ONE:
Introduction – define feminism, alleviate preconceptions, all be on same page
Read: “This paper questions the approach of women’s rights organizations that focus
their efforts in changes based in law, instead of cultural traditions that impede the
freedoms of women.”
TWO: DEFINE
THREE: METHOD
The National Organization for Women, Equality Now, Feminist Majority
Foundation, Association for Women’s Rights in Development and Amnesty International
are only a few of the large women’s rights organizations that place priority upon female
empowerment. Among other internationally recognized crimes against women, feminists
raise awareness to genital mutilation in Africa, infanticide and forced abortions in China,
and public executions without trial of women in the Middle East. Activists pioneered an
international treaty signed by most UN countries called the CEDAW (The Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women), which many consider
to be a leading legal document for the protection of women.
Each of these organizations specifically lists political change as a fundamental
objective within their mission statements.
FOUR: PUBLIC OPINION / 1st RED FLAG
While laws are meant to encourage equality, women still experience
discrimination within the social constructs of their cultures. There are women in arguably
every country who continue battling subordination to males, regardless of the policies
adopted by their governments.
Not saying fighting for legal changes is bad, just doesn’t work when public
opinion is also bad.
FIVE: THUMBS UP
Although women's rights organizations overlook a main reason for the ongoing
gender inequality brought by cultural perceptions, their decisions to seek equality through
law are critical to the movement’s success.
For example, basic human rights are becoming increasingly available, women in
the workplace is increasingly more common, and laws protecting victims are increasingly
just.
SIX: THUMBS DOWN
In countries possessing laws that include basic rights for humans, many cultural
traditions prevent women from being recognized as fully human. Women in Russia are
taught to welcome their positions as “beautifully second” to spouses and family
members.
“Double Burden” – There is the idea that regardless of a woman’s work outside
the home, she is likewise accountable for the duties inside the home.
These realities counter the argument that identifying gender in laws only furthers
the divide between men and women; therefore, all laws should be gender neutral
(Rosenblum, 2011). The naïveté of such a view does not take into account cultural
practices of female oppression that do not extend to men, even with numerous
international standards in place. Women are punished for being raped in some countries,
where it is seen as their fault for tempting men (Nafisi, 2003). Some women who confess
to being raped are called liars by judges and policemen alike. This widely accepted belief
that women are of less worth than men proves the necessity for singularity in law, as well
as the need for reform of opinions within those cultures.
SEVEN: GENDER PARITY VS. GENDER EQUALITY
EIGHT: GENDER PARITY
The need of a global standard for equal treatment of men and women is obvious
and high enough that the United Nations includes certain expectations for gender equality
as part of their Millennium Development Goals: the ratio of females and males in
education, equal wages, and the proportion of seats held in parliament.
NINE: MAP
The political impact of women’s rights activists’ translate to legal changes in
Brazil, France, India and Norway—just a few of the countries that require by law a
certain amount of women to be placed in legislative positions
TEN: PARITY = NUMERICAL EQUALITY
Such laws make work environments traditionally dominated by males more equal.
Women become more of a presence numerically, but these advancements are often
indicators of gender parity rather than gender equality.
ELEVEN: GENDER EQUALITY
TWELVE: MAP AGAIN
THIRTEEN: INDIA
Women who are allotted positions by law often only represent gender parity.
There is evidence showing women in India are placed into roles with little governing
power or influence just to satisfy legal requirements. It is possible influential men such as
husbands or caste leaders are in control of political stations given to women. Perhaps the
risk of being met with disapproval by men in power is strong enough to dissuade women
who would otherwise choose to take advantage of their appointments.
FOURTEEN: EQUALITY = PERCEPTION
It is important to distinguish the differences between gender parity and gender
equality. While parity relies on equal numbers of women and men, equality rests on an
all-encompassing perception of same value between the sexes (Subrahmanian, 2005).
Realizing that international women’s rights legal goals, like those presented by the U.N.,
solely imply parity raises the question of whether these types of goals are the right focus
to ensure equality.
FIFTEEN: HANIFA SAFI
Hanifa Safi is the second government appointed official in
the last decade, fighting against violence toward women in a province of Afghanistan, to
be assassinated while attempting to do her job.
SIXTEEN: 2ND RED FLAG / FEMINIST OPINION OF OTHER FEMINISTS
SEVENTEEN: SUCCESS IS SUBJECTIVE
The difference between gender parity and gender equality underscores a
significant obstacle to the success of feminist objectives. When feminists and human
rights activists see other countries living under circumstances that seem unacceptably
different than their own standard of living, they tend to intervene and encourage countries
to adopt policy changes. This creates issues when governments have separate moral
codes and traditions. The likelihood of cultures changing opinions, and therefore actions,
based on compelled legal amendments is low.
EIGHTEEN: EXAMPLES
CHINA: Those involved in human rights, more specifically the feminist
movement, often fail to understand that there is no absolute measure of success. In the
1980s China, feminists were censored by their government officials while the country
sponsored an international gathering of women’s rights activists. Even though they
internally opposed the government control, women were able to show their leaders how
feminists were not a negative power against their government by operating within the
laws. Western culture at the time denounced the Chinese women for cooperating and
decried a feminist failure, but the peaceful performance lead to a relaxed grip that
followed the conference.
PURPOSEFUL BEHAVIOR: Similar to being educated, most feminists see
women who have jobs as empowered. This cannot be the case for women who obtain
jobs out of a necessity to survive rather than a desired source of fulfillment. In
circumstances of single mothers, abused wives, aspiring daughters and other types of
women, the need for financial support is often a burden and does not denote “purposeful
behavior” (Kabeer, 2005, p. 15). A job or education is empowering to a greater extent if it
helps women feel independent and leads to a sense of fulfillment.
HOUSEWIFE: Contrarily, it is important to note that women can cultivate
meaning and retain empowerment as wives and mothers. To assume that any choice,
when truly chosen, is of less value than another goes against that which feminism is
relentless to defend.
REST: Along with the ability to choose ways of life that are more commonly seen
as oppressive, academics argue that some women willingly participate in actions
represented as discriminatory. Muslim women choosing to wear the hijab (Amber Kinser,
2003), that some women choose to be prostitutes (Rosenblum, 2011), and that Russian
women would have been better off economically under socialism (Jordan, 1997) are all
arguments made against outside organizations who attempt to change laws based on
perceived cases of abuse and discrimination.
NINETEEN: CHOICE
While there are cases where women would certainly continue these practices and
beliefs regardless of social pressures, can they be titled choices if the ability to choose
otherwise does not exist? It is not unreasonable to declare not only must there be a
choice, but there must be an unimpeded view of alternatives.
Perhaps the focus of feminism ought to be finding a way to normalize the concept
of gender equality and uniting the women’s rights movement by identifying solutions
individually, instead of assuming a universal approach. This idea condenses into the
phrase “unity in diversity”
TWENTY: 3RD RED FLAG – OPINION OF FEMINISTS
A final obstacle to the success of the movement are the widespread stereotypes
about feminism that prohibit growth and support of the movement. One particular way is
indicated in a study that as women start to become aware of the feminist movement, or
begin to identify with the spirit of feminism, they reject affiliation because of the
unfavorable image the movement possesses.
TWENTY-ONE: FLOW CHART OF NEGATIVE
In China and other countries, attempts are made by governments, public leaders or
interest groups to lessen the influence of feminism. Sometimes these attempts are
perpetuated by the media and translate into negative stereotypes.
TWENTY-TWO: SCALE - After the initial feminist movement in China, the government
tried to decrease public support for feminism by running advertisements that encourage
younger generations to pity the older for becoming “repulsively masculinized” (Zheng
1997, p. 134). In their study, Joan K. Buschman and Silvo Lenart (1996) test the
stereotype that feminists reject femininity. The women who did not see themselves as
feminists agreed more strongly that feminists were masculine, while women who
identified as feminists strongly disagreed that they were not feminine.
Critics also suggest that feminists see men as the enemy and women as victims.
Even though numerous studies show that rape and other abuse is substantially more
common among women, this opinion is one that is held by many challengers of
feminism.
A more widely accepted idea is that feminists do not desire to replace male
oppression with similar feminist adaptations (Kinser, 2003), but to develop the same
international sense of choice that is not currently afforded to all.
23: NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES ARE EXTREMIST POSITIONS
There are extremists within feminism who fight for dominance, but Buschman
and Lenart (1996) specify that this is not the case for most feminists.
Some religions are seen as causes of discrimination, when it is really those
who abuse religious teachings, like extremist Muslim groups. Religious scholars claim
popular verses in the Qur'an are misinterpreted by extremists who use their religious
authority to justify their misogynistic actions. Those who truly follow the Islamic religion
recognize the Qur'an contains passages advocating “justice and equality, human wellbeing and human dignity” (Moniza Khokhar, 2006, p. 109). Long-established Islamic
patriarchal societies warp meanings that started as peaceful, such as requiring women to
cover themselves.
In her memoir, Azar Nafisi (2003) details how women were blamed and punished
because small patches of skin, visible beneath their veils, sexually provoked men. In one
instance, a woman who was jailed witnesses incarcerated virgins being married to the
guards, raped and then executed on the premise that if they were virgins when they died,
they would go to heaven (p. 210-212). Such alarming abuse of power can be deterred by
laws, but is really only possible to alleviate by changing the way those and other men
view women.
24: EDUCATION: Education is one of the surest ways of accomplishing that change.
25: EDUCATION EQUALS:
Women who are educated on their rights and feminist ideas become aware of the
discrimination that may exist within their communities. Being educated about advances
in other countries lends the ability to critically analyze the effectiveness of local
practices. This adds quality to the women's movement, because it allows for different
ideas to mold new ones.
Education and subsequent acquiring of skills help women avoid violence, but also
give them the opportunity to critique previously unquestioned cultural traditions that
continue to impede progression in abolishing oppression
Not only does a lack of exposure to education perpetuate a narrow worldview of
women’s value to society, it handicaps abilities to learn skills that contribute to better
wages. Educated, working women in Bangladesh were able to use their earnings to
balance resources in marriages, or even leave abusive relationships (Kabeer, 2005, p. 19).
Often, women are left to accept poorly paid jobs because of their inability to access
resources for learning.
26: GENERATIONS
Although an education alone does not ensure an immediate solution for all women
who see themselves as oppressed or unequal, it allows women to pass their beliefs of the
value of womanhood to their sons and daughters.
27: TIME
Over time, this creates wider acceptance and advocacy for non-traditional cultural
behaviors.
28: NON-ISSUE - This is exemplified in studies of American women who are raised in
an environment where being an educated businesswoman is commonplace. The idea that
a woman's place is in the home is now a minority view in the United States. These
women are so exposed to non-traditional gender roles that women no longer identify
them as non-traditional (Buschman & Lenart, 1996). Women who pass on their moral
and cultural beliefs to their families can be an igniting influence to the feminist
movement. The women who made the biggest impact on the feminist movement in China
were those who were raised under the practice of gender equality (Zheng, 1997, p. 129),
further proving that time and education are united in preparing for eliminating
discrimination.
29: CONCLUSION
1. The feminist movement suffers as feminist groups continue to overlook the
cultural traditions that define a woman’s place in society.
2. Perhaps a better, longer lasting influence comes from providing women with the
opportunities and information to inspire their own quests for equality.
3. By assuming a universal approach to feminism, disunity within the movement
perpetuates negative stereotypes. Perhaps there are as many ways to define
womanhood as there are women in the world, meaning that women need to be
able to decide what steps to take to eradicate discrimination within their own
cultures (Rosenblum, 2011, p. 11-26). Women and men who agree with feminist
ideals will continue to distance themselves from the movement as long as these
stereotypes are given validity (Buschman & Lenart, 1996). By promoting choice,
feminist living cannot be defined in a universally applicable manner. Working to
eradicate gender stereotypes can only lend reform to perpetuated ideas about
women and their value.
4. In order to give women an equal opportunity to search for success, they need
access to the type of education that refrains from reinforcing traditional gender
stereotypes
5. This might only be able to be accomplished over time, but the time only makes
the foundation more solid and sustainable.
6. The importance of gender equality instead of parity is not a main part of feminist
dialogue, yet is essential in the erasure of social inequalities.
7. With a greater awareness brought by education, maybe some women would start
revolutions. Maybe some would continue in familiar cultural practices and prefer
lives similar to those they currently live. If a large enough group of women
believe they are more empowered under communism, should they not be
applauded for pursuing their ideal futures? Even though these ideas may seem
counterintuitive, the decision gives purpose and hope brought by an overused and
often viewed as empty word: choice.