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Multi cultural feminism and global feminism
Globalization and third world women
Globalization and third world women
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Recommended: Multi cultural feminism and global feminism
• Mohanty~ “Under Western Eyes” • Transnational Feminism is not monolithic understanding, but an umbrella term–with theories, issues, and concerns revolve around inclusiveness of topics such as activism in women's health, reproductive rights, race, correlation of power and poverty, gender equality, etc. Society has a tendency to lean towards hegemony and imperialism, which endangers feminism. It could be argued that through a transnational lens, feminism is about ending oppressions of us all, that it is a cutting-edge revolution and the fourth wave of feminism that strives for true equality. Sometimes the word feminism has been conditioned to an assumption of western feminism, but transnational feminism facilitates a new ideology of intersectionality, which transcends different boundaries in our lives. In the excerpt from Mohanty’s “Under Western Eyes” and Woyingi’s essay review of Angela Davis’ “Women in Egypt” we can better understand the de-conceptualization of “Third World Women’s Issues”, or in the non-West and how we should challenge negative representations and lack of perspective through a transnational lens. In “Under Western Eyes”, Chandra Talpade Mohanty provides a framework or context in which to view some of complexities over limitations of identity-based knowledge from a feminist perspective. This quote expounds on that idea nicely: “By contrasting the representation of women in the Third World with– Western feminisms’ self-presentation in the same context, we see how Western feminisms alone become the true “subjects” of this counter history. Third World women, in contrasts, never rise above the debilitating generality of their “object” status. …The application of the notion of women as a homogenous categ... ... middle of paper ... ... Through both Woyingi and Davis’ understanding of gender in an Egyptian framework. The topic of gender oppression is often left to no discussion because of the idea that these narratives will be applicably understood outside negative connotations and this increased the difficulty in addressing that issue in transnational feminist discourse because it will be clouded by hegemonic understandings rooted to feminism and leaves no room to deconstruct that when trying to be intersectional. Works Cited "Essay Review: Women in Egypt by Angela Davis." The Woyingi Blog. 10 Sept. 2010. Web. . Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. "Under Western Eyes: Feminist– Scholarship and Colonial Discourses." Feminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity. Durham: Duke UP, 2003. 18-42. Print.
It revolves around the issues of gender oppression, sexual assault, and importance of social status. Alifa Rifaat manages to express her opinions towards these themes by writing about a typical Egyptian marriage. She puts in focus the strong influence that a patriarchal society has. She also manages to prove how important social status is in society. The uses of literally elements such as theme and irony help express this view. It shows that in a typical Egyptian society women are commonly oppressed by all males in society
Both el Saadawi and Al-Shaykh both show how perception and expression are both affected within the confines of politics, social opportunities, and male privilege depicted in their stories. Whether the reader is a follower of the feminist movement or not, it is very clear and easy to see that these women are not being treated with the respect that any human being deserves. The misogynistic stranglehold on society, especially in this part of the world, is excessive and avoidable in today’s world but it is very likely that the traditional, conservative ways of the past will continue to control and inhibit women from being able to be fully treated as equals for many years to come, perhaps even after this generation has
In many ways, 1980’s feminist theories started to peel back the masculinist surface of world politics to address and bring to the surface these intricate gendered and racialized dynamics. Caprioli amongst many, not only asks that there be room for Tickner’s appeal for dialogue with feminist and IR scholars, but demands this to be necessary. Why is it essential for dialogue between these perspectives? Before answering that, we should first try to understand why it is that international politics was...
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
Decolonial feminism is our theme this week specifically looking at how colonial influence created several of the obstacles feminisms attempt to overcome today. The articles by Lugones were somewhat confusing, however I believe both investigated colonial gender and race structures and their lasting impacts. In the first piece, Toward a Decolonial Feminism, the author states that her purpose is to "figure out how to think about intimate, everyday resistant interactions to the colonial difference" (743). By this, I believe, the author is encouraging people to see the world today but only after removing the boundaries created by colonialism. For example, she encourages us to acknowledge differences, but to not place them in competition with one another nor to value (positively or negatively) one element of identity over another, as a colonial system would encourage.
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.
Monique Wittig, a radical feminist, illuminates, “For what makes a woman is a specific social relation to a man, a relation that we call servitude”. The concept of justifying the female inferior image based on biology and the ‘w...
...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.
The Women of the Middle East have played substantial roles for their corresponding countries since the advent of colonialism in the region. Middle Eastern women have worked in all types of fields including medicine, education, agriculture, government, private sector, and even defense. They have kept roofs over their family’s heads while their husbands were away in wars, or even in foreign countries to work in jobs that they could not find in their own countries. The roles of women in the countries of Yemen and Oman are no exception, but while they still find ways to contribute to their country, they care constantly stereotyped, discriminated, and ridiculed by men who are known and unknown to them. This paper will discuss the individual contributions of the women living in Yemen and Oman, and will discuss in further state laws and cultural norms that are affecting the women living in these countries today.
Enloe believes that the violence and neglect of women has become a cultural norm, but no one dares to ask the question “why?” because they are afraid. Instead of being afraid, we must use our “feminist curiosity,” to ask questions. According to Enloe this is “not a passive endeavor,” and any resistance against it is meant to demean woman. Both globalization and militarization are not only complex but they are continuously occurring across the world. Simultaneously, they are causing a depletion of human nature. While some are more apparently affected than others, globalization and militarization go hand in hand with the condition of civilians all over the world. We must use Enloe’s ideology of feminist curiosity to examine the effects of globalization
The feminist perspective of anthropology, as the question alludes to, has made many contributions to the world of anthropology. Including, but not limited to: the idea of ‘male bias’, the study of women, and the study of gender. Within these broad topics of feminist anthropology, further contributions can be seen, for instance the deconstruction and exploration of naturalisation and the universality of inequality. Although, ultimately it could be argued that the biggest contribution of the feminist perspective of anthropology is the existence of an alternative perspective, one that strives for a less objective reality and aims to open a dialogue enabling the exploration of a hugely diverse range of lives and experiences. (Barrett, 2009)
While this work reflects much more on the European women who found themselves in British India with the vigor to bring political and social change to women in what is now modern day India, pakestan and shri lanka, Jayawardena widens our scope of the women who we identify as western feminist as a development in 19th and 20th century South Asia. I appreciated the detailed accounts of that these readings brought to Josephine Butler, as well as early Christian missionaries, and utilitarian activist such as Mary Carpenter and Annette Ackroyds. Through these specific examples, a the concept of a "global sisterhood" is commonly supported, but distinguishably executed. This is still true today when looking at contemporary missionary and feminist quest to improve the lives of women, globally. However, this concept of a "global sisterhood" to suggest the formation of an international feminist platform, finds its roots in imperialism and western ideologies that cannot be escaped. These readings, in conversation provide light on the history of global feminism and the empire as of way helping us understand the historical issues that keep the formation of solidarity between women around the world in a singular movement hard to
In 1979, civil rights activist Audre Lorde criticised the feminist movement in the United States for its exclusion of minorities with the declaration that true equality between the sexes could not be attained until differences could be turned into strengths, and that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” (footnote) This quote communicates that implementing the methods of an authoritarian society would prove ineffective in producing positive social change. Seventy years earlier in Cairo, Egypt, a woman under the penname of Bahithat al-Badiya would grapple with maintaining a similar stance in order to engage two differing fronts of patriarchy – the Western colonial and the Egyptian traditional – while endeavoring to extract
In this text Mohanty argues that contemporary western feminist writing on Third World women contributes to the reproduction of colonial discourses where women in the South are represented as an undifferentiated “other”. Mohanty examines how liberal and socialist feminist scholarship use analytics strategies that creates an essentialist construction of the category woman, universalist assumptions of sexist oppression and how this contributes to the perpetuation of colonialist relations between the north and south(Mohanty 1991:55). She criticises Western feminist discourse for constructing “the third world woman” as a homogeneous “powerless” and vulnerable group, while women in the North still represent the modern and liberated woman (Mohanty 1991:56).
The global idea of feminism is nothing more than a movement that emphasizes on gender equality and liberalization of women against societal structures like the patriarchal masculinity, female subordination and a template of economic discrimination through works of literature. In general, the sentiments of most feminists are embedded in the fabrics of fighting over traditional gender roles, sexism, class and not to forget the issue of marginalization of women in our communities (Hooks, 2000). Having considered the aim of the feminist movement, this essay in analyzing a literary text from the feminism perspective will critically examine how male dominance and female marginalization manifest themselves in societies through my favorite short story,