Intersectionality as Critical Method: Asking the Other Question

While the appeal of intersectionality shows no signs of abating, it is not always clear what the use of the concept might actually mean for feminist enquiry. In other words, how does one actually go about thinking intersectionally? What does it mean to do an intersectional analysis? In 1991, the US legal scholar Maria Matsuda proposed the strategy of ’asking the other question’ as a useful way to initiate an intersectional analysis: the way I try to understand the interconnection of all forms of subordination is through a method I call ‘ask the other question’. When I see something that looks racist, I ask, “Where is the patriarchy in this?” When I see something that looks sexist, I ask, “Where is the heterosexism in this?” When I see something that looks homophobic, I ask, “Where are the class interests in this?”.