Question

Explain how women are both a majority and a minority, and how intersection theory can be employed to understand women’s minority status.

Answer 1

Since women do not share the same power, privileges, rights, and opportunities as men they are considered a minority group. However since demographically women are roughly equal in number to men, they are not a statistical minority. Intersectionality theory according to which multiple layers of social identity interact with each for producing new forms of meaning. Thus despite being in roughly equal in numbers statistically and demographically women are in minority due to being marginalized in society. Thus the dimensions of difference such as race in women's lives combine in a multi-layered system leading to the unique disadvantage for this category of women.