Intersectionality of Women of Colour

There were several shared experiences that came with identifying as a woman:

• Always having to be aware of your surroundings for safety
• Anticipating unwanted attention (e.g., touching) at nightclubs
• For BIPOC women specifically, anticipating that they would be disliked was a common experience
• For Muslim women specifically, assumptions about being oppressed were often made by others

Unwanted attention was a common experience. Interestingly, not all unwanted attention that women had reported experiencing was from men. There was agreement that a lot of shaming and policing about how to behave had come from other women.

Examples of how sexism pervades societies and persists were:

• Disproportionate sexual violence towards women
• Disproportionate attention towards women’s romantic status versus men’s. This was seen in personal experiences, but also within the news coverage of celebrities’ personal lives
• Disproportionate sexualization of women
• Oppression of women’s sexuality, but not men’s

The topic of being treated differently at work evoked varied experiences

• Some BIPOC women had experiences with White allies in positions of power that advocated for them and ensured they had equal pay. Overall, their experiences had been positive

 
Other BIPOC women had experiences of being undermined in their competence level, especially if they appeared to be young, as well as experiences with being ignored or unacknowledged by White professionals.