Kathleen Hanna Quotes

Intersectionality draws attention to invisibilities that exist in feminism, in anti-racism, in class politics, so, obviously, it takes a lot of work to consistently challenge ourselves to be attentive to aspects of power that we don't ourselves experience.

When folks say 'identity politics' don't matter, it simply reinforces the norm of a white, middle-class, cis narrative and further marginalizes the rest of us who don't share that identity.

I am from the class that has, in a sense, benefited from the status quo, but everyone still gets victimized.

Oppression thrives on distance - on not actually meeting or seeing the oppressed.

Different identity groups hold specific levels of power over others when their battles play out in the media. To wit: Black beats white. Gay beats white. Black beats gay.

I don't like laughing at people unless they're in a privileged position or if they're in authority. If it's poor people or people who live on the outskirts or on the margins, or the underdog, I'd rather be laughing with them.

Intersectionality is an analytic sensibility, a way of thinking about identity and its relationship to power. Originally articulated on behalf of black women, the term brought to light the invisibility of many constituents within groups that claim them as members but often fail to represent them.

Privilege is least apparent to those who have it.

Outsiders tend to be the first to recognize the inadequacies of our social institutions. But, precisely because they are outsiders, they are usually in a poor position to fix them.

I can't discriminate? Oh, that's ripe, coming from a straight white man. What's the matter, baby doesn't feel like he belongs? Well why don't you try a place that was set up just for you? Like the world!

Most men today cannot conceive of a freedom that does not involve somebody's slavery.

When someone lives as a minority, they experience the world differently than those of us who live in the majority. We may occupy the same physical space, but we don't occupy the same psychic space.

White middle- and upper-class men have a longer journey to go than many people.

A commitment to sexual equality with males... is a commitment to becoming the rich instead of the poor, the rapist instead of the raped, the murderer instead of the murdered.

Sadly, the pernicious ironies of privilege talk are generally lost on those who claim to be most aware of privilege.

I think it was a good and necessary thing that the American upper class diversified, and that more African-Americans and Jews and Catholics (like myself) and women now share privileges and powers once reserved for Protestant white men.

Race affects everything that I do, and everything that I create speaks to intersectionality.

Awards shows are being pushed to shed their genteel limousine liberalism and embrace the race-gender-sexual identity agenda in full.

People want to know and understand each other across lines of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability.

We'll always be re-examining how we relate to each other in terms of race and gender, in terms of power and access.

None of us live single-issue lives... That is why intersectionality is a strength, not a weakness.

Only when the oppressed are heard can we have an honest solutions based dialogue.

If we don't center the voices of marginalized people, we're doing the wrong work.

Only a straight white person would have no concept of what visibility is. They've never contended with anything but visibility.

The better we understand how identities and power work together from one context to another, the less likely our movements for change are to fracture.