In our society today many minorities have to battle with oppressions forced on them by the larger majority. These oppressions are often specific to one’s personal appearance, race, or gender and commonly result in the discrimination of said minority. For example, women are often viewed as inferior to men, causing the widespread oppression of women in our world today, making for the advancement of women in our social and political hierarchy to be quite difficult. This mentality has been around for centuries, the belief that men will always be superior to women, which has crippled most women in one way or another. No matter how hard women work, how educated they are, or how financially stable they are, in comparison to men they are always viewed as a marginalized community. This idealism stems from the fact that throughout the worlds history, men have always been physically and mentally superior to women which resulted in the value of men to always be higher than that of women, in every category imaginable. This idea has transcended through our society ever since the development as humans, going back as far as history records itself in that women were always “supposed” to handle the lighter tasks of everyday living, requiring little to no physical and even mental ability. On the other hand, men have always been supposed to take on the more mentally and physically straining tasks of everyday life. Essentially, women have and will always be considered to be of less value than men because the cultural idea that men’s complete dominance over women makes them superior to women in every way possible, which has resulted in the long lasting oppression of women.

Also, like women the black community has also been hindered by social and political advancement by the white community, which has more than obviously resulted in their extreme oppression which has been extremely visible throughout that past few decades. This minority group unfortunately have been deemed as far less superior to white people which has stemmed from the early 17th and 18th century when white European communities began enslaving the black community. Obviously, back in those days’ blacks were considered property and in no way comparable to the value of a white person.  The black community is constrained by racism because of the potential threat to the established order of white supremacy if they were ever to be considered as of equal value to whites. Blacks were extremely oppressed in these times, often having no hope for happiness whatsoever in that, obviously, being a slave has no benefits causing the black community to be extremely oppressed. After the era of enslaving black people, this mindset of white supremacy continued on in most advanced and 1st world communities. Even though the black community was considered to be “equal” to the white community, not too many societies accepted this idea, and many blacks were still seen as far less capable of intellectual ability and believed to hold no true value whatsoever. So, the advancement of the black community in social and political aspects has never been of any ease to this minority group, and similarly to women, this idea never-ending white supremacy has plagued and oppressed this community ever since.

In comparison to the black and female communities, another minority group that has always been affected by this extreme maltreatment have been people who are out-of-shape. It goes to show that in our society today, people who are not of the typical norm size or shape are considered to be less attractive and able to find a partner, or even happiness at that. Although this doesn’t apply to everyone in this group, our society today has definitely categorized people of size to be in the minority group. This belief, much like racism and sexism, has been around for centuries based on the fact that men and women believe that the most physical fit partner will result in the most physically dominant offspring as well as the most attractive. People who struggle with weight have always been oppressed due to this example of Darwinism. As seen in all patterns of life, an animal will look for the most dominant and able partner to reproduce with to continue the growth and advancement of their species. In the case of humans, we see people of physical fitness and size to be superior over people who are out of shape and of not typical size. Our culture’s belief on size and attraction has led to the long-lasting oppression of people who are out of shape.  

Although many of these instances of harassment, oppression, and subjugations are specific to one’s own particular minority group, which are extremely negative and hindering to the advancement of our society as a whole, no other group other have been affected by this tyranny other than black women. Black women are at an extreme disadvantage in that, theoretically, if they were to be placed in a room of other people of differing color and genders, they are still at the very bottom of the totem pole. Black women are essentially at the very bottom of the social and political hierarchy in our culture today because not only do they belong to one minority group, but two. This categorization places them lower than both white people and lower than men, which emphasizes the fact that black women will always be considered of less value to any other group in our society today. Having being classified at the bottom of all social and political aspects, this obviously causes an ever deeper and more inflicting oppression on this group. Not only do they have to fight for equality in on standard, but they have to fight for two which in our culture today is extremely difficult and not many are able to arise from this classification, resulting in a never-ending oppression.

This idea was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw as intersectionality. Intersectionality, in other words, is the oppressive experiences of marginalized subjects’ lives are extremely multidimensional. These unjust experiences and oppressions of minorities is caused by many instances of discrimination and bias, not just limiting it to one singular factor. This is like a form of double jeopardy, in that the marginalized groups are not subjugated and prosecuted by one form of discrimination but it is the accumulation of several factors at play. To put intersectionality in simpler terms, this idea is like a two-way traffic intersection; A car crash can be caused by the disruption of flow of one direction of traffic, but this crash can be intensified and strengthened by the other flow of traffic if disrupted. Basically, a car collision is bad if one flow of traffic is involved, but if there is more than one direction of traffic colliding at once, the damage is much more catastrophic. This is paralleled by the lives of black women because they do not have to deal with the unfortunate oppression of their gender inferiority, but also their racial inferiority as well, causing a much more intense oppression.

Intersectionality is very evident in the graphic novel “Bitch Planet” by Kelly Sue DeConnick. The main character, Penelope, is a larger black woman who is seen throughout the novel as extremely angry and oppressed by the people around her who are mainly white people. At the very start of the book, she is conveyed as inferior and different than white men. She is painted as a prisoner wearing orange, whereas the white guards watching her are wearing blue, specifically colored to show contrast. Since orange and blue are complimentary colors, or complete opposites, this sets the standard of separation between the two races from the get go. We see this separation as oppressing and very separating on Penelope simply because her thoughts in this scene are her saying to herself “I can’t see you, but I feel you…judging me.” (DeConnick 176) which describes her subjugation by the white guards. This scene is a direct correlation to what Lewis describes in that due to her race she is being discriminated against, causing her oppression seen in her facial expression and thoughts.

Penelope is scene throughout the entire novel as being unhappy and essentially dissatisfied with her social standing obviously due to her gender and race. This oppression is intensified also by her physical appearance as well, which is a perfect example of intersectionality that is ever-present in our society today. It is more than obvious that Penelope is over-weight and much larger than the typical woman. This difference between her and other women is an obvious factor for her oppression as displayed later on in the novel when she is working at her job as a chef. She is pictured working behind the counter making food for customers when two white men enter her store. The idea of Darwinism as said before comes into play when the two men joke about her size saying “…Christ. Look at her. Who wants to come home to that? … They like em’ big like that. It’s in their animal nature – big asses, big lips” (DeConnick 194). This man is emphasizing that no man would ever be attracted to a woman of Penelope’s physical appearance, simply because she is larger than the typical norm of our societies standards of an attractive women. This discrimination on Penelope would more than obviously result in her oppression, for not female would ever want to hear that nobody would ever be attracted to her.  It is not a surprise that this comment would enrage Penelope, and when in combination of other discriminatory elements, she is unfortunate influenced by, this multiplies the oppression she is under ten times over. 

Lastly, Penelope is also seen as subject to inferiority in that she is a female. Like all societies in our world today, women are seen are far less superior and of lesser value of men which is represented in this graphic novel several times. The most obvious instance that Penelope is not of equal value to men is when she is working in her bakery serving a man muffins. However, Penelope is giving her best effort to serve her customers, she is taking a bit longer than expected which is upsetting one of the customers. The biased man says “Sweetheart. Its ten past seven. You can’t just keep people waiting… Second morning in a row. Lucky these muffins are so good or id talk to your old man about this.” (DeConnick 192) To start, the term sweetheart is used as degrading to Penelope. We often associate the term sweetheart when adults are talking to young girls and babies, and when the man uses this term as he is angrily talking to Penelope it comes off as quite derogatory and demeaning, simply because she is a woman who is taking just a bit too long. Not only is this a circumstance of discrimination on Penelope due to her gender but also when the man says that he will take it up with her “old man” this is an example that he thinks there must be an older gentlemen running things around there, because no women would be capable of running a bakery like that. This is extremely degrading to Penelope and imposing on her abilities as a woman to be able to operate a bakery. Again this is another instance of the discrimination on Penelope due to something she physical has no say in, which would obviously cause any women to believe they are inferior to men causing her more oppression over something she can’t change.  

As Jennifer Nash explains, intersectionality is extremely multidimensional, and often caused by more than one factor of discrimination and bias. In “Bitch Planet” Penelope is not under the persecution of one discriminatory factor, not even two, but three: her race, physical appearance, and gender. As described by Crenshaw, a two-way traffic collision would be very bad, but when you add another dimension or another flow of traffic, that collision is intensified even more. This is exemplified in “Bitch Planet” because Penelope is crucified throughout the novel for things she has no control over, resulting in her absolute dismay and oppression. This novel is an accurate representation of our society today because marginalized communities are extremely oppressed which they have no control over, and the communities struggling with more than one factor of bias are even more oppressed, especially black women. This oppression is hindering the advancement of our society and culture, for these minority groups have a lot to offer but are often pushed under the carpet.  

Intersectionality is extremely difficult to overcome, since there are several factors pushing an individual or community down it is much more difficult to advance in the social or political hierarchy. As explained by Gamma Tang Nain in “Black Women, Sexism and Racism: Black or Antiracist Feminism?” it is much easier for a minority group under the influence of one discriminatory factor to advance politically and socially simply because they have less to fight against. She says “… It has been possible since the end of colonial rule… to weaken the force of racism. White men may still control the economies of the regions but black men have achieved and do exercise considerable control over the public sector… [The] power changed hands, it went from white men to black men, [black] women did not feature in this equation.” (Nain 1) This is a direct representation that intersectionality is extremely hindering. Although discrimination and bias is oppressing, since black men were only discriminated for their race they were able to gain a political advantage and eventually were viewed as superior in some way. Since black women have to overcome both race and gender, they were left behind and still today are seen as far less superior and dominant, a fraction holding places in office or of high value.  As stated before, in a room of people of both race and gender, black women like Penelope will always be classified at the very bottom of the totem pole, resulting in the never ending oppression on this community. 

Intersectionality is a very large problem we have in our community today. I believe that this goes to show more than ever with the examples evident in the graphic novel “Bitch Planet” for Penelope is extremely oppressed and is unable of overcoming the discrimination set on her due to the multidimensional aspects of it. She is female, black, and out of shape so she will always be considered as lesser value than any of her counterparts around her. This form of intersectionality is extremely oppressing on Penelope and for obvious reasons, for there is no way she can change these aspects about her. There is no true solution to the oppression of black women other than the acceptance of blacks and females to be completely equal to men, but based on our history as humans and the society we live in, this is no easy task whatsoever.  The ideals on white supremacy and male dominance have been around since the start of time, and I don’t see these beliefs going away anytime soon, and not easily for that matter.  Although I agree with what Nain says in that it is difficult yet possible for one minority group that only has one factor of segregation or bias imposed on them to break out of this oppression and advance their communities to equality, for a marginalized group that has several factors imposed on them, this is extremely difficult and near impossible. Intersectionality is a very large problem in our society today, specifically impacting black women the most, and as seen in “Bitch Planet” this oppression can drive someone crazy due to the resentment on society, in order to fix this problem we must accept these minority groups as completely equal and of the same value, but unfortunately this task is extremely difficult and nearly impossible to obtain. 
