1.
THE INTERSECTIONALITY
OF CLASS, RACE, GENDER
& SEXUALITY IN DEE
REES'S PARIAH
Indya Jackson

2.
Abstract
Dee Rees‟ 2011 film Pariah invites its viewers into the life of an African
American teenager as she struggles to come to terms with her identity. Hailing
from a black middle class Brooklyn family, the film‟s main character Alike aids
viewers in becoming acquainted with the complex world in which she resides.
To date there is little to no scholarship on Pariah.
Film critics and casual viewers have widely considered the film one
which most markedly acknowledges the difficulties of experiencing life as a
sexual outcast in a hostile heteronormative dominated society. In this paper,
however, I examine and analyze correlating contributing factors that directly
respond to Kimberle Crenshaw‟s feminist and sociological theory of
intersectionality. The theory of intersectionality dictates that one experiences
oppression not from independently controlling components of one‟s selfhood,
but one is oppressed by an entanglement of intermingling components of
one‟s identity. In accordance with popular interpretation of the film, Betsy
Sharpley of the Los Angeles Times notes, “At its soulful heart, "Pariah" is a
stinging street-smart story of an African American teen's struggle to come of
age and come out[.]”
Although Alike‟s struggle for identity is thought to stem wholly from
her sexual orientation, I argue that hers is the plight of one greatly driven by an
intertwining web of oppression rooted in an amalgamation of class, gender,
race and sexuality.

3.
“Wherever the bird with no feet flew, she found
trees with no limbs.” - Audre Lorde

4.
Pariah (2011)
 Dee Rees – film‟s director
 Plot – Pariah is the story of an African
American teen's struggle to come of age and
come out.
 Primary character - Alike
 Secondary characters – Audrey, Arthur, Laura,
& Bina.
 Themes – coming of age, searching for self-
identity, & self-liberation.

5.
Intersectionality
 First emphasized by Kimberlé Crenshaw.
 Suggests biological, social, and cultural
categories such as gender, race, class, ability,
sexual orientation, and other axes of identity
interact on multiple (often simultaneous) levels
in order to propagate social inequality.
 Points towards the critical view on becoming
“the other” in a normative setting within a
general Western culture.

6.
Intersectionality (continued)

7.
My Research
 Responds to popular interpretation of the film.
 Although Alike‟s struggle for identity is thought
to stem wholly from her sexual orientation, I
argue that hers is the plight of one greatly
driven by an intertwining web of oppression
rooted in an amalgamation of class, gender,
race and sexuality.

8.
Class, Race, Gender &
Sexuality
 Heterosexual Sexual Contract - The refusal to
become (or to remain) heterosexual always
means to refuse to become a man or a woman,
consciously or not” (Wittig 556).
 Heterosexism - [A] particular economic, political,
and emotional relationship between men and
women: men must dominate women and women
must subordinate themselves to men in any of a
number of ways. As a result, men presume
access to women while women remain riveted on
men and are unable to sustain a community of
women (Hoagland 28-29).

9.
Class, Race, Gender &
Sexuality
 Rejection of non-male-dominated family units
in the African American community.
 Homosexuality as opposition to class status.
 Bina (the church) vs. Laura (the heathen).

10.
Methods
 My study uses black feminist, queer, and
critical race theories as applied to close
readings of primary and secondary texts
articulating the experiences of members of the
LGBT and African American communities.
 I utilize these texts to contextualize the film in
culture, history, and politics.

11.
Review of Literature
 To date there is no available scholarly work
conducted on Pariah, yet many works and
theories that consider the reality of the lesbian
identity are available and will be referenced when
conducting research including:
 Kimberle Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality
 Monique Wittig's heterosexual contract.
 Patricia Hill Collins' "The Sexual Politics of Black
Womanhood.“
 Cheryl Clarke's "The Failure to Transform
Homophobia in the Black Community."

12.
Works Cited
Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of
Empowerment. 1st ed. Routledge, 2008. Print.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. "Mapping the margins: Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence
against women of color." Stanford law review (1991): 1241-1299.
Dunning, Stephanie. Queer in Black and White: Interraciality, Same Sex Desire, and
Contemporary African American Culture. Indiana University Press, 2009. Print.
Hoagland, Sarah Lucia. “Heterosexualism and White Supremacy.” Hypatia 22.1 (2007): 166–
185. Print.
Richardson, Matt. “Our Stories Have Never Been Told: Preliminary Thoughts on Black Lesbian
Cultural Production as Historiography in The Watermelon Woman.” Black Camera 2.2
(2011): 100– 113. Print.
Ross, Marlon B. “Camping The Dirty Dozens: The Queer Resources of Black Nationalist
Invective.” Callaloo 23.1 (2000): 290–312. Print.
Sender, Katherine. “Sex Sells: Sex, Taste, and Class in Commercial Gay and Lesbian Media.”
GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 9.3 (2003): 331–365. Print.
Sharkey, Betsy. “Movie Review: „Pariah‟.” Los Angeles Times 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 9 July 2012.
Wittig, Monique. "One Is Not Born a Woman." Everyday Theory: A Contemporary Reader. By
Becky Renee. McLaughlin and Bob Coleman. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2005. 554-
60. Print.