Four students shared their experiences with intersectionality at the first of a four panel series hosted by V-February on Sunday afternoon. An annual campaign sponsored by the Center for Gender and Student engagement, V-February is aimed at promoting gender equality and ending violence against women through performance and discussion.
Intersectionality is the study of how oppressive powers such as racism and sexism are interconnected and cannot be addressed individually. Kalie Marsicano ’17, one of the event’s organizers, said that it was necessary to host a panel on intersectionality because it touches on themes that are important but not necessarily broached in V-February’s two central events, a production of “The Vagina Monologues” and the “Voices” performance.
“We can’t really help what comes out of ‘Voices’ and what they write, and so it tends to reflect the demographic of the Dartmouth student body, but this is a very intentional move to shift the focus and bring intersectionality into the spotlight to start the month of February and to have that in mind throughout,” Marsicano said.
The panelists — Adria Brown ’15, CJ Jones ’16 , Rachael Rhee ’16 and Yomalis Rosario ’15 — spent around 30 minutes delivering prepared remarks, then took questions from the organizers and the audience. About 22 students were in attendance.
Rhee spoke about her experiences as a woman of color in Dartmouth’s army ROTC program and in the Greek system.
“At first I wondered if I joined ROTC [and] if I rushed because I wanted to erase my identity as an Asian American woman at Dartmouth,” she said. “Was I trying to erase my race somehow by being all American? Maybe, perhaps, yes in the beginning, but not anymore.”
Jones said that compartmentalizing was part of the process of getting to know herself at Dartmouth, but that this became difficult when she was figuring out who she was in some communities that “didn’t know what to do with me.”
“I think through being a part of those spaces, and feeling like I had to give my all to those spaces, give all of my emotional energy but not being able to offer a complete sense of myself when I was talking about things in those spaces was really devastating,” she said. “Not being able to talk about being a woman, being a victim of violence, being queer. Those things weren’t acceptable. It wasn’t part of the discussion. And so through all that I figured out that a large part of intersectionality is making it a part of your individual care.”
Brown, who identified as a member of the Chickasaw Nation, recalled a flustered moment when she was filling out a question on the Stanford University application which asked “describe your identity in five words.”
“It made me feel in that moment totally divided,” Brown said. “Then I got here and I felt more that way in the communities that are here. I often felt that I am inhabiting one identity as I walk into a space without all of the parts of me. It does often start with individual care and coming to the realization that you are a whole person living with all of these intricate webs. It’s impossible to be your full person in spaces that try to diminish yourself to one thing.”
Speaking about the importance of being self-critical, Rosario spoke about how even communities of color on campus, while “trying to be a community here in a place that’s hostile to us” are guilty of excluding some groups, for being poor or for being trans.
“Being conscious of intersectionality helps me be self-critical,” Rosario said. “I’m always open to critique because I understand I’m not going to get it right all the time. Of course we mess up.”
The panelists also spoke about their opinions regarding new social policy changes announced in College President Phil Hanlon’s Moving Dartmouth Forward plan last Thursday. Brown said that the new policies do nothing to mitigate exclusivity and said she felt annoyed that the most prevalent critique from students has been about the hard alcohol ban. Rhee added that students should question what the ban means for gender dynamics on campus.
Rosario said she was also concerned about the plan’s emphasis on increasing academic rigor.
“This is such an ableist campus and it will just make it harder on people who struggle with depression and anxiety,” she said.
Audience member Amara Ihionu ’17 said that having other women get together and share their experiences was reaffirming to her.
She said that she agreed with the critique that some communities of color on campus have room for improvement when it comes to the issues of intersectionality.
“I think it’s very valid, and I don’t think we think about these things enough,” Ihionu said. “I guess we’re just so caught up in having these communities and trying to be there for each other that we don’t critically engage and we are slow to criticize ourselves out of pride and fear.”
Three other panel discussions are scheduled in the next four weeks. On Feb. 12, the panel will focus on issues of body and mental health, which will include the staff nutritionist at Dick’s House. A Feb. 22 panel will discuss gendered spaces and a concluding panel on March 1 will revolve around women and careers.
Marsicano is a member of The Dartmouth staff.
