Why Your Characters Deserve Intersectionality: Going Beyond Representation
We’ve come a long way when it comes to representation in media, but visibility alone isn’t justice. A single queer character, a disabled sidekick, or a BIPOC love interest might tick the “diversity box,” but that doesn’t mean the work is done. It doesn’t even mean it’s started. True inclusion isn’t about optics. It’s about reflecting the complex, interwoven realities people live every day.
That’s where intersectionality steps in—not as a buzzword, but as a framework for writing characters who breathe.
1. What Is Intersectionality, Really?
The term intersectionality was coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 to describe how systems of oppression—like racism, sexism, ableism, and transphobia—overlap and intensify each other. She used the term to highlight how Black women face unique struggles that can’t be fully understood by looking at race or gender alone.
In storytelling, this matters more than many realize. Often, writers isolate a character's identity into a single “trait” (e.g., “he’s gay,” or “she’s disabled”) without acknowledging how those identities intersect with other aspects of life—culture, community, religion, trauma, and joy.
Your characters are not a list of marginalized traits. They are shaped by the specific ways the world treats all of who they are.
2. Avoiding the “Checkbox” Approach
It’s easy to fall into a trap: adding a “diverse” character to your cast and calling it good. This often leads to flat, tokenized portrayals. Real people are not monoliths, and your characters shouldn’t be either.
Think of it this way: if your trans character exists only to “teach” a cis character a lesson, or your disabled character is always a symbol of inspiration, that’s not inclusion—it’s reduction.
Intersectional writing is about giving your characters agency, contradiction, dreams, and depth. They should wrestle with things. They should have history and humor and heartbreak. They shouldn’t feel like they were inserted into the narrative—they should shape it.
📘 Read: Belonging: A Culture of Place by bell hooks
3. Let the Characters Speak for Themselves
One of the most effective ways to reflect a character’s intersectional identity is through their voice. Not just how they talk, but how they process the world.
Let them ask hard questions. Let them mess up. Let them speak in their own rhythm. And above all, avoid using marginalized characters as moral stand-ins. They’re not there to be the reader’s guide to “wokeness”—they’re there to be human.
🎥 Watch: What is Intersectionality? | TED Talk by Kimberlé Crenshaw
💡 Tip: Use interiority—journals, dreams, internal monologue, flashbacks—to show how multiple identities shape your characters’ perspectives over time.
4. Layered Characters Make Stronger Stories
Good fiction is rooted in emotional truth—and people with intersecting identities often carry rich, complex emotional worlds. Writing intersectionally doesn’t just make your story more ethical. It makes it better.
A queer, autistic, brown protagonist isn’t a “diversity triple threat.” They’re someone who navigates the world in unique and specific ways—and that has narrative power.
Maybe they read social cues differently because of their neurodivergence, and that shapes how they interact in queer spaces. Maybe their race affects how safe they feel accessing healthcare during transition. These intersections aren’t just about oppression—they can also shape community, resilience, joy, and creativity.
📚 Recommended: This Bridge Called My Back – A groundbreaking collection of essays by radical women of color that explores identity through personal and political lenses.
Final Thoughts: Write Past the Surface
We don’t live single-issue lives. So why should our characters?
As you write, ask yourself:
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Who is this character outside their “label”?
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What systems and experiences have shaped them?
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How do their different identities interact?
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Are they allowed joy, contradiction, and agency?
Intersectionality isn’t about writing perfect representation—it’s about being honest. It’s about knowing we are shaped by more than one story at a time. And when we reflect that in fiction, we don’t just mirror the world—we make room for a better one.
Further Info:
Writingelite- I post once a month on here you should take a look at it. I address Family topics of all sorts.
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