Intersectionality is a term coined in 1989 by legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw (1959– ) to describe the ways in which discrimination cuts across traditional boundaries such as race, sex or gender, and wealth or poverty. It is often associated with critical race theory, another term coined by Crenshaw, which examines the ways in which race is defined and discrimination is produced in America. Intersectionality can be used to describe relations that are legacies of imperialism and colonialism, but in the United States it is most often used to describe the layers of discrimination produced as a result of race and as a result of gender. Intersectionality is particularly important when considering the history of women of color, who have been the victims of discrimination both because of their race and because of their gender.