What’s the Point of the Word “Intersectionality”?

I wrote this on the message board of people of a New Culture community of which I’ve been to some of their meetings and have been a participant. It’s a liberal group of people and I wanted to challenge their conceptions of the word:

What is the point of using the word intersectionality and is it beneficial to aims of progress?

I’ve met so many passionate people in the New Culture events at Chrysalis. I want to ask this challenging question for both myself and others.

I first heard the word “intersectionality” when someone introduced themselves during a Chrysalis meeting as an intersectional trans activist. I cannot remember their name and I support that person’s trans activism, and I cannot emotionally grasp that person’s trans journey and discrimination. However, I want to ask with sincere curiosity whether the power of the word “intersectional” is a help towards that activism.

My skepticism boils down to the idea that intersectionality is a celebration of oversimplification of the world around us: The practice of intersectionality doesn’t teach people something new. It’s clear as day that someone can be affected by both race and gender discrimination. There doesn’t need to be a word for it, unless the word serves another purpose. So what’s the purpose? I believe it’s a calling card. To use the word signals that you subscribe to a world view based on the idea that most if not all phenomena of socio-economic ill in the world is based on three…