Intersectionality Is Like a High School Chemistry Lab

With so many subatomic particles bouncing around, explosions are bound to happen

Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash

Across the past decade or two, there has been an increasing amount of attention placed on privilege and oppression. And rightfully so. The Internet, social media, and new technological platforms have provided Americans with valuable tools to raise awareness and explore solutions for societal problems.

But what happens when one person’s interests collide with another person’s grievances?

Let’s mix together Person A’s lived experiences with Person B’s narcissism and their inflated sense of moral superiority.

You basically have acetone (perception) and peroxide (reality) exploding into a thick, rancid, cognitively-dissonant smoke cloud.

Chemical Reactions You Didn’t Anticipate

Early in my education as a college student, I began to learn more about what people mean when referring to white privilege and male privilege. Often times, these advantages in life can manifest socially. But the more urgent problem is how they continue to exist systemically.

By “systemic,” I’m talking about areas of life in which governmental intervention is needed for…