Siobhan Davenport ‘25

WUJUR (2025)

Abstract

How has intersectionality—a term rooted in Black feminist theory and finally coined in the late 80s by Black feminist and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw—become a part of popular discourse in the media decades after it was first introduced in legal theory? What began as a concept and theory closely tied to Black feminism is being used to describe not only the struggles faced by Black women, but also the struggles of other marginalized groups. Who were some of the actors that began to transition intersectionality from the pages of legal theory into the public sphere? Through three case studies: an episode of the podcast #IntersectionalityMatters by Kimberlé Crenshaw, the rise of “intersectionality” in Teen Vogue, and blog posts from the Crunk Feminist Collective, I investigate some of the movement of intersectionality from the academic to the public. Knowing how the term moved and who moved it are imperative to understanding the current stakes of intersectionality in American politics.

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Davenport, S. (2025). Outside the scope: Tracing the impacts of intersectionality’s shift from the academic to the public. The Washington University Journal of Undergraduate Research, 1(1), 46–54.

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Davenport, Siobhan. Washington University in St. Louis.
Corresponding Author. Send correspondence to d.siobhan@wustl.edu.

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