Feminism Notes,,mmmmmmmmmm...............

1. introduction
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That feminists---talk about emancipation
knowledge
Knowledge meant to improve women’s lives and
status in society
Main goal---to discuss and expose women’s plight
in society and find ways of ending it
MARXIST AND SOCIALIST FEMINISTS
Look for explanation of women’s subordination in
the labour market which offers greater rewards
and prestige for paid work in the public sphere
than for unpaid work in the household

2. Feminism and IR
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History of feminist--scholars, Anmy Fengeson,
Joyce Tebelcott, Simon de Bouvre of France
Challenged the masculine nature of IR
Business—female voices silenced
Advocate women’s empowerment in politics.
Masculine vs. feminine
That women participate in World wars—but
medals given to males
War experiences—women cook, give love and
support, some raped---but their experiences
silenced about.
Blamed the patriarchal nature of society which
place the males above females

3. Cont.
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Challenged the coneption of the ‘he’ for males and ‘she’ for
female
That if man’s created in the image of God, then the He/She is a
social construct meant to subordinate and subjugate females
Politically---females treated as second class citizens.
In some societies like Jewish women are not allowed to vote--
-treated like second class citizens
The word comrade given a male status
E.g. history of ANC, Mkhonto we sizwe---All talk about
USLOVO NA THAMBO as comanders, heroes etc
In Zimbabwe however, Mbuyanehanda (Gogo) celebrated as
the Hero

4. Feminist theories of IR
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Feminism rose as part of the major criticism to the
core structure of IR theory in the post-cold war era
Since the change in focus of IR issues from state to
human Rights, economy, health, environment etc,
feminism brings new perspectives to IR.
Key themes central to feminist theory are “gender”
and “patriarchy”
Gender—is not a synonym to the term sex, or
biological difference btwn men and women, but
“refers” to the complex social construction of men’s
and women’s identities [and] behaviors—in relation to
one another. (Tricia Ruiz)

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Cont.
Gender is about power relations (Diana Thorburn:
2000) within society/men and women---also role
allocation that has been sociatally crafted
‘Patriarchy’ is also another issue critical to feminist
debates.
Lorrain Code (2002) defines ‘patriarchy’ as a system
in which females are subordinate to men, in terms of
power and status, and such is derived from thebelief
that “it is right and proper for men to command and
women to obey”
Root cause of women grievences—traced to the
roots of ‘patriarchal’

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Cont.
Judaeo Christian World (e.g.) Jewish culture, for e.g.
in the bible women are dicted to obey their husbands.
Ancient Greek Philosopher Aristotle once asserted
that women’s biological inferiority is akin to her
reasoning capabilities—women perceived as
mentally week
Concerning IR business—feminists criticise and
challenge at most of the key players or actors such
as Diplomats, policy makers, heads of gvt and
academic professionals are males who comes from
patriarchal social and political backgrounds.
That politics has become more of a male domain
They lament at protagonists or actors in IR are
those who are less concerned about women’s roles
in world politics

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Cont.
Acc to feminists—most politicians lack an understanding of
women’s plight because they have not been traced to value
and include women voices in every sector of human activity.
That IR is rigid and lack analysis of issues thin gender
lenses—and they lament that this limits the chances of women
from attain influential positions at national and international
level (Lindiwe Sisulu-minister of Def. and sec.)
That gender and patriarchal belief systems do not allow
women equal access to education and power position in world
politics.
Standpoint feminist theorist e.g. Ann Tickner argues that
gender and patriarchal beliefs shape the we live and think in IR.
That IR theory is male-centred, oppressingly normative rather
than conjectual and analytic.
That theorisation of IR is base on what is automatically
accepted ideas of what is standard and normal rather than first
challenging the (norm) on the grounds of objective

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That theory lacks female perspective because it is
not objectively grounded
That IR is gendered to margilise women’s voices, it
ignores at women have knowledge and experience
that are fundamentally important for the study of
IR
Castigated the definition of security with which
focuses on the protection of the state, yet, women
are more likely to be attacked by men, rather than
strangers from other states
Look at mayhams such as rape, violence as
coming from fellow citizens then foreign
perpetrators.
War time experiences—women—victims yet their
experience not considered

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Radical Feminists
That women’s experienced are made invisible
That during war times, women provide cadres
with sexual pleasure and did the the cooking in
that case, their role has not been publicly
declared