Feminism and the Politics of Interpretation

Introduction
“If all men are born free, how is it that all women are born slaves” –Mary Astell.
Feminism refers to a mode of thought that is concerned with the condition of women in
society, the causes of their suffering and the measures for restoring their due position,
with a fair share in prestige, power and wealth. Feminist political theory insists on
redefining the nature of the ‘political’ with a view to including the relation between men
and women in society within the purview of ‘political’. In the past, politics was
concerned with the exercise of power within the public sphere; the power exercised by
men over women in domestic sphere, work-place, school or street was excluded from
its purview as it belonged to private sphere. Feminists argue that this dichotomy
between ‘public’ and ‘private’ led to a distorted view of political theory which must be
rectified now. Feminism holds that women have suffered and are still suffering injustice
because of their sex; hence it seeks effective measures for the redressal of that
injustice. There are various interpretations in feminist thought coming from different
strands namely: Liberal, Marxist/Socialist, Radical, Post-Modernists, Post-Colonialists,
Feminist Constructivism and Feminist Critical Theory.

Debates within Feminism

Rosemary Tong has outlined a useful classification which divided feminist thought in the
following six strands or classifications namely liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist
and socialist feminism, postmodern feminism, feminist constructivism, post-colonial
feminism and feminist critical theory.
1) Liberal Feminism- Liberal feminism represents the earliest trend in feminist thought.
It seeks amelioration in the condition of women in pursuance of the policy of liberalism.
The Liberal feminism is equally concerned with equal rights for both men and women,
for which women need to be empowered and should have an equal role in society and
have an equal role in politics as well as at work. The liberal feminist thought was first
expressed in the 18th century Europe by the leading feminist thinker Olympe de
Gourges and followed by Mary Wollstonecraft from Britain. The French Philosopher
Simone de Beauvoir also belongs to the Liberal feminist school of thought. The Liberal
feminists have argued that as a result of different process of socialization and
discriminatory social and cultural practices women were afforded fewer opportunities
than men to realize their full potential as human beings. As a result of which, women
had been confined to home to pursue domestic services and had little opportunity to
exercise their intellectual faculties or develop skills other than those of domestic duties.
The goal of Liberal feminism is to ensure complete gender equality between men and
women.
2) Marxist and Socialist Feminism- The Marxist feminist rejects and also criticizes liberal
schools of thought which emphasize on the general oppression of women by men. They
see the oppression of women not as a result of bias or ignorance or intentional action of
individuals but as a by-product of the class system under Capitalism. The origin of
Marxist feminism is seen in the work of Frederick Engel’s work ‘The origins of the
Family, Private Property and the State’ (1884), where he claimed that women’s
oppression originated in the introduction of private property which led to a
conventional split between the ‘public’ and the ‘private’ domain. The advent of
industrialization and capitalism made production as world of freedom as it was in the
‘public’ realm; while women came to be regarded as the private property of men and
were confined to home. The Marxist feminist stressed the role played by women in
providing capitalism with a valuable ‘reserve army’ of labor which may be exploited at
times of labor shortages or used to keep male labor cheap.
The Socialist feminism has observed that the oppression of women had occurred from
the pre-capitalist societies and has continued to the socialist societies. However, they
differed from the Marxist feminism as they introduced a second central material cause
for the unequal treatment of women. That is the patriarchal system of male dominance
and capitalism is the primary oppressor.
3) Radical Feminism- Radical Feminism focused on the need to develop a ‘women-
centered’ analysis as a means to challenge all male-defined structures and values. They
are critical of both the liberal and Marxist feminism as they see both as offering a model
of women’s liberation which is based on male values, thus encouraging them to aspire
for what are essentially patriarchal values. This is because the radical feminist sees the
root of women’s oppression not as a by-product of capitalism but rather in the social
system of patriarchy. The radical feminists were the first to articulate what is now
generally regarded as the central insight of feminist thought: ‘personal is political’. It
offers the perspective that what is needed is not only women’s liberation to achieve
formal equality, access to public space and means of production but also involves a
thorough transformation in the most private and intimate spheres of human
relationships.
4) Post-Modernist Feminism- It is a feminist theory that incorporates post-modern and
post-structuralist theory, seeing itself as moving beyond the modernist polarities of
liberal feminism and radical feminism. Charlotte Hooper’s book ‘Manly States’ (2001) is
an example of post-modern textual analysis in which she wrote that politics cannot be
understood unless we understand the implications of the fact that it is conducted
mostly by men. Politics shape men as much as men shape politics.
5) Post-Colonial Feminism- The main argument of the Post-Colonial feminist is that
women’s subordination must be understood differentially in the context of the
following agents such as race, class and geographical location. According to this school
of thought, all women should be seen as the agents rather than victims. For example,
some of the traditional practices of women such as wearing of scarves can be seen by
the west as being backward and distasteful. Therefore imposing western norms could be
seen as being desirous but also could lead to conflicts in the society. The post-colonial
feminist writers such as Chandra Mohanty had suggested that women’s subordination
must be addressed within their own cultural context, rather than through some
universal understanding of women’s needs. She has criticized western feminist’s
portrayal of third world women as poor, uneducated, victimized and lacking in agency.
6) Feminist Constructivism- Feminist constructivism as an international relations theory
builds upon the theory of constructivism, which is an epistemological approach that
generates knowledge and meaning through human interaction and ideas. Elisabeth
Prugl has written from the perspective of feminist constructivist in ‘The Global
Construction of Gender’ (1999). In this book, Ms Prugl has argued that gender politics
has pervaded world politics which has led to the creation of linguistically-based rules on
how states interact with each other and with their own citizens. Prugl has shown how
ideas about feminity have contributed to the debate in institutionalizing home based
work done by women in the international community. The low wages and poor working
conditions are often justified on grounds that home-based work is not ‘real work’ as
these works are done within the private reproductive sphere of waged-based
production.
7) Feminist Critical Theory- Feminist Critical Theory has roots in Gramscian Marxism as
it explores both the ideational and material manifestations of gendered identities and
gendered power in global politics. The Feminist Critical theorists seek to find a way
forward that would not only retain gender as a category of analysis but also the
historical commitment to the emancipatory projects in feminism. Sandra Whitworth’s
book ‘Feminism and International Relations’ (1994) focused on the different way how
gender was being understood overtime as it depend on the material conditions of men
and women and their relationship with one another. The change in the meaning of
gender had different effects on the public institutions population policies at various
times in their history.
Conclusion
Many contend that we have arrived a post feminist era and feminism has declined in its
role and relevance. However feminists like Sylvia Walsby in her book, ‘The Future of
Feminism’ emphatically asserts that feminism is pulsating and taking new forms. It will
remain viable as long as gender inequality and patriarchy persist. In fact, new feminist
insights are addressing local issues, forming global coalitions and aiming at complete
emancipation. Women’s movement today is the most dynamic and progressive of all
social movements in many countries.