Intersectionality.It’s a long word, I know. But it’s the buzzword of modern feminism for a reason. It’s incredibly important. The term was created by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989 to describe the set of disadvantages and oppressions black women face due to their race and their gender... and also their race and gender combined. The theory focuses on the matrix of oppression: the idea that, for example, a white middle class man may oppress a lower class woman of colour in ways that are simultaneously racist and sexist. Take the word ‘dog’ – at various points as an insult it can be racially or sexually charged, or refer to class. But at some points it can be all three.

Practising intersectionality in one sense is recognising these differences. Taking it a step further means checking your own privilege – that is, the way your race, class or gender might give you an advantage. Men are less likely to suffer sexism, while no one finds white women threatening on the basis of race. From individual actions – who gets targeted by the drunk on the bus, for example – to wider issues of representation and structural oppression, it’s important to analyse just where you benefit as well as where you’re disadvantaged. Only then can anyone work towards changes that benefit everyone, not just themselves. More simply put, not everyone has white woman problems. It’s taken a distressingly long time for feminism to realise this. Even today, women who were once at the forefront of the movement are being called out for failing to recognise and empathise with the depth of other women’s suffering – the suffering of transwomen, for example, is written off with depressing regularity.

At other times, feminists can seize on an issue without consciously examining the biases behind it. Take the righteous furore over the Oxford and Rochdale sex gangs. People rightly rallied to condemn the horrific crimes, but few took the initiative to look beyond the very racialised narrative of nasty Asian men attacking nice white girls. In not reaching beyond the specific cases to the general situation – where there are men of all races and creeds abusing young girls – these people failed to look at the events holistically. Asian women were notably absent from discussions of the case.