create inclusive spaces would round it off nicely. Overall, your voice is clear, critical, and full of care, a really moving and convincing reflection just a few small tweaks would make it even more compelling.
Thanks Romany, I appreciate the comments and feedback. The model minority is a point that would definitely be helpful to mention, I think it would enrich the understanding of how racialised identities have to exist to a different standard.
I really enjoyed reading your reflection Christin, as someone who lacks a lot of confidence in long form reading, writing and citing theory your piece was accessible and made a lot of sense to me.
From reading this piece and our discussion in the group tutorial you got me thinking a lot about exceptionalism, productivity and the high expectations put on marginalised groups needed to prove worth and the right to be in certain spaces/positions. The use of your own personal voice added authenticity to the critique and is an example of how lived experience deepens academic theory.
A question to in relation to productivity and our capitalist society; Do you feel there is a way to reclaim visibility, say for an artist, that resists the capitalist notions of success? Or is the understanding of success needed to change to eradicate the power it holds?
I really enjoyed reading your reflection Christin, as someone who lacks a lot of confidence in long form reading, writing and citing theory your piece was accessible and made a lot of sense to me.
From reading this piece and our discussion in the group tutorial you got me thinking a lot about exceptionalism, productivity and the high expectations put on marginalised groups needed to prove worth and the right to be in certain spaces/positions. The use of your own personal voice added authenticity to the critique and is an example of how lived experience deepens academic theory.
A question to end on in relation to productivity and our capitalist society; Do you feel there is a way to reclaim visibility, say for an artist, that resists the capitalist notions of success? Or is the understanding of success needed to change to eradicate the power it holds?
Ellie, thanks for your kind comments and reflections. Honestly, the short answer is no (the reclaiming aspect that is). I guess this is bound to the fact that we live in a visual world – coloniality/modernity is bound to a hierarchy of senses that is dominated by the visual/visuality. While we can exist as artists and makers in a non-visual, non-capitalist way, it doesn’t seem like our art industries can move beyond a capitalist logic. I think our perception of a good life or value needs to change altogether. Decolonial scholars draw from Indigenous worldviews to argue that simply existing, and thriving as a person in community is enough. Thus to be successful is to just live a life, in respect and reciprocity for the world that we live in, but this seems incompatible with how we live our lives in this city (at least how I live my life).
Hi Christin,
Thanks for your thoughtful blog post. Your point about exceptionalism really stood out to me—it’s so important. While watching the videos, I was struck by the risk of tokenising these celebrated individuals and presenting their specific experiences as representative or universal. It made me think about how many others, who haven’t reached that level of prominence, may be having very different, and perhaps more difficult, experiences that remain unseen.
I also appreciated your comment referencing the coloniality/modernity entanglement (is that the right term?). It really resonated. I was reading Rolando Vázquez on this last year and ended up sharing it with a student who was writing about modernism in a largely celebratory way. It had a strong impact on their thinking and writing.
Christin, your blog was very interesting and refreshing to view from your critical perspective of the constant requirement for over performance. It was something that I had not initially picked up on in the videos at first, but seeing them now through your perspective, it’s absolutely right that the people in the case studies have all excelled in some way. Not that this is a bad thing, but I agree with your point, that just to exist should be enough.