Five women’s stories

Intersectionality

Five women’s stories

The term intersectionality was brought into focus as a legal discourse by Kimberle Crenshaw in her work on critical race theory. Crenshaw was concerned about the discrimination of African American women being inherent in the structures of the American legal system. She defines intersectionality as a tool for looking at the ways in which race and gender intersect to create barriers and obstacles to equality.

The concept was enshrined in law in England and Wales by the implementation of the Equality Act 2010. 1 This was an attempt to address this multifaceted issue through the justice system. The act lists protected characteristics identifying how intersectionality is affected by ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, culture, nationality, religion and disability.

Intersectionality has become an international discourse today. Its influence and reach is visible in the policy documents of World Bank governance reports and International law. However my concern, in this first of two articles on the subject, is how the list of protected characteristics, enshrined by the Equality Act of 2010, gets played out in the everyday lived experience of legal women.

So I sought the stories of five such women.

“It's the look” said Julia reflecting on what for her was the main exclusionary factor of her experience as a legal woman: “Not looking a particular way”.

Why are you wearing men’s clothes? Her female manager had asked during her training.

They aren’t men’s clothes, she’d responded, but the way I look. I thought you were interested in the quality of my work.

The look was raised again, and again. Then in 1998 Julia said: we won’t be having this conversation in January, because the new Disability Discrimination Act is out and, as I have rheumatoid arthritis and wear sensible lace up shoes, you won’t be able to discriminate against me anymore.

A lesbian has to rely on the Disability Discrimination Act to wear the clothes she feels suits her personality! Fortuitous?

It was not until 2003, that UK legislation was introduced to deal specifically with sexual orientation, harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

At the end of her two years, Julia did not apply to join the firm. The manager took her to lunch and asked why not – as the quality of her work could not be faulted: “you are the only trainee solicitor we have had who has not applied at the end of their term”.

“They may not have liked my look” laughs Julia, “but they seemed to admire my authenticity as I survived there for two years”.

Julia had already encountered the look barrier at University where the barrister teaching the course pronounced to the group You’re not going to make it to barrister unless you change into the acceptable version of yourself...

“Then there were my northern vowels…” continues Julia who comes from Wigan.

“Is it the same for a young lesbian woman starting out today?”

“I think sexual harassment, comments about appearance, and the violence that goes with it hasn’t changed much”.

“So what would you advise?”“Be true to yourself!” she grins.The look was experienced differently by Darlene.

Darlene White

“I’m very conscious of my appearance. I never feel as though I can have a day where I just don’t bother, or go into work looking ‘less than’. A white woman might – she could go into work dressed casually and people might just think ‘Oh she looks like a bit of a bohemian today’ but for me it would be ‘Oh she looks scruffy!’ Dressing ‘less than’ is not an option for a Black woman. I was in court once, and I could not have looked more like a lawyer than I did: I was wearing a smart suit, sitting with my briefcase on my lap, fine tuning my arguments, in preparation for my case representing a landlord whose tenant had not been able to pay her rent; when a woman came up to me and said, ‘Excuse me are you my client Mrs Pocket?’ ‘No I’m not!’ I said, and she realised slowly I was her opponent in court”.

“What did she do?”

“She opened the door to the court for me when the case was called, and I walked past and took my seat”.

“You blanked her?”

“Yes. I wanted to let her know, so that she would not do it to other black women. Not everyone is as confident as I am...”.

“It was a racist affront?”

“Well, the only difference between her appearance and mine was the colour of my skin!”

“So what is your advice to younger women who may encounter similar prejudice from white educated women?”

“To have something in your toolbox!”

Christina Warner

I first saw Christina at a Legal Women event, where she had come as a speaker. She looked self assured and poised as the audience settled into a hush, she was smartly dressed and smiling. She bore no visible sign of a disability, the subject of her talk.

Christina has a genetic condition called Stargardt's disease, which causes blindness. It is a rare degenerative condition, triggered in her adult life after she had qualified and practised as a barrister.

In our chat, she recounts her initial difficulty in coming to terms, as a previously able-bodied woman with this growing disability.

“At first, I was living my disability in secret. For example, when I went out with friends for dinner, I’d look up the menu in advance and memorise it, turning the pages and pretending to read the menu in the restaurant”.

I ask her what has been the most exclusionary aspect of her disability as a legal woman, and she responds that it is managing people’s perceptions; the ignorance of people’s response when they learn about her disability, even amongst the most educated. One acquaintance confessed that if they were losing their eyesight, they would want to kill themselves.

“How does disability as a discourse fare in relation to race and gender, not having an international movement behind it such as Black Lives Matter and #Me Too?”

“We’re always a footnote, though we too have a history of oppression. For example, in eugenics and the curtailing of reproductive rights for disabled women; and again in the way disabled people were targeted by the ‘ugly laws’ at the turn of the twentieth century, banned from the streets of New York so as not to offend public sensibility”.

“So what do you do in the face of that history?”

“I surround myself with people who understand, like other lawyers with disabilities. I’m part of ‘bringing disability to the bar’, for example, and a member of the association of disabled lawyers, which caters also for disabled students through mentoring schemes. I’m also on a disability panel for the bar council”.

“So you’re an activist and advocate...?”“Yes”.“That must generate its own energy...?”

“Networking does. There are exciting things happening in the legal profession, like a greater understanding for accessible buildings, for example, retractable steps so wheelchair users can access the building. Remedies which make it possible for us to keep our dignity and independence”.

“Obviously reasonable adjustments have to be made for those who are employed. For example, I underwent an Access to Work scheme and have an assistant. But discrimination is often covert, in the form of public ignorance and bigotry, and no amount of legislation can prevent that”.

“How do you think this activism takes strength from other historical movements, such as the women’s movement in the 1970s, or the LGBT and critical race movements in the 1980s?”

“Something exciting is happening on that front. The Oscars 2022 awarded best picture to Code And Troy Kotsur, who received the Oscar for Supporting Actor for the film, signed his acceptance speech, which was a special moment. There is a campaign – WeThe15 campaign – highlighting that 15% of the world’s population is disabled. I sense a real movement away from the stereotypes of what a disabled person is… there are better representations of disabled people today. And humour is important, I crack jokes a lot!”

“What has been the best thing since learning about your disability?”

“Coming out of the disability closet... that was liberating”.“In what way?”

“Being able to ask for help when I need it. Now, I wait for friends outside the restaurants and they’re happy to come and find me... usually I have no idea what the menu is”.

Ann Crighton

Nothing has changed much for Ann. She may look older, she grants, but does not really feel older – except perhaps in relation to ‘getting tired sooner’.

“Actually there are a few advantages to being over 60. You get the oyster card and free travel” she states playfully. “I took early retirement from the CPS but could have continued until I was as old as Richard Attenborough – as age discrimination is illegal. My only regret is not setting up my own business years ago”.

Ann recounts the age barriers and obstacles to equality in the legal profession as affecting mainly younger women. She highlights an absence of thought in relation to child care responsibilities which fall predominantly on young women; and in relation to women of menopausal age, whose skills and experience get lost to the profession if inclusive structures aren’t in place to facilitate flexible working hours. A more inclusive culture is needed to encourage retention of women, she says. “Once you come out of the marketplace it’s hard to get back in!”

“But what about other people’s perceptions of you in your work, as an older legal woman?”

“Well, I find it’s like being a doctor”, she says mischievously, “age is an advantage, because my clients see me and think ‘she must have lots of experience’”.

“Are there any other barriers you encounter in your legal work?”

“Less social mobility in my view – I was from a working class background. In those days people got a grant to go to University.

I believe many young people today are too scared to take that debt on for their education. This lack of social mobility throws us back into the past. Did you ever read the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist?”

“Of course!”

“It just does not make good political sense not to have a more equal society... Have you read The Spirit Level?”

“Of course!”

“So who is voting to keep this I’m alright Jack system in place? Did you see that film?”

Lubna Shuja

“You are the first Asian, the first Muslim and only the 7th woman to become President of the Law Society of England and Wales – that is quite an achievement!”

“Well, it will happen formally in October this year but there is quite a challenge ahead of me”.

“You will be very visible as a public figure, how do you feel about that?”

“I am quite a private person and I’ve thought about this long and hard because when you become an office-holder you are going to have a public persona and you will naturally come under scrutiny”.

“The first Muslim woman?”“Yes”.

“You said at one point that you had thought about removing your religious identity from your social media profile, but then you thought no. Can you say why?”

“Because I think there is sometimes a negative perception of what being a Muslim is ...and who Muslims are... and about Islamaphobia. And I felt I wanted to be a positive role model. To break down some of the misconceptions that are out there”.

“What response have you had to the appointment so far?”“So far, it’s been very positive – much support”.“What kind of support?”

“People reaching out to me, saying it’s good to see an Asian in a role of seniority in an institution which has traditionally been perceived as white, male and elitist – but which is not that in reality”.

“So what can you do about this misconception?”

“Well, I will be visible. I will be there. This will help break down that particular misconception – though perceptions are changing. But we do need to see diversity at senior and President level. It is precisely your point about intersectionality isn’t it...everybody’s experience is different, we want the legal profession to understand experiences of inequality are not the same... an Asian Pakistani woman who wears the hijab will encounter very different barriers and obstacles to equality, than a women or man from another minority ethnic group – and we need to bring that conversation into the mainstream”.

“What about Black Lives Matter and the #Me Too movements... have they helped to bring that conversation into the mainstream?”

“I think both movements have shone a light on very important struggles and challenges and brought those issues to the mainstream where they were not before. And yes, I think that this in itself is a tremendous achievement, but I don’t think it stops there... the histories of Black people and people from South Asia are very different. But again in relation to intersectionality, data collected from reliable sources shows that 52% of the law profession are now women: 20% of women are from ethnic minority backgrounds, as opposed to only 15% of men – which means the number of ethnic and minority Black and Asian women from intersectionality backgrounds coming into the profession, outnumber the men – but we know too that these women and women in general are not progressing to senior levels in the profession.

That’s the next conversation to be had”.

Conclusion

What we can immediately glean from these stories is an affinity between the women telling them, and common themes that weave in and out of their lives – the way they look, the way they sound, and how they act.

Something else only touched upon, but also very important, is how class plays an important role in the experiences of these women.

We are not there yet but such strong voices and opinions can only help highlight how far we have come, but also how much work there is still to do to dismantle the barriers and obstacles that prevent all women finding true equality in society.

Molly Bellamy

A second article in the August edition will focus on how Intersectionality functions as a term of reference in the policy literature of the legal sector, and the law.