CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS - Intersectionality and Healthcare

2021-11-13

Centring the experiences of Black women, Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989) coined the term “intersectionality” to highlight how various identity factors (i.e., racialization, gender identity and expression, sexual identity and expression, disability, status of impoverishment, etc.) each contain barriers created and sustained by social, political, economic (and other) systems of power. Crenshaw (1989) emphasizes that overlapping identity factors (with a critical focus on the experiences of Black women) are thus accompanied by overlapping barriers, which influence a person or community’s life experiences, access to care, and overall well-being.

This framework can be extended to virtually all areas of Westernized healthcare, as identity factor-related barriers (i.e., medical racism, medical transphobia, cishetsexism, etc.) are overwhelmingly and consistently present.

The BSUJ is looking for submissions on any related topics, and includes submissions of: TERM PAPERS, LITERATURE REVIEWS, IN-CLASS ASSIGNMENTS, and more.

Examples of relevant topics:

  • Disproportionate access to mental healthcare
  • Supervised consumption sites as critical infrastructure 
  • Inaccessibility of trans and intersex-informed care 
  • Gender affirmation as healthcare and suicide prevention 
  • Colonial violence and associated healthcare barriers
  • Ageism in healthcare
  • Racial bias in medical testing and treatment 
  • Gatekeeping in sciences and medical fields
  • Access to trauma-informed care
  • Intersectional education for prospective medical professionals
  • Representation in healthcare
  • Access to interpreters and translators
  • Alternatives to law enforcement in wellness checks 
  • Public housing as healthcare
  • Racialization of drug policy
  • Accessible public washrooms as healthcare 
  • Affordable childcare as healthcare 
  • Access to comprehensive healthcare benefits
  • Paid leave for health and mental health-related illness
  • Easily-accessible food security as healthcare
  • Costs of pharmaceuticals and treatments
  • Personal experiences and challenges within the healthcare system
  • Decriminalization of sex work and sex workers as healthcare 
  • Access to regulated (untampered and consistently-dosed) drugs 
  • Harm-reduction approaches 
  • Distributions of COVID-19 vaccines
  • Disproportionate impact by COVID-19 policy and financial subsistence 
  • Chronic pain stigmatization 
  • Access to assistive technologies and equipment 

References: Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 8, 138-167. (no DOI found) https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8