We cannot deny the imperfection of the world today; poverty, violence, lack of education, and the general overwhelming deficiency of basic daily necessities are among some of the most troubling issues on the agenda. By carefully selecting our critical lens, we can gather that there are many aspects of today’s issues where we can focus our attention and begin the quest for solutions to these pervasive problems. Authors Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (2009) utilize their book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide to emphasize the particular struggle of women in the world today and how by addressing three particular abuses of sex trafficking and forced prostitution, gender-based violence (including honor killings and mass rape), and maternal mortality, we may begin “unlocking an incipient women’s movement to emancipate women and fight global poverty” (p. xxii). However, we must first understand the difficulty of addressing such complex issues by a proposing a “one-size fits all” solution and take into consideration the varying feminist perspectives that currently contemplate the oppression of women in societies around the world. To be able to critically digest Kristof and WuDunn’s book we must explore the types of stories and evidence included and how they’re presented, and the generalized theories behind the insight and solutions regarding the women in need around the world. The authors alienate their audience by ignoring the complexity of building a singular feminist movement. Kristof and WuDunn’s book Half the Sky further contributes to the oppression of women because they objectify Third World women by portraying them as victims in need of outside rescue and suggest that an overarching solution... ... middle of paper ... ...th End Press: 1-15, 17-31, 117-131 Kelly, Liz (1987) “The Continuum of Sexual Violence.” In: Women, Violence and Social Control, edited by J. Hanmer and M. Maynard. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International: 46-60. Kristof, Nicholas and Sheryl WuDunn (2009) Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York: Random House. 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.. Pettman, Jan Jindy (1996) Worlding Women: A Feminist International Politics. Sydney: Routledge 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
McCann, C. R. & Kim S. (2013), Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (3rd ed.) (pp 11-27).
In the book, Half The Sky, author’s Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn bring to light the oppression of women in the developing world. Anecdotal stories, filled with sadness, anger and hope, collected after years of reporting, depict just a few examples of this global struggle for women. At the end of their book organizations are listed, in alphabetical order, in hopes of creating a starting point for people to further support women in developing countries. With so many organization doing great work to empower women it becomes difficult to decide where money should be distributed. As a grant manager it is important to take a closer look at each of the organizations and their work to better assess where the money should go. However, the
Shaw, Susan M., and Janet Lee. Women's voices, feminist visions: classic and contemporary readings. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
McCann, C., & Kim, S. (2013). Feminist theory reader, (3d ed.). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.
For this critical analysis two readings, US Third World Feminism: Differential Social Movement by Chela Sandoval and Cultural Feminism versus Poststructuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory by Linda Alcoff will be used to explore the depth of the relation between each authors thoughts an interpretations of feminism. It is obvious from the titles that these two authors clearly are focusing on different aspects of feminism and provide unique insight into the diverse branches of the feminist movement.
Lugones, Maria C. and Elizabeth V. Spelman. Have We Got a Theory for You! Feminist Theory, Cultural Imperialism and the Demand for “The Woman’s Voice.” Women and Values: Readings in Recent Feminist Philosophy. Edited by Marilyn Pearsall. Wadsworth Publishing Company: California. 1986. 19-31.
Nancy Fraser (2013) writes the dilemma in the second wave feminism in the middle of contemporary capitalism. In her book, she mentioned a scenario of second wave feminism in three acts; first, represents the moment when the feminist joined radical movement to transform society through uncovering gender injustice and capitalism 's androcentrism. Second, she outlines with regret, is a change from redistribution to recognition and difference and a shift to political identity that risk to support neoliberalism through effort to build a free market society. Lastly, a recovery of the movement. Fraser contends for a reinvigorated feminism to join other emancipatory forces, so they are ready to address the global monetary crisis and develop democratic control (Fraser, 2013:
Feminists are accused of taking the perspective of a woman who is a product of Western ideology. Which is to say that feminists ‘assume that all women have similar attributes and experiences and ignore the impact of other variables such as race, class, wealth, and sexual preferences on the position of women’(Chalesworth in Nayak 2013, 86). That in doing so, they have effectively excluded other women of different culture, class, and religion. What I would like to emphasize here is that in pursuing equality, feminists have become the very ‘”elite” they criticizes. Feminists’ claims for human rights are Western based, as simultaneously feminists are claiming that human rights are
Academic discourse is the means by which new and old theories may be applied to a topic in order to reach a better understanding or challenge a notion raised within the field. It is through discussing and analyzing these concepts that individual voices may be applied to an academic community, allowing for a wider lens of thought to be picked up and further discussed. Grewal participates in this discourse in her article “'Women's Rights as Human Rights': Feminist Practices, Global Feminism, and Human Rights Regimes in Transnationality”. This paper shall analyze and discuss how Grewal applies previous theoretical concepts related to feminist discourse in order to offer a Transnationalist Feminist critique to the Global Feminist notion of Women's Rights as Human Rights.
Feminists are accused of taking the perspective of a woman who is a product of Western ideology. Which is to say that feminists ‘assume that all women have similar attributes and experiences and ignore the impact of other variables such as race, class, wealth, and sexual preferences on the position of women’(Chalesworth in Nayak 2013, 86). That in doing so, they have effectively excluded other women of different culture, class, and religion. What I would like to emphasize here is that in pursuing equality, feminists have become the very ‘”elite” they criticizes. Feminists’ claims for human rights are Western based, as simultaneously feminists are claiming that human rights are
...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.
You are at an interview, the interviewer says that you are not qualified for the job because of your gender. What would you say? Sexism has caused stereotypes, and harassment in the workforce, and professional sports, therefore people should know more about sexism. Media is a powerful tool of communication, it produces both negative and positive impacts on society.
Udayagiri, Mridula. (1995) “Challenging Modernization: Gender and Development, Postmodern Feminism and Activism”, in Marchand, Marianne and Parpart, Jane (eds) Feminism Postmodernism Devlopment, London; New York: Routledge: 159-179.
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.
Gender stereotyping has been ongoing throughout history. The media has been distorting views by representing gender unrealistically and inaccurately. It created an image of what "masculinity" or "femininity" should be like and this leads to the image being "naturalized" in a way (Gail and Humez 2014). The media also attempts to shape their viewers into something ‘desirable’ to the norm. This essay will focus on the negative impacts of gender-related media stereotypes by looking at the pressures the media sets on both women and men, and also considering the impacts on children.