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Gender theory in international relations
Gender theory in international relations
Gender theory in international relations
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Geopolitics and Feminist Geopolitics -article review- The word "geopolitics" has become increasingly popularlately and has also continuously been regarded as a framework for understanding and trying to cope with the latest events that happen within a specific region, but that indirectly affect the global security and perspectives. Not only people are involved in the disturbance of international peace and stability, because the geographical territories act as conductors for armed or unarmed conflicts, altogether deteriorating further the international political behavior. And even though the main purpose of geopolitics is to study the effects of these geographic variables through studying foreign policy, the method is rarely able to predict …show more content…
Feminist geopolitics adds women but not only, including also gendered, racialized, classed, sexualized, and otherwise differentiated everyday spaces which were ignored in traditional geopolitical analysis. “Feminist geopolitics has established itself as a distinct branch of critical geopolitics by noting the need for a more grounded critique of geopolitics – one that adds women but also goes beyond this and attends to the gendered, racialized, classes, sexualized, and otherwise differentiated everyday spaces previously ignored in geopolitical analysis.”(Vanessa A. Massaro, Jill Williams; “Feminist Geopolitics”; Geography compass 7/8 (2013)). The statement comprises the geopolitical sphere with many and diversified variables that feminist geopolitics takes into consideration, as opposed to critical …show more content…
“The "respectability" of The Lancet made a difference in how these alarming numbers were consumed.” This was because at some point, rumors were that the technique used by this publication was extrapolation, rather than actual body count, which draw the following conclusions: “By the end of October 2A04, civilian death toll estimates included the following: 14,000 to 16,000 (IBC 2006); 10,000 to27,000 (Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank); 10,000 (the UK foreign secretary; Straw 2004); 37,000 (People's Kifah); 100,000 (The Lancet).” The objective of the feminist geopolitics is to make a change in what concerns the place, people and context. The families of the soldiers who were killed in the war protested the need of war, asking why it is necessary for these too many people to die in Irak. They started to protest through campaigns made outside President Bush's ranch in Crawford, and succeeding to gather a lot of pursuers and in this way mobilizing the public opinion and lobby governments in order to take attitude toward what is happening in Irak. Through feminist geopolitics, the war is seen from another perspective, taking into account the persons who are dying, too, and illustrating at the same time the ones that only represent number on a blank paper. It highlights the fact that for Irak, more important is the number
As much as men are working, so are women, but ultimately they do not face the same obstacles. For example, “Even if one subscribes to a solely economic theory of oppression, how can one ignore that over half of the world's workers are female who suffer discrimination not only in the workplace, but also at home and in all the areas sex-related abuse” (Moraga 98). This gives readers a point of view in which women are marginalized in the work place, at home, and other areas alike. Here Moraga gives historical accounts of Chicana feminists and how they used their experiences to give speeches and create theories that would be of relevance. More so, Moraga states how the U.S. passes new bills that secretly oppress the poor and people of color, which their community falls under, and more specifically, women. For instance, “The form their misogyny takes is the dissolution of government-assisted abortions for the poor, bills to limit teenage girls’ right to birth control ... These backward political moves hurt all women, but most especially the poor and "colored." (Moraga 101). This creates women to feel powerless when it comes to control one’s body and leads them to be oppressed politically. This places the government to act as a protagonist, and the style of writing Moraga places them in, shines more light to the bad they can do, especially to women of color. Moraga uses the words, “backward moves”
In conclusion, gender analysis has broadened a field of study and given new ways for historians to conceive foreign policy. It has provided a way for more ideas and variables to be invited into the equation, expanding long historical debates. At the same time, there will always be skeptics to gender analysis, but as time progresses historians will be given more opportunities to test the merits of gender analysis.
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..
Hewitt, N. (2001). Re-rooting American women’s activism: Global perspectives on 1848. In C. R. McCann & S. Kim (Eds), Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (3rd Ed.). (p. 31-38). New York, NY: Routledge.
We must also understand the exclusion of gender from revolutionary discourses as being part of patriarchy that is not challenged in certain revolutions. The exclusion of gender equality from what Lumumba struggled for is where there is a certain patriarchy, and this kind of patriarchy is evident in almost all revolutionary anti-colonial writing.
Walby, Sylvia. "Woman and Nation." Mapping the Nation. ed. Gopal Balakrishnan. New York: Verso, 1996. 235-254.
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres. Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1991.
30, No. 4, New Feminist Approaches to Social Science Methodologies, Special Issue Editors, Sandra Harding and Kathryn
This journal article, “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critiques of International Human Rights - Friends or Foes?” by Oonagh Reitman seeks to rouse discussion about the similarities between two critiques of universal human rights: cultural relativists and feminists, despite the antagonistic position both groups tend to take against each other. In the beginning, he lays out the basis of critique of international human rights by each camp. Cultural relativists argue that the universal human rights which are earned simply ‘by virtue of being human’ (Donnelly in Reitman 1997, 100) are insensitive to the diversity of culture. Feminists, on the other hand, criticize that universal human rights guarantee only men’s rights and that ‘gender equality and freedom from discrimination for women is given a low priority in the international arena’ (Reitman 1997, 100).
This journal article, “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critiques of International Human Rights - Friends or Foes?” by Oonagh Reitman seeks to rouse discussion about the similarities between two critiques of universal human rights: cultural relativists and feminists, despite the antagonistic position both groups tend to take against each other. In the beginning, he lays out the basis of critique of international human rights by each camp. Cultural relativists argue that the universal human rights which are earned simply ‘by virtue of being human’ (Donnelly in Reitman 1997, 100) are insensitive to the diversity of culture. Feminists, on the other hand, criticize that universal human rights guarantee only men’s rights and that ‘gender equality and freedom from discrimination for women is given a low priority in the international arena’ (Reitman 1997, 100).
...action with others… especially men. This supplies final substantiation of the authors' argument, that women continue to be oppressed by their male-dominated societies. It is a bold undertaking for women to ally and promote a world movement to abandon sexist traditions. Although I have never lived in a third world or non-Westernized country, I have studied the conditions women suffer as "inferior" to men. In National Geographic and various courses I have taken, these terrible conditions are depicted in full color. Gender inequality is a terrible trait of our global society, and unfortunately, a trait that might not be ready to change. In America we see gender bias towards women in voters' unwillingness to elect more females into high office, and while this is not nearly as severe as the rest of the world, it indicates the lingering practice of gender inequality.
... for granted. Therefore, it is without a doubt that the incorporation of gender would enrich international relations theory. Tickner, in her critique of Morgenthau has attempted to depict the gender-bias prevalent within the field. By building on Morgenthau’s founding principles in political realism and of international politics, Tickner makes an insightful contribution to the field of international relations by challenging pre-existing paradigms. She is open to Morgenthau’s masculine-embedded principles, and does not refute them but ultimately contends that for complete comprehension of international politics, masculine and feminine contributions must be equally represented. Without a feminist perspective, an incomplete picture of international politics is painted. Feminist perspectives improve our analysis, knowledge and understanding of international politics.
Through the years, the roles within gender have been imposed by us in all kind of societies. In a lot of culture woman are seen very poorly. Woman and man in different cultures are always fighting for equality, for the rights, for freedom, and for peace. Chapter ten “Feminism And Peace” of Discovering the twentieth-century world and "Persepolis," we can see three women from different cultures outside Europe and America fighting against war, military, and nuclear weapons. In both cases, “Feminism And Peace” and “Persepolis” the message is that woman are in favor of piece, no because they are woman but because they are humans.
To understand a Feminist scholar’s perspective of security, there needs to be clarification of their understanding of International Relations. For an individual without knowledge of IR, they are accustomed “Such an approach helps focus attention on current and emerging threats to the security and well-being of individuals and communities” (UN 2014). Moreover, women are important when it comes to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps, and peacekeeping operations, as well as reconstructing war-torn societies (UNIFEM 2004). A Feminist’s perspective in security studies challenges the focus on military solutions and pushes attention towards addressing structural problems, additionally, they believe in prevention rather than intervention; e.g. civilian solutions rather than military solutions. Feminist’s goals are to resolve issues within the state first.
Throughout the 19th century, feminism played a huge role in society and women’s everyday lifestyle. Women had been living in a very restrictive society, and soon became tired of being told how they could and couldn’t live their lives. Soon, they all realized that they didn’t have to take it anymore, and as a whole they had enough power to make a change. That is when feminism started to change women’s roles in society. Before, women had little to no rights, while men, on the other hand, had all the rights. The feminist movement helped earn women the right to vote, but even then it wasn’t enough to get accepted into the workforce. They were given the strength to fight by the journey for equality and social justice. There has been known to be