“This Is Why We Talk About Race and Sexuality, Too”

In this chapter, the authors examine a language-arts teacher’s effort to introduce intersectional understandings of gender in a class on feminism with adolescents in a summer enrichment program. The teacher initially encountered substantial resistance from these adolescents to ideas about gender, which she attributed to White feminism. Based on observations and individual interviews, the authors applied Crenshaw’s (1989) single-axis framework to analyze and critique the students’ initial hesitancy to understand gender as intersecting with elements such as sexuality and race. It was only after the teacher introduced a range of literacy practices, including reflective narrative writing, that students began to appreciate the importance of understanding gender as intersectional. The authors consider the implications of using a variety of literary practices for fostering intersectional considerations when examining representations and performance of gender.