But further analyses underscore how social processes may have shaped the social identities of the interviewees, said Bowleg. Ten of the 12 interviewees, or 83%, said that they ranked being Black and/or Black men as their most salient identity above their other social identities-a finding that, at first glance, seemed to contradict intersectionality’s posit that social identities cannot be separated and therefore cannot be ranked.
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How social processes shape identities: “Definitely Black first” "Penalty and privilege ebb and flow in the lives of this sample of Black gay and bisexual men." "Although Black gay and bisexual men are socially privileged as men, they risk social penalty as a consequence of the intersection of their race and sexual identities with their gender," said Bowleg, Professor of Applied Social Psychology at the George Washington University. But being Black is definitely a strike against you in our society. In some cases men are paid more or maybe taken more seriously or whatever. There are advantages in our society to being a man. “It sort of seems like you got the short end of the stick in many ways.
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Jay, a 32 year old bisexual man said that his marginalized identities as Black and bisexual outweighed his privileged status as a man: Many described simultaneously having advantaged and disadvantaged identities that intersect one another. Interviewees described their racial, gender, and sexual identities not as independent and additive, but as multiple, intersecting, and mutually constitutive-an assertion also made in intersectionality research.
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residents, ranged in age from 21 to 44 years old, and were recruited from ads placed in the Washington Blade and the City Paper.īeing Black and bisexual: “Definitely a strike against you in our society”
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The participants, mostly highly educated and middle income, were Washington, D.C. Intersectionality examines how multiple social identities-race, gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and disability, for example-intersect on a personal level to reveal interlocking social-structural inequalities, such as racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism.īowleg and two interviewers individually interviewed the men about how they experience the intersections of being Black, male, and gay or bisexual, and how their lives are challenged and enriched as a result. The study is a departure from the majority of intersectionality research, which historically has focused on Black women and the intersection between race and women’s gender. who describe the ways in which they experience the intersections of race, gender, and sexual identity. The study, titled “Once you’ve blended the cake, you can’t take the parts back to the main ingredients” and published in Sex Roles, examines the narratives of 12 Black gay and bisexual men in the U.S. A qualitative study authored by Team Represent Principal Investigator Lisa Bowleg found that a majority of Black gay and bisexual men ranked their Black and/or Black male identity above their other social identities, and perceive both challenges and benefits of being Black, gay or bisexual males.