Chapter 10.
At the core of human experience lies identity—the intricate tapestry woven from our self-perception, our relationships, and our place in the world. Among the most fundamental threads are gender, sexuality, and race. These are deeply personal attributes that, for countless individuals, have become a battlefield of judgment, discrimination, and profound exclusion. These identities are not private matters; they are fundamental axes along which power is distributed, exercised, and denied. This chapter will explore how systemic power structures create and perpetuate exclusion based on identity, compelling conformity or concealment and examining the profound impact on human agency and societal progress.
Before understanding exclusion, we must first examine the societal “norm.” For over half of humanity—women—the societal blueprint has historically manifested as systemic exclusion from positions of power and equitable resource distribution. As of early 2024, a mere 10% of FTSE 100 CEOs in the UK were women, a figure that highlights the persistent glass ceiling (FTSE Women Leaders Review 2024). This disparity extends to religious institutions, where many major denominations systematically exclude women from decision-making roles and ordained leadership. The Roman Catholic Church explicitly prohibits women from being ordained, and while the Church of England has ordained women as priests and bishops, they still represent only about one-third of paid clergy. This exclusion is not confined to Christian traditions. Many non-Christian religions also present varying degrees of exclusion, rooted in traditional interpretations or cultural norms. Orthodox Judaism generally doesn’t ordain women as rabbis, and many interpretations of Islam have historically led to restrictions on women’s public roles. While classical Hindu and Buddhist texts can present complex views, contemporary societies often exhibit conservative norms that lead to discrimination.
Economically, men have, on average, £92,762 more in total wealth than women in the UK (Women’s Budget Group, 2023). Men hold nearly three times the value of UK shares and have an average of £83,879 more in private pension wealth, a 90% gap. The median gender pay gap for all employees in the UK stood at 13.1% in April 2024 (ONS, 2024), meaning women earn, on average, 87 pence for every pound earned by men. This disparity is significantly influenced by traditional gender roles: women disproportionately undertake 75% of the world’s unpaid care work, a contribution valued at an estimated $10.8 trillion annually (UN Women, citing ILO 2023). Beyond the male-female divide, these blueprints also financially penalise non-conformity. UK research indicates that LGBTQ+ employees, on average, earn £6,700 less than other workers, a 16% pay gap (Startups.co.uk, 2024). Gay men, for instance, often face barriers to senior leadership positions, even while earning 4-5% less than heterosexual men.
These prescribed roles, often rooted in patriarchal structures and religious dogma, painted a stark picture: men were to be dominant and public actors; women were often confined to domesticity. This social conditioning underpins the idea, famously articulated by Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex, that “one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” As Judith Butler would later explore in Gender Trouble, gender itself became a performative act, with deviation inviting sanction. Anything outside these prescribed roles was often deemed aberrant, immoral, or even a mental illness.
While gender forms a profound axis of exclusion, race stands as another fundamental dimension, deeply ingrained in historical and contemporary power structures. The concept of “race” itself is a social construct, a means to categorise and control populations, often justifying domination as explored by Omi & Winant in Racial Formation in the United States. The impact of race on economic well-being is stark and persistent. In the UK, the Runnymede Trust’s “Colour of Money” report highlights that Black African and Bangladeshi households have 10 times less wealth than White British people. Even with similar educational qualifications, ethnic minority graduates often face an “ethnic penalty” in the labour market, earning less or being in non-graduate jobs compared to their White counterparts.
Access to safe housing is another critical area of racial exclusion. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals that Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK disproportionately spend more of their income on housing. Overcrowding is also significantly higher, with 24% of Bangladeshi and 18% of Pakistani people living in overcrowded homes compared to just 2% of White British people.
Racial bias in healthcare leads to significant disparities in health outcomes. The NHS Race and Health Observatory highlights that people from Black and minority ethnic groups experience inequalities in health outcomes and access to care. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a shocking 85% of doctors who died were from ethnic minority backgrounds in the UK, pointing to systemic vulnerabilities. Beyond healthcare, racial bias is also deeply embedded within criminal justice systems. In the UK, non-white individuals account for 37% of those stopped and searched, 23% of those arrested, and 27% of the prison population. The Lammy Review (2017) and the Baroness Casey Review (2023) identified significant disproportionality and institutional racism within the criminal justice system and the Metropolitan Police.
The real power of these norms coalesces when they are formalised into legal structures. Law possesses the unique ability to transform social disapproval into state-sanctioned persecution. Legal codes have criminalised same-sex relations and prohibited gender non-conformity. For women, this legal codification meant systematic curtailment of rights: they were denied the right to own property, control their earnings, or vote. These legislative acts didn’t just reflect existing prejudice; they actively engineered and enforced it.
One of the most chilling examples of this legal codification is the life of Fritz Bauer, the legendary West German prosecutor. A homosexual man, Bauer lived under the shadow of Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code, which criminalised homosexuality. This paradox—a man battling state-sponsored evil while living under state-sanctioned prejudice—perfectly illustrates how deeply insidious the system can be. Bauer’s story is a stark reminder that legal frameworks don’t just define crimes; they define who is allowed to exist freely, as explored by Michel Foucault in The History of Sexuality.
Beyond explicit laws, the system spins informal, yet profoundly damaging mechanisms of exclusion that permeate daily life. One of the most pervasive forms is social stigma and ostracisation. This operates through an unwritten code of conduct enforced by society itself, leading to a deep psychological toll, manifesting as chronic stress, anxiety, and depression. The constant vigilance required to “pass” or conceal one’s true self is an exhausting burden, as detailed by Erving Goffman in Stigma. This informal pressure underpins more formal discrimination, creating what Iris Marion Young identified as various “faces of oppression.” This includes employment barriers, with a 2025 Ciphr report indicating that 45% of UK adults have experienced workplace discrimination. Housing discrimination is also a pervasive issue, as LGBTQ+ individuals often encounter prejudice. There are even significant healthcare disparities, where the medical system can become another site of exclusion, particularly for transgender individuals. Educational environments also often fall short, becoming hostile environments where bullying and a lack of inclusive curricula can severely impact students.
The system isn’t a flat, single-layered construct; it’s a complex, multi-dimensional matrix. To truly understand exclusion, we must introduce the concept of intersectionality, a framework articulated by scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw. Intersectionality explains that individuals hold multiple social identities that can converge to create unique and compounded experiences of discrimination. A Black queer woman, for instance, might face discrimination not only because she’s a woman or queer, but also because of the unique intersection of all three identities. Her experience of misogyny might be racialised, her homophobia compounded by anti-Black racism, and the cumulative effect is greater than the sum of its parts. Understanding intersectionality is crucial for developing genuinely inclusive solutions, as it highlights that a one-size-fits-all approach to equality will invariably leave the most marginalised behind.
Despite the formidable nature of the system that engineers exclusion, humanity has consistently demonstrated a remarkable capacity for resistance and social change. The history of exclusion is paralleled by a powerful journey toward liberation. Early forms of advocacy were often clandestine, operating in defiance of severe legal penalties. These fragmented efforts coalesced into organised social movements, driven by immense personal courage and collective determination. In the UK, the gay rights movement was a sustained fight that culminated in a powerful political force. Early activism was pivotal in the passage of the Sexual Offences Act 1967. Decades later, a new generation of activists mobilised to protest against Section 28, a campaign that fundamentally transformed public discourse and was the catalyst for subsequent legal reforms. A crucial lever has been legal reform. While laws historically codified prejudice, they can be repurposed as instruments of liberation.
Landmark legislation, such as the UK Race Relations Act 1976 (now superseded by the Equality Act 2010), sought to dismantle legal segregation. These legal advancements were hard-won battles, the direct result of decades of tireless activism and public education. Parallel to these shifts, significant cultural transformations have occurred, with increased visibility of diverse identities in media, arts, and public discourse. This has helped to normalise and humanise these experiences, contributing to what Jeffrey Weeks describes as the “remaking of erotic and intimate life.” Beyond formal changes, the role of civil society—from grassroots LGBTQ+ organisations to human rights groups and racial justice organisations—cannot be overstated. These organisations are the engines of social progress, transforming individual pain into collective action and holding power structures accountable.
The journey of navigating exclusion is a testament to both the enduring power of societal norms and laws, and the indomitable resilience of the human spirit. The story of Fritz Bauer serves as a poignant reminder of the pervasive reach of such power—how it compelled concealment even from those committed to fighting injustice, and the immense personal cost of denying one’s authentic self. Yet, despite this history, significant progress has been made. The fight for full equality and inclusion is far from over. True societal progress is not merely about accumulating wealth but about ensuring basic necessities, safety, and the uninhibited right to flourish for all. Dismantling these exclusionary power structures requires continuous vigilance, unwavering advocacy, and a commitment to empathy. We must strive to create a truly equitable system where all identities are not just tolerated, but celebrated; where authenticity is a strength, not a vulnerability; and where every human being can live freely, love openly, and contribute fully to society without the burden of concealment.
Next Chapter: Fourth Estate: Media and the Court of Public Opinion
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