My Intersectionality & Me

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I have lived here most of my life. I have also lived in Hood River, Oregon. I have a BA in Psychology and an MA in Media Literacy. I am currently the Manager of Student Engagement at a local university. I love animals, art, music, traveling, the ocean, the mountains, and the St. Louis Cardinals. And yes, I bleed Blue.

My intersectionality is that of an adopted, biracial (African-American birth father, Jewish-American birth mother), cis-gender, middle-class (sometimes, lower-class), single, childless, American, Midwestern, heterosexual, liberal, Atheist/Agnostic/Darwinist/Humanist, woman. I have spent much of my life being at odds with the world. I had very little identity growing up. By that I mean that there were not many people who looked like me, either on the streets or in the media.

As a bi-racial woman who has always questioned where I fit in this world, I have struggled with being “other” my entire life. When filling out forms that request race, and you could only check one, “other” was the only way to remotely be accurate in defining me. Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri during the 1970’s and 80’s, there was rarely anyone who looked like me in my classes, much less my schools. There was even less representation in media, particularly in film and television. Growing up, adults would say I looked like Kennedy. At 6, 7, 8, I didn’t understand they meant Jayne and not Jackie. Jackie Kennedy was a visible figure. Jayne, though popular, not as much.