Prospectus

The title of this “Big Idea” project could not be any more fitting for the topic I aim to tackle – the critically urgent and doubtlessly prevalent field of Indigenous feminism and intersectionality. Intersectionality is one of the centre-most concepts within Indigenous feminism, and provides great clarity for the structural violence faced by Canadian Indigenous women in disproportionate amounts. With this project, I hope to provide research and arguments that facilitate a discussion on the importance of Indigenous feminism and how it differentiates from (and is often at odds with) the “default” category of white, Western feminism. I plan to centre my thesis around the structural violence against Indigenous women whose effects manifest themselves most greatly in the Downtown Eastside – one of the most marginalized and struggling communities in Canada. The research that I hope to pursue is all done with one question in mind: how can we effectively apply an intersectional methodology to analysis of violence against Indigenous women in the Downtown Eastside?

Intersectionality, in my opinion, is a way of nuancing oppression amongst marginalized groups of people in a manner that includes a cross-sectioning of multiple levels of discrimination. Intersectionality acknowledges that while different systems of oppression (i.e. colonialism, patriarchy, white supremacy) operate on distinct levels, they inevitably cross over to cause a multiplied effect of discrimination on certain individuals who are marginalized by each system – often in a way that the origin of discrimination is not entirely clear, but rather is the product of the intersection at which they all meet. In the case of Indigenous women, they are not simply effected by colonialism, sexism, or racism separately; the ideology of colonialism has the capacity to be (and often is) gendered, racist, and classist, creating a multi-faceted system of subordination through which Indigenous women are pushed to the periphery.

Throughout this project, I plan to apply this notion of intersectionality to the Indigenous women of the Downtown Eastside, using the missing and murdered women as well as the high rates of abuse as concrete examples for the violent effects that the intersection between colonialism and patriarchy can have on marginalized groups of people. The body of evidence that I have encountered thus far has provided not only objective facts and statistics, but real and honest examples and testimonies of the violence and marginalization that Indigenous women endure on a daily basis. I also hope to draw on employment status and class as two more intersections outside of race and gender which contribute to these women’s oppression – as the Downtown Eastside is notoriously the poorest neighbourhood in Canada, with many Indigenous women relying on the sex work industry as their main or only form of income. I also plan to conclude with a bit of information on Indigenous women and their activism against colonial gender violence, as it is important to know that this issue represents more than simply tragic stories and shocking statistics, and that there is hope for the future.

From this project and the research that I present, I hope to emphasize the importance of including Indigenous feminism and intersectionality in greater conversations about feminism. The white, Western, “populist” feminism that has dominated the public sphere since the women’s suffrage movement is exclusive and often discriminatory, and I hope that my readers will be able to acknowledge the criticality of the differing experiences and oppressions between white women and women of colour (specifically Indigenous women), as well as the implications of framing feminism into a single category without recognizing diversity. Intersectionality and Indigenous feminism is imperative to understanding the root causes of issues such as the missing and murdered women, and I hope to present an argument which connects the two in an unbreakable way – proving that feminism requires more than just a gender analysis.