During the reign of the British empire, masculinity and patriarchy were at the foreground for its development, creating little space for the advancement of feminism. Many British literary works from the imperialist period feature men in the limelight as their male status becomes more valued for it’s ability to further strengthen and spread the power of the British empire. In such a patriarchal society where women were consistently oppressed, the feminist movement transformed into many forms and worked within the constraints to empower and work towards equality. The aftermath of the British reign, especially on India, has greatly impacted the feminist movement and continues to contribute to the place of women in society. While there are countless …show more content…
In India specifically, the colonial government had a lasting effect on massive amounts of Indian citizens, especially those who resided in slums. In the article Feminism, Imperialism and Race: a dialogue between India and Britain, written by Barbara Ramusack and Antoinette Burton they explain, “They confined women to the inner world of the home where the spiritual purity of the Indian nation was to be preserved from colonial pollution. This strategy reconfigured patriarchal relationships which permitted Indian men to remain dominant in the domestic sphere despite their subordination in the public arena of colonial politics.” Referring to India’s society post colonization, the authors explain that feminism had no place because the preservation of authentic Indian culture was in the hands of women, as they were made to stay home and reflect this culture through their status, cuisine and role as a mother. Since Indian culture was fragmented after the British spread their own beliefs throughout the country, there was pushback from Indian natives who disregarded British practices and worked to rebuild and restore traditional Indian ideals. These ideals ultimately meant that patriarchal power in India increased and the concept of feminism or equality was further suppressed. The British act of …show more content…
Imperialist feminism, a term coined by Pratibha Parmar, a black British filmmaker, to explain how the feminist movement took hold of Britain in the 1970’s and was exclusive to white women, leaving no room for the equality of other races of women. In the article, “Imperialist Feminism” by Deepa Kumar, she states her opposition of contemporary feminism as it focuses more on the inequality in more impoverished countries instead of recognizing its as an issue worldwide. Kumar states, “ the message is that rape, sexual violence, and other forms of female oppression take place elsewhere: in the Global South, in cultures that the West considers backward and barbaric, and not only is it not a problem here, but it the responsibility of women in the West to wage a moral crusade to rescue their Brown and Black sisters.” These ideals can be dangerous for feminism as they relate closely to the colonial ideals held by the British Empire and the “White Man’s Burden” message that was spread around the U.S at in the early 20th century. The two words imperialism and feminism seem to contradict each other as the entire imperialist movement was patriarchal and left no room for female advancement. One would think that increased globalization would allow for feminism to advance but it hasn’t greatly altered the imperialist
Lugones, María C. and Elizabeth V. Spelman (1983) “Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for ‘The Woman’s Voice’.” Women’s Studies International Forum, 6 (6): 573-581..
He believed that women were just as capable of crucial jobs as men were. Later on, Gandhi’s beliefs became a reality. “The 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution empowered rural women in 1993” (Document 12). Suddenly, women’s participation in village and district councils became crucial to the Indian government.
A new era was dawning on the American colonies and its mother country Britain, an era of revolution. The American colonists were subjected to many cruel acts of the British Parliament in order to benefit England itself. These British policies were forcing the Americans to rebellious feelings as their rights were constantly being violated by the British Crown. The colonies wanted to have an independent government and economy so they could create their own laws and stipulations. The British imperial policies affected the colonies economic, political, and geographic situation which intensified colonists’ resistance to British rule and intensified commitment to their republican values.
Throughout history, women have struggled with, and fought against, oppression. They have been held back and weighed down by the sexist ideas of a male dominated society which has controlled cultural, economic and political ideas and structures. During the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s women became more vocal and rebuked sexism and the role that had been defined for them. Fighting with the powerful written word, women sought a voice, equality amongst men and an identity outside of their family. In many literary writings, especially by women, during the mid-1800’s to early 1900’s, we see symbols of oppression and the search for gender equality in society.
Tales from the beyond, story one: a parent binds his baby girl's feet in China, so it will not grow more than five to six inches because small feet in women are a sign of elegance; story two: a wife is burned alive in India, so she can accompany her husband in death. Are these stories? No, things like this really happened in the past. They are part of the reason that contributed to the birth of the Women's Movement in the 19th century. This movement was also known as the Feminist movement because its foundation came from feminism, an ideology that developed in the 19th century, and whose main goal was to gain equality for women. The goals of the Women's Movement in the 19th century where: to get the vote, to archive equality in property rights, access to education, access to jobs and fair pay, divorce, and children's custody. These ideals had been around for a while, but the 19th century was the perfect time for them to develop. During the 19th century, nations were going through radical changes; countries were adopting new ways of life based mainly of one of three ideologies: liberalism, conservatism, and socialism. The development of one of these ideologies, and the success of feminism in a country went hand in hand, and it is by analyzing the similarities, and differences between feminism, and each of these ideologies that we can see why feminism was most successful in liberal countries.
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
In the U.S., feminism is understood as the rights of women (usually affluent white women) to share the spoils of capitalism, and imperial power. By refusing to fully confront the exclusions of non-whites, foreigners, and other marginalized groups from this vision, liberal feminists miss a crucial opportunity to create a more inclusive and more powerful movement. Feminist movements within the U.S. and internationally have long since accepted that, for them, feminism entails the communal confrontation of not only patriarchy, but capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, and other forms of oppressions that combine together and reinforce their struggle. It means the fighting for the replacement of a system in which their rights are negated in the quest for corporate and political profit. It includes fighting so that all people anywhere on the gender, sexual, and body spectrum are allowed to enjoy basic rights like food, housing, healthcare, and control of their labor.
The message of Lugones and Spelman in Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for “The Woman’s Voice,” is that the entire worldwide experience of women cannot be universally articulated. Blanket definition of woman is impossible due to the many characteristics of women that make the gender so diverse, specifically race and economic status in society. “The women’s voices most likely to come forth and the women’s voices mostly likely to be heard are, in the United States anyway, those of white, middle-class, heterosexual Christian women” (Lugones and Spelman 21). Since “feminist theory” has been established without encompassing the inherently different experiences of non-white/non-Anglo women “much of the theory has failed to be relevant to the lives of women who are not white or middle class” (Ibid. 21). This displacement of a large population of the world’s women from feminist theory is extremely threatening to the development of a woman’s voice, in so far as this voice is key to fighting the battles that feminism sets out to fight: the end of re...
To discuss the relationship between ‘Western Feminism’ and ‘International Feminisms’ we must first create clear definitions of what each term means, implies, and advocates for. Far too often the relationship between the two paradigms has been framed in the traditional framework of
Madeline Ling HIST 2760: British Empire Professor Travers 10 May 2017 Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance Western Women and Imperialism is a collection of essays collected and edited by historians Nupur Chaudhuri and Margaret Strobel. The essays center around Western women’s experiences and influence within the British Empire during the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth centuries. Taken altogether, the essays describe how Western, and primarily British, women were both complicit and resistant (and everywhere in between) to the domineering cultural values of an imperialist era. Chaudhuri and Strobel introduce this topic as one of current academic interest by outlining the evolution of “colonial
In her essay, “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses,” Chandra Talpade Mohanty explores the simplified construction of the “third-world woman” in hegemonic feminist discourses. In contrast, in her essay “US Third-World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World,” Chela Sandoval specifically analyzes “US third-world feminism” and how it is the model for not only oppositional political activity, but also consciousness in the United States and how this has not been recognized by hegemonic “western” feminist discourses (). While Mohanty and Sandoval are analyzing and critiquing gender and gender politics, Mohanty is specifically focused on the simplified portrayal in “western” feminist discourses of “third world women” as victims, and Sandoval examines an oppositional mode of consciousness, which she defines as “differential consciousness” and how it is employed by “US third world feminism.” Both authors deconstruct gendered bodies of knowledge with an emphasis on the deconstruction of power, race, and colonialism. It is the deconstruction of these gendered bodies of knowledge that this essay will specifically analyze, as well as the depiction of what each author argues is missing from present discourses on gender, and finally, what they believe would be a better way to analyze gender discourses in a postmodern world. (maybe add another similar point, how western feminists are trying to portray “third-world women” and their motivation behind this act)
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.
Feminist and postcolonialist theories share much common ground due to their examination of the voice, and the position of, the subaltern in society. Their critiques of, and struggles against, domination by the white male has led to their alignment and relevant discussions about their similiar problems, affects and strategies. (It may be of interest to scholars in this area that, since the 1980s, there has emerged a divergent element to feminist postcolonial theory which has focused on the 'double colonization' that women colonized by both race and gender have suffered,...
The discourse on the status of women and their struggle for liberation in the society and in literature, however, is not new. Women’s liberation movement, popularly known as ‘feminist’ movement, started with an aim of establishing and defending equal rights and opportunities for women. Until late eighteenth century, women, whether of Europe or non-Europe, did not raise any voice to claim their rights in the society. With the publication of the British feminist writer and advocate of women’s rights, Mary Wollstonecraft’s revolutionary work A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), there emerged a women’s...
In this paper feminist aspect of post colonization will be studied in “Season of Migration to the North” novel by Tayeb Salih. Postcolonial feminism can be defined as seeks to compute for the way that racism and the long-lasting economic, cultural, and political influences of colonialism affect non-white, non-Western women in the postcolonial world, according to Oxford dictionary. As it mentioned earlier about the application of Feminism theory in literature, the provided definition of postcolonial feminism also is not applicable in literature analysis. Therefore, Oxford defines another applic...