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History of feminists in international relations
Feminism development in Western
History of feminists in international relations
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This essay will aim to discuss the relationship between Western Feminisms and International Feminisms as explored by various non-Western Feminists. It will aim to investigate the origins of this 'relationship ', the complexities/complications within it, evaluate how effective both paradigms are in the third wave and ultimately what is still needed to be done to create a transnational, intersectional feminist movement irrespective of the backgrounds of all women.
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
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Gloria Anzaldúa writes in her essay ‘Speaking in Tongues: A Letter To 3rd World Women’s Writers’ that the “woman of colour is invisible both in the white male mainstream world and in the white women’s feminist word”. Anzaldúa refers to the other International feminist writers and thinkers as her “dear Hermanas”; it speaks to other International feminists thinkers as a collective branch of sisters, fighting the male patriarchy and female racism. Anzaldúa does not advocate for women of colour to stay complacent in the name of preserving the sanctity of the Feminism with a capital F. Instead her essay makes clear that “we cannot allow ourselves to be tokenized”, and as a result should use writing, in and out of academia to make ‘our’ points heard. Anzaldúa is an International Feminist, specifically as she refers to it, as a 3rd World feminist despite living and writing in the US. She is an International Feminist as she is writing in a language that is not her native Spanish. Similarly, bell hooks advocates too for what Anzaldúa is emphasising. hooks states that it is with contradiction that “white females have structured a woman’s liberation movement that is racist and excludes many non-white women” but insists that this contradiction should not “lead any woman to ignore feminist issues”. Both hooks and Anzaldúa are agreed in the continuous marginalisation of non-white female voice in Western feminism, but insist that non-white feminists must “re-appropriate the term “feminism” to focus on […] the authentic sense of the term”. What we can take from this then, is that the relationship between Western Feminism and International Feminism is virtually non-existent due to the rampant diminishing of non-white female voices and the
Tong, Rosemarie (2009) “Multicultural, Global, and Postcolonial Feminism” & “Postmodern and Third Wave Feminism” In Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction. Westview Press; 200-236, 270-291
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...
The origins of Third Wave feminism are highly debated, as there is no clear commonality that this wave uses to differentiate between the First and Second waves that occurred prior. Emerging during the 1990’s, Third Wave feminism sought to build upon the achievements and ideas that were accomplished during First and Second wave’s, by increasing the significance and accessibility of its ideas to a greater spectrum of people.
However, the stigma of openly sexual women was not eliminated therefore marking down women's sexual freedom because of the stigma they carry in society.In conclusion, chapter by chapter hooks highlights how feminist theory repeatedly excluded non-white and working class women by ignoring white supremacy as a racial problem and by disregarding the highly psychological impact of class in their political and social status all while, in the case of black women, facing three classes of oppression in a racist, sexist and capitalist state. Throughout the book the author defines feminism, the meaning of sisterhood, what feminism is to men in addition to brushing upon power, work, violence and education. Although I found some elements of this book problematic hooks' critiques of feminist theory and the movement are well-presented, piercingly direct and remain relevant.
First and foremost, what are the concepts of Global feminism and Transnational feminism? Charlotte Bunch explains Global Feminism as something which “has...a way of describing the growth of feminism(s) around the world...” (Bunch 129). The core concept of Global Feminism is that women around the world are united amongst the overarching issue of patriarchy. In this view of feminism, it can be argued, such as theorists Mendoza, Said and Spivak do, that global feminism suffers from a Western perspective, or as Mendoza says, it “produces a global feminism whereby First World feminists are positioned as saviors of their poor Third World sisters” (Mendoza 319). Transnational feminism, as described by Mendoza, can be understood as a view where “the term...points to the multiplicity of the world's feminisms and to the increasing tendency of national feminisms to politicize women's issues beyond the borders of the nation state...the position feminists worldwide have taken a...
The most related terms when women’s right is brought up are feminism and feminist. A feminist, by definition, is someone the fights for feminism. The definition of feminism, one the other hand, is very complex. Throughout history, the word has continuously had bad images and connotations thrown its wa...
Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism introduces ideas by Becky Thompson that contradict the “traditional” teachings of the Second Wave of feminism. She points out that the version of Second Wave feminism that gets told centers around white, middle class, US based women and the central problem being focused on and rallied against is sexism. This history of the Second Wave does not take into consideration feminist movements happening in other countries. Nor does it take into consideration the feminist activism that women of color were behind, that centered not only on sexism, but also racism, and classism as central problems as well. This is where the rise of multiracial feminism is put to the foreground and a different perspective of the Second Wave is shown.
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)
Even though Anzaldua was a well-known feminist and writer, she did look up to other feminists and writers. In “Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women Writers” Anzaldua quotes other colored women feminists to help to further convey her thoughts of why colored women do not have a voice. She quotes a woman named Luisah Teish, who stands up against white feminist by telling them that even though they too are women, they will never know the daily struggles of a colored woman. In the essay Anzaldua quotes, “If you are not caught in the maze that (we) are in, it’s very difficult to explain to you the hours in the day we do not have. And that hours that we do not have are hours that are translated into survival skills and money. And when
The socialist/Marxist theory of feminism is explained as the idea that, “women’s oppression [begins] in the structure of capitalism and its interrelationship with patriarchal gender relations,” (Andersen 2015). The socialist or Marxist framework gives
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional or philosophical dissertation. It helps to explain the main nature of gender inequality. It further explains the social roles of women in the society such as education, communication, philosophy, sociology and so on (Chodrow, Nancy 1991).
Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women. Studying how the philosophies are constructed and what makes them unjust, this field constantly generates new ideas on how these philosophies need to be fundamentally reconstructed. Liberal feminism, for example, was built around promoting economic and political equality for women. By arguing the older concepts of the split between public and private realms as a way to politically protect male domination of women as “natural”, and ideas about a women’s place in the household, came evidence that supported legal cases leading “to the criminalization in the United States of spousal rape” (qtd. in McAfee). Another completely different approach is radical feminism, which advocates a separation from the whole system, perceiving that the sexual relations between male and female as the basis of gender inequality and female subordination (qtd. in McAfee). Democratic femin...
The combination of liberal and radical feminism is not one that often comes to the mind, but it can be useful to consult various viewpoints when tackling complex issues. Despite drastic differences between them, these two views of feminism do hold some similarities with each other by virtue of their common goal (when that goal is simplified to simply equality of the genders). In this paper I will be outlining some of the basic similarities and differences between these two ideologies of feminism and I may not cover all of the connections and gaps between the two for the sake of length. Moving forward from this explanation of liberal and radical feminism, I will use it to explain their views of pornography and how it aided my own understanding
Youngs, Gillian. "Feminist International Relations: a contradiction in terms? Or: why women and gender are essential to understanding the world 'we' live in." International Affairs 80.1 (2004): 75-87. JSTOR. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Gimenez argues that as capitalism seeks the maximisation of utility, has ultimately done away with the use of women to the confines of reproduction. Thus, on the international sphere the position of women in the global south drastically differs from the global north. This is demonstrated by the gender gap percentage in regions such as Sub-Sahara Africa, North Africa, South Asia and the Middle East at 30.1% - 40% compared to Europe and North America below 25%. Additionally, the Katniss represents the defiance against the Global North’s moral universalism. As Jackson in her article ‘Feminism in the global south hasn't come from the north’ contends that women in the global south have not come to feminist rhetoric by inspiration of the west.