Abstract
One of the challenges of writing a chapter on inter sectionality, with a specific emphasis on sexuality and ethnicity, is that specificity distorts the ideal of in ter sectionality, which seeks to see people as multiple composites of identities, not simply two or three of these. However, the pragmatics of understanding some of these intersections in depth does require us to develop a focus. This chapter, therefore, seeks to investigate the experiences, dilemmas, challenges and triumphs of being a sexual and ethnic minority. Using case studies and narratives from clinical encounters, research studies, web-blogs, and mass media, I chronicle these accounts to understand the complex psychological and political journeys people caught between seemingly conflicting identities have to make on a daily basis.
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Further reading
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299.
das Nair, R. & Butler, C. (2012). Intersectionality, sexuality, & psychological therapies: Exploring lesbian, gay, and bisexual diversity.London: Wiley Blackwell/BPS-Blackwell imprint. Sex Roles Journal, 68(11-12), June 2013 is a special issue on Intersections of LGBT, Racial/Ethnic Minority, and Gender Identities.
Taylor, Y., Hines, S., & Casey, M. E. (2010). Theorizing intersectionality and sexuality (genders and sexualities in the social sciences).Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Yip, A. K. T. & Page, S.-J. (2013). Religious and sexual identities: A multi-faith exploration of young adults.Farnham: Ashgate.
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Nair, R.D. (2015). Ethnicity. In: Richards, C., Barker, M.J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345899_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137345899_25
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