Is feminist theory still relevant in today's world?
By: Suba Warran
Tags: Gender Equality, Patriarchy, Feminism, Me Too Movement, Intersectionality

Is feminist theory still relevant in today's world?

(Awarded First Class)

Introduction

Feminist theory is a deep diverse intellectual political practice of an interdisciplinary community’s collective work and engagements in reflecting the diversity of women worldwide through critical intersectional perspectives fore fronting new range of ideas, questions, and pieces of evidence in the academic disciplines along with political, cultural, social theories and challenges in society (Mohanty, 2003). Feminist theory refers to a myriad of perspectives produced by activists & scholars thus, there’s neither universal single form, understanding of feminism ideology or movement that represents all feminists since it’s often an emphasis on the process of theorizing (Chafetz, Janet, 1997).

Credits: Dior Official (@dior)

However, generally, it counters orthodox philosophies affecting humanity that support the status of subordination and trivializing issues of women in the community. Also, feminism doctrines advancements of the systematically disadvantageous struggle for equal rights, freedom, and justice (S.Sabbarwal, 2000), focuses on replacing the presiding patriarchal order which presented submissive cultural norms, gender stereotyping in society established by the males to favor them via shifting existing power in gender relations favoring equality for both sexes (R. Tong, 2001). According to (Batzell, 2009) patriarchal society accepts silence surrounding violence against women such as beating, raping, and murder of women as an unproblematic routine that exposes the functioning hegemony of patriarchal power.

Feminist theory in International Relations has introduced new approaches towards the relationship between genders, feminism, and international politics by analyzing war, power, sovereignty, hegemony, security, diplomacy, global political economy, etc. Feminist theorists notes embedded hegemonic masculinity, traditional male-female dichotomies in International Relations (Nicolas, 2005), and contributed to reassess the roles of women as an important aspect of interactions in the frameworks of IR (Tickner, 1992; Enloe, 1993). The goal of this research paper is to identify the various strands of feminist theories in waves of movements and their relevance in today’s world.

Source: i-D Magazine — VICE

Discussion

Cross-disciplinary works of feminists brought a diversity of thoughts within feminist theory due to the fact that various groups of women around the world differ from each other in many ways with varying life experiences in terms of classes, ethnicity, educational background, and different reasons for subordination depending culture and country (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2006). Multiple sub-theories were formed as a result to express varying views of feminism and gender equality with different feminist perspectives and frameworks to achieve women's empowerment, rights, and liberation.

Source: ReviseSociology

This difference in expressions of feminism was identified as a liberal feminist, Marxist — socialist, radical, postmodern, etc. Feminism ideology started small and flourished into powerful movements in human history. By analyzing the feminist movements from first, second, third, and fourth-wave feminism, and the ideologies associated with each wave we can further understand its capability to solve modern world women's problems.

First wave Feminism

Modern history claims that the works of Mary Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill, and the women’s suffrage movement to be the first wave of feminism during the 19th century, the critiques of “female nature” which prevented rights of education & vote for women and are the pioneer to liberal feminism which continues till today. Liberal feminism demands equality without sex basis discrimination, liberty & personal autonomy of women. Also, claims oppression of women is rooted in social, political, and legal constraints which held them behind men, unable to practice rationality and the right to be equal members in society.

Source: Feminism In India

Liberal Feminism isn't very radical and believes in state intervention with laws and regulations to promote women‘s autonomy and movement. Access to education was brought by feminist movements back in the 18th century and political, economic access was emancipated in the 19th century. First-wave feminism focused primarily on suffrage, legal identity, contract, property, divorce, custody of children after divorce, and education rights for women, opposing ownership of married women by men, and emphasized equality for women to leave the domestic realm and enter public. These desires forged resolutions in 1848, Seneca Falls Convention where 300 women and men gathered to debate Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments which modeled the Declaration of Independence describing women’s grievances and demands.

American first-wave feminism ended with the passage of the 19th Amendment of the US Constitution, 1919, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Congress shall have the power to enforce t his article by appropriate legislation, granting women voting rights. However for black women, women of color, and working-class women, the 19th Amendment didn’t end their fight to vote (Cott 1987) due to multiples struggles from housing segregation, which correlates with racial issues.

According to Hooks the definition of feminism only privileges white Bourgeois women and stated that they didn’t see the importance of race, class privileges since they were privileged (Hooks 2000). The abolitionist feminist movement united under the rubric of white supremacy, erasing and denying the difference between genders however, not playing race alongside gender, but eliminating race from the picture (Hooks, 1952). 100 hundred years after American women won the right to vote which was mostly limited to white women at first, in 2020 Kamala Harris has become the first colored woman to become vice president of the USA.

This time gap shows the inefficiency of this movement where it isn’t for all women and hugely depends on the specific context of race, color, opportunity, and background since it doesn’t progress for “other women” in politics and retrogression that prevails in male-dominated states such as Pakistan, Lebanon, and Malaysia for example. States with heavy patriarchal norms, cultural difficulties, religious orthodoxy laws, traditional influence, and stigmatization against women movements; viewing their success as a threat to society especially in the realms of politics and rural areas face similar circumstances as in the 19th century during first-wave feminism and has narrow room for women freedom and rights (Abu Bakar, Rozita, et al, 2019).

In states like Pakistan which is male-driven and have male interpreted laws both formal & traditional are in practice with the active radical religious groups, 50,000 eligible women according to constitutional law didn't cast their votes due to “baton-wielding men” at polling stations and mosques broadcasting warnings to women who tried to vote. Circumstances such as this and male dominance in decision making for women’s political affiliation such as depriving women contesting in elections, husbands forbidding wishes to vote, lack of political education on the importance of voting, statelessness makes women feel much inferior and subordinate to men.

Similar problems can be seen in Lebanon where women won rights to vote and to participate in national elections back in 1952. However, political affairs to amend laws and making decisions about the welfare of states & citizen depends on the participation of women in politics which remains dismal at the national level due to male domination of the country’s politics, sectarian interests, marginalizing women’s voices, political leadership controlled by men sidelining women’s voices (A Woman’s Place in Lebanon, 2020).

Second wave Feminism

Second-wave feminism waned between two world wars, and revived later during the 1960s till 1980s and was much theoretical, relying on Socialist-Marxist ideology centered on subjugation and discrimination of women, critiquing patriarchal capitalism, normative heterosexuality, and oppression in the domestic sphere, gaining equality in terms of education, occupation, workplace safety, opportunities science & research that only men had and obligations of freedom of women in sexual, health, reproductive rights such as birth control, abortion (Sally Ann Drucker,2018).

First-wave feminism was propelled by middle class cis-gender white women, however; the second phase drew in women of and marginalized women across developing nations by seeking solidarity, sisterhood, claiming women’s struggle is class struggle and can’t achieve true freedom in a class-based society due to difference of women’s roles in socialist states compared to capitalist states (Simone de Beauvoir, 1952).

In her book The Second Sex, de Beauvoir stated that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman, due to society’s teaching, false beliefs to find identity through husband and children; losing own identity and claims men control, enslave women with casual systemic sexism, motherhood sentiments by embedding feminine nature in social construct to keep women in houses, away from men’s knowledge and concerns.

Second-wave movement’s slogan such as “The personal is political”, “identity politics” shows women’s cultural, political inequalities in sexist power structures, demonstrated relations of class, gender oppression towards women and initiated various efforts against sexism in society, voicing reformations from children‘s cartoons to the highest levels of government along with social fabric transformations in US and other nations (Betty Friedan, 1963, Martha Rampton, 2005).

Source: The University of British Columbia

The second wave movement’s achievement can be seen in major legislative actions done and legal matters like the Equal Pay Act outlawed gender pay gap, Civil Rights Act; bar employers from discriminating on the basis of sex. Supreme Court rulings granted right to use birth control for women, Women’s Educational Equity Act provided greater educational equality, Title X , addressed women reproductive freedom (Tara Anand, 2018).

lt worked to legislate against sexual harassment, the outlaw marital rape by all states in 1993, shelters for women fleeing rape and domestic violence which reduced wives dependency on husbands and gave them choices and changed the image of women in society as women could join the military as well (Barker, 1978). Although the movement cared about women of color, many Black, Asian, Latino women felt alienated and under-represented by the feminist movement as they felt excluded from the narrative of struggles written by white middle-class women.

Second-wave feminism at its peak was plenty radical and urged women to free themselves from heterosexual institutions and wanted non patriarchal system with total sexual and reproductive freedom. Although, their goals seem valid but the radicalization of those ideas in movements scared people since the gathering of women in 1968 at the violent protest to Miss America pageant where they threw objects that they considered to be symbols of women’ s objectification and rallied effected the image of feminists as angry and man-hating (Constance Grady, 2018).

Credit: History.com

Demonstrators protested the pageant with slogans such as “I Am a Woman, Not a Toy, Pet, or Mascot’ and criticized the contest as demeaning, sexist “cattle auction” which adheres a racist standard of beauty by only crowning white women (Becky Little, 2018). Sexual violence and harassments in workplace still exist today and young feminists criticize their white, middle-class predecessors for an overall lack of intersectional analysis and inclusivity back in 1970s. The widespread response on #Me too movement in 2017 brought light to women’s abuse, harassments, indicates the agenda of second wave feminist which was the anti-rape activism failed to stop institutional sexual violence towards women (Bevacqua, 2000, Howes, Rachel, 2019).

Feminism ideology rooted from second wave movement didn’t affect much on developing nations like Malaysia, Yemen and Saudi Arabia especially states with heavy religious influence and male domination. The lack of knowledge on bodily autonomy for women, sex education on sexual reproductive rights affects many women’s growth in society and fall towards subordination & ownership of men. Many children aren’t protected but marginalized as property of men in Malaysia, facing issues such as child marriage culture which is driven by poverty, parent’s approval, traditional attitudes, violence against women and trafficking of Bangladeshi and Burmese Rohingya girls, for sexual exploitation and forced marriage.

The federal government can’ t enforce ban on child marriages nationwide as there are seven states not agreeing to the proposal. More than 9,000 child marriages have been recorded in Malaysia in the past five years and states such as Kelantan, Terengganu which has religious political party’s rule which carries out religious Sharia (Islamic) laws, which help sex predators, pedophiliacs rape underage girls, carry out sexual crimes and remain protected in Malaysia.

Third Wave Feminism

Source: Feminism in India

Third wave feminism in 1990s challenges the backlash against second-wave initiatives of upper middle-class white women, emphasized that the feminist movement in the US does not represent feminism all over the world but state that women across the world have much in common, and urge women to work together as equals to achieve forms of freedom and well-being. Intersectional feminism in third-wave, accounts disparities, examines significant factors such as race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender,and nationality related to women’s lives on an international basis, making feminism not selective, but all-inclusive equality(Breines 2002; Spring 2002).

Anita Hill case in 1991, and the emergence of the riot grrrl groups in the music scene of the early 1990s were issues voiced by Third wave Feminists whom later are challenging universal generalization of women, focusing fair treatment for the LGBQT+ community, highlighting, issues like breaking gender norms, stereotypes, usage of demeaning derogatory terms/symbols to describe women, regardless of age, sexual orientation, race such as using “sluts”, “queer” slurs to belittle lesbian women.

No major social, legislation, political happened during the third wave and only in 2015 during Obama administration Marriage Equality was legalized, same-sex couples were allowed to marry in the US (Audrey Bilger, 2015).However, caste systems of Brahminical patriarchy notions of ‘virtue’ in India still presents & harms women in obtaining their freedom and goals with lack of opportunity and choice. Murdering of women, rape cases such as Mathura rape case in India which happened due to ethnic cleansing derived from caste system beliefs and stigmas haunts women with ideas of “impurity” and “good women” in society where upper class and lower class females face many difficulties from living in isolation during menstruation to marriage endogamy where one must marry within same caste to maintain the “purity”.

Fouth Wave/current Feminism

Source: The Conversation

Fourth wave of feminism, the current one means different things to different people, #Metoo, Women’s March critiques accountability of men for their behavior and questions the systems of power that allow predators to target women with impunity. It focuses on internet and streets with issues such as body shaming, sexist imagery in the media, online misogyny, campus, public, workplace sexual assault and rape culture.

Source: Britannica

This movement had significant effect around the world with women protesting and marching like SlutWalk protest in India, #beenrapedneverreported movement responds to sexual-assault allegations in Canada, and Emma Watson launching HeForShe at the UN along more celebrities voicing out for feminist call definitely shows the difficulty still faced by women across globe and actions of post-modern feminists who challenge Western dualistic thinking, attempting to erase patriarchy, all negativity associated to women and reconstruct global equality.

Conclusion

Picture credits: Unknown (Google)

Feminism theory isn’t perfect as it’s still in development, present feminist movement is more diverse, revolutionary than ever before and created more awareness as the narrative is changed to suit the present and relevant for young women today to bring justice & equality, as violence, sexual harassment against ethnic minority women still exist according to crime statistics.

Women are advancing in multiple fields from Politics to Entertainment industry as we can see powerful women like Angela Merkel, Nancy Pelosi, Christine Lagarde, Taylor Swift, Greta Thunberg and Jacinda Ardern’s progress in influential power role in society. Many privileged women in developed societies today claim that paid amount must be the proportional to value of work done not sex basis wage. However, gender wage gap still exist and greatly affects women especially women of color, LGBTQ, diverse identity according to statistics worldwide; women are not estimated to reach pay parity with men until 2059.

Feminist Theory’ relevancy depends on specific context of society, background of women as gender equality is vague.

Full research including references provided upon request: subawarran@gmail.com