Reflection Summary: Intersectionality, Framing, and Reproductive Justice
Week 6 helped me understand intersectionality as more than a “list of identities.” Before, I thought intersectionality meant adding labels together—race + gender + class + sexuality. In these lectures and the reading, I learned that intersectionality is mainly a tool for analysis that helps us see how systems of power work together to create vulnerability for certain groups. It is not only about who someone “is,” but about what happens to them when social structures—like white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and immigration enforcement—collide in real life (Fischer; Crenshaw).
In the LibreTexts reading, Kay Fischer begins with Julio Salgado’s term “UndocuQueer,” which combines undocumented status and queer identity (Fischer). This example matters because it shows how people’s real experiences cannot be separated into neat categories. Salgado’s art highlights how borders are not just lines on a map. Borders are enforced through surveillance, policing, and ideas about who “belongs.” His poster “Illegal Faggots For the Destruction of Borders” is meant to shock, but it also teaches. The poster shows how a person can be targeted at multiple angles at the same time: race, sexuality, and immigration status. Fischer describes the poem on the poster, where the speaker refuses to “choose a side” between being brown or queer and rejects the idea that borders are “natural” (Fischer). This framing made me think about how society often demands simple answers, but real identity and real oppression are not simple.
I also noticed how the reading emphasizes that intersectionality includes different levels of oppression: institutional, interpersonal, and internalized (Fischer). Institutional oppression is when policies and systems harm people (like immigration law or healthcare systems). Interpersonal oppression is when individuals harm others through discrimination. Internalized oppression is when people start believing negative stereotypes about themselves. This part stood out to me because it explains why inequality can feel “everywhere.” It is not only one bad person or one unfair rule. It is a whole structure that can shape daily life, opportunities, safety, and even self-worth.
The lectures strengthened this message by focusing on “naming and framing.” Professor Tsuchitani used the frame exercise to show that a frame controls what we notice and what gets erased. When we lack the right words, we may fail to recognize a pattern. That is why naming matters. Fischer says, “You can’t see a problem if you can’t name it” (Fischer). In the same way, Professor Tsuchitani explains that without the right framework, society can treat injustice as random or isolated instead of systemic. I understood this as a challenge: if we do not develop racial literacy and intersectional thinking, we can become passive bystanders. The lecture’s question—“Are you powerless? Are you devoid of agency of your own?”—pushed me to reflect on responsibility and action, not just knowledge.
Another key learning for me was the idea from Kimberlé Crenshaw that intersectionality is not primarily about identity, but about how structures make some identities “a vehicle for vulnerability” (Crenshaw). This is important because it changes how we talk about social justice. Instead of focusing only on representation (“include everyone”), intersectionality asks: Who is being left out by systems? Whose harm is ignored or normalized? How do policies create unequal risks? Crenshaw’s point connects to the lecture’s emphasis on centering women of color and QTPOC, because those groups often experience compounded vulnerability while also being overlooked in mainstream politics and media (Crenshaw).
Part 2 of the lecture deepened this understanding through reproductive justice. I learned that reproductive justice is not the same as abortion rights. Abortion rights can become a single-issue focus, often shaped by a white-led feminist framework that assumes everyone has the same access, safety, and resources. Reproductive justice, as presented in this week’s materials, is broader and more intersectional because it includes the conditions that make reproductive choices real: healthcare access, poverty, racism in medicine, immigration status, policing, and the right to raise children safely. Professor Tsuchitani’s prompts about the Hyde Amendment helped me understand how policy can restrict abortion access in a way that disproportionately harms marginalized communities, especially those who are poor and people of color. Even when a right exists “on paper,” structural barriers can make it unreachable for many.
The most disturbing part of the lecture was the history of eugenics and forced sterilization. The lecture connects eugenics to “scientific racism,” reminding us that “science” has been used to justify racial hierarchy and violence. The examples—sterilization laws, targeting Black communities, coercion of Indigenous women through the Indian Health Service, and coercive practices toward Latina women—show how reproductive control has been a tool of racial power, not just a private medical issue. This is exactly where intersectionality becomes necessary: these were not only gender issues, but also race, class, citizenship, age, and state power issues at the same time. The lecture’s point that these patterns continue (including concerns about detention centers and immigrant women) made me realize that reproductive injustice is not only history—it is also about current systems and accountability.
Overall, Week 6 connected three big ideas for me: framing, intersectionality, and agency. Framing shapes what we can see. Intersectionality helps us see systems working together. Agency asks what we do with what we see. The reading and lectures did not let the topic stay abstract. They used art, history, and policy examples to show how oppression is organized, and how resistance is also organized—through activism, coalitions, and community knowledge. I leave this week with a clearer understanding that intersectionality is not just a “concept to memorize” for a midterm. It is a way to study society honestly, and a way to act more responsibly when injustice is happening “on our watch.”
Works Cited
Barrón, Alicia. “Visual Artist Julio Salgado Is Queer, Undocumented, And Proud As Hell.” The Establishment (Medium), 1 Mar. 2017. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. “The Urgency of Intersectionality.” TEDWomen (TED Talks), Oct. 2016. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
Fischer, Kay. “8.1: Introduction.” Introduction to Ethnic Studies (Fischer et al.), Social Sci LibreTexts, ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative (OERI). Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
Smithsonian American Art Museum. “I Am UndocuQueer.” Smithsonian American Art Museum, n.d. Acce
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