Sedgewick observes that a person's social position is affected by various axes of classification such as gender, sexuality, race , class and the interaction of these social identities. In Alice Walker's The Color Purple, Sedgewick's observations ring true. Celie, the main character in Walker's novel, is a perfect example of these observations made by Sedgewick. Celie's social position is indicative of her gender, sexuality, race, and class; as a black woman living in Georgia between 1910 and 1940, one might expect to witness the general "acceptable" racism present in the novel towards people of color. Despite the “acceptable” racism, the novel accentuates the difficulties and struggles that women of color have to go through in this novel. The social positions of the characters, especially Celie and Sofia, in Walker's The Color Purple are based on the social identities of their gender, race, class, sexuality, and ethnicity. The Color Purple by Alice Walker is set in Georgia from 1910 to 1940. During this time, racism was easily visible and apparent in society. Black people were considered inferior unlike their white counterparts. However, not only are all the characters of color within The Color Purple forced, through oppression, to accept their social positions because they are not white, but also because some of them are women , lesbians and the lower classes. As Crenshaw explains, “[b]ecause of their intersectional identities as women and people of color within discourses designed to cater to one or the other, women of color are marginalized in both” ( Crenshaw 5). Celie, the main character of the novel, is given enormous adult responsibilities at a young age. After her mother's death, she is removed from school in order to...... middle of paper ...... in their respective black (original) communities and in the white-dominated community ( Georgia), they are separated. of. Despite the fact that these two communities are very different, these women are still heavily oppressed. Although it is possible to leave the classroom, the characters in The Color Purple are still placed in their social positions due to the intersection of their race, gender, and sexuality. Works CitedBersani, Leo. “Love men”. Building masculinity. By Maurice Berger, Brian Wallis, Simon Watson and Carrie Mae Weems. New York: Routledge, 1995.115-23. Print.Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review 43.6 (1991): 1241-299. JSTOR. Internet. February 14, 2014. Walker, Alice. The color purple. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992. Print.