Each of the characters in Such a Fun Age is challenged to think about, understand, and change their understanding of the ways that intersecting identities impact people in the United States in regard to race, class, and gender. While some characters are able to do this naturally, other characters have a more difficult journey.

The beginning of the novel portrays more fixed perspectives on race, class, and gender. For example, Emira thinks “the intersection” (3) of her wealthy white boss calling her while Emira is out with her drunk friends is “almost […] funny” (4). In a more serious case, Emira encounters a racist security guard, watching “his face shift” (15) into seeing her specifically through a racist lens. In early introductions to Kelley, he also expresses himself through concrete statements about identity, like: “When I was seventeen I had a girlfriend who was the richest girl in town” (90). Although this presents in more extreme ways than for Emira and Kelley, Alix also begins the novel with a lack of critical awareness as to how whiteness or wealth privilege impact her life; she approaches situations by thinking about herself rather than thinking about others.

The complexities of the ways that race, class, and gender intersect become clearer both to readers and to the characters as the plot of the novel intensifies.