FEMINIST FORUM REVIEWARTICLE Where Do We Go From Here? Toward an Inclusive and Intersectional Literature of Multiple Stigmatization

In the present response to commentaries on Remedios and Snyder (2015), we consider how to develop more inclusive intersectional theories of how women of color experience race and gender stigmatization. As the commentaries highlight, an intersectional literature of multiple stigmatization will benefit from inclusive approaches that consider multiple identity dimensions (beyond race and gender; CarterSowell and Zimmerman 2015; Williams and Fredrick 2015), and diversity within social groups (such as diversity within women of color; Mohr and Purdie-Vaughns 2015).We reiterate these assertions by highlighting the limitations of relying on non-stigmatized or prototypical samples (Henrich et al. 2010; Purdie-Vaughns and Eibach 2008), noting that such samples are intersectional, and suggesting that greater inclusivity and use of intersectional approaches will promote the development of more robust and replicable theories. We also caution, however, that incremental advances in this field are necessary, and that research focusing on non-prototypical samples should not be held to a higher standard than research focusing on prototypical samples. In other words, the realization that we cannot do everything−we cannot consider all identity dimensions and all diversity within identity dimensions−in one series of studies should not undermine the value of what we can do as a collective field to move toward a literature of multiple stigmatization. In our response we focus on a U. S. cultural context.