Perspectives on Gender Inequality and Investigation of AWID - Essay Example

?Perspectives on Gender Inequality and Case Study of AWID I. Introduction Perhaps, the most important works on the sociology of feminism are Macionisand Plummer (2008), Beasley (1999), and Abbot and Wallace (1990). In summary, these three sets of work explained feminism from the point of view of sociology. There are two basic approaches to inequality between men and women in sociology: the functionalist and conflict perspective. The functionalist point of view emphasize the inequality performs a purpose in society. In contrast, the conflict perspective views inequality as a product of dominance primarily by a class or gender. It is from the conflict school that feminism emerged. Feminist movements seek to address the “oppression” of women. Actually, there are also articulations that describe an interaction among class, race, and gender but, unfortunately, this is not covered by this write-up. Moreover, there are ecofeminists that are radical as well as environmental but this is also not covered by this report. II. Perspective on Gender Inequality: Theories and Approaches Macionis and Plummer (2008, pp. 615-616) pointed out that functionalist perspectives on sociology describe gender inequality as fulfilling a function of set of functions in society. They cited, for instance, that a leading functionalist sociologist, Talcott Parsons, pointed out that “the family operates most efficiently with a clear-cut division of labour in which the females act in expressive roles, providing care and security to children and offering them emotional support” (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). For Parsons, male on the other hand perform instrumental roles or those related to breadwinning in the family (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). John Bowlby, another functionalist sociologist emphasized the role of the mother is in the primary socialization of the children (Macionis and Plummer 2008, p. 615). Macionis and Plummer (2008, p. 617) elaborated however that another perspective on the gender inequality comes from the radical feminists who argued that gender inequality has been maintained by men for the exploitation of women. A key concept of radical feminism is that patriarchy or the dominance of males in societies cut across time and cultures. Radical feminists emphasize on the family as one of the primary sites of gender oppression. According to Macionis and Plummer (2008, p. 617), radical feminists vary in perspectives but “most agree that it involves the appropriation of women’s bodies and sexuality in some form”. For instance, the usual conceptions of beauty and sexuality are supposedly impositions on women by men at the latter create or construct a particular notion of what is feminine and impose it on society. Beasley (1999, p. 51-64) pointed out that there are several types of feminism: liberal, radical, Marxist/socialist, and socialist feminism. According to Beasley, liberal feminism is the more popular form of feminism (p. 51). Beasley (1999, p. 51) described that this form of feminism is the “moderate” or the “mainstream” form of feminism. In the liberal feminism, the explanation for gender inequality is described in terms of unequal rights or “artificial barriers” to women’s participation in the political or decision-making process. In the liberal feminist thought, there is an emphasis on mainstreaming or putting the feminist agenda for equal rights on the legal, political and institutional fronts (Beasley 1999, p. 51). According to Beasley (1999, p. 51), the position of liberal feminists is that women should “compete in the public marketplace” (Beasley 1999, p. 51). For liberal feminists, equality of women with men in the public arena is the core of the liberal feminist agenda (Beasley 1999, p. 52). The liberal feminists hold that men and women are the same and, thus, have equal rights (Beasley 1999, p. 52). Liberal feminists emphasized on reform rather than change via a revolution (Beasley 1999, p. 52). In Beasley’s words (1999, p. 52), liberal feminists “want what men have got, rather than questioning its value in any thorough sense”. For Beasley (1999, p. 52) liberal feminists draw on but modifies John Stuart Mill’s welfare liberalism wherein feminists do not challenge the organisation of society but focuses instead on the distribution of social benefits across classes and genders. Beasley (1999, p. 53) said that welfare feminism acknowledge the role of government in the competition or distribution of resources among gender and reject laissez-faire or the view that individuals will eventually attain a just and natural equality if individuals are left to themselves. Liberal feminists adopt the welfare feminists or welfare liberalist perspective and adopt a perspective that men and women are not fundamentally different and should not be denied equality in opportunities (Beasley 1999, p. 53). According to Beasley (1999, p. 53), liberal feminism offers a framework for the advancement of “moderate” feminists policies that can be adopted by government agencies. Beasley’s (1999, p. 53) second type of feminism, radical feminism, focuses on “women’s oppression as women in a social order dominated by men”. In Beasley’s category of radical feminism (1999, p. 53), women are oppressed as women which is different from their being oppressed as a class. In other words, in the view of radical feminism, women are oppressed because they are women (Beasley 1999, p. 53). The notion of shared oppression led radical feminists to emphasize on the sisterhood of women and the pleasures of forming political and other bonds with women (Beasley 1999, p. 54). Radical feminists hold that in the social world dominated by men, removing the sexual exploitation must come via a focus on women (Beasley 1999, p. 54). Given these, radical feminism has been associated with “lesbianism” from some sectors within and outside the radical feminist movement (Beasley 1999, p. 54). Radical feminist see sexual oppression as the fundamental and primary oppression of women (Beasley 1999, p. 54). Related to this, radical feminist view men as the “main enemy” (Beasley 1999, p. 55). Some of the rhetoric associated with radical feminism include the “politics of the private sphere”, concern for “control over the women’s bodies”, women’s control over their own bodies, and notions related to the “celebration of women’s bodies” (Beasley 1999, p. 57). Beasley’s third type of feminism or feminist tradition is Marxist/socialist feminism. According to Beasley (1999, p. 58). According to Beasley (1999, p. 58), Marxist feminism was a popular western feminist thought in the 1960s and 1970s. However, a wide range of socialist feminist views overtook the status that Marxist/socialist feminism used (Beasley 1999, p. 58). Nevertheless, a number of feminists still consider themselves as Marxist/socialist feminists rather than as simply socialist feminists (Beasley 1999, p. 58). Following the perspective of Karl Marx, Marxist/socialist feminism holds that class relations, covering control over monetary and other resources, are the main source of coercive power and coercion (Beasley 1999, p. 60). Marxist/socialist feminism holds that class dominance gave rise stratification based on gender and dominance based on gender (Beasley 1999, p. 60). In this argument, Beasley (1999, p. 60), Marxist/socialist feminists point out that class oppression predates sexual oppression (in contrast, radical feminists argue that sexual oppression predates class oppression). Analysis of the organization of labour in analyzing sexual oppression is a core of Marxist/socialist feminist analysis (Beasley 1999, p. 61). Marxist/socialist feminists view gender oppression as a tool for class oppression. Thus, for Marxist/socialist feminists, the main enemy is the class system not the men for the former created the division between and women that gave rise to oppression based on gender. Finally, Beasley’s fourth type of feminism is socialist feminism. According to Beasley (1999, p. 62), socialist feminists “attempt to maintain some elements of Marxism regarding the significance of class distinctions and labour while incorporating the radical feminist view that sexual oppression is not historically a consequence of class divisions”. Socialist feminists align with radical feminists in asserting that the subordination of women was ahead of class oppression and could not have been caused by class division (Beasley 1999, p. 62). In a way, Beasley’s categories are similar with the categories of Abbott and Wallace (1990). Abbott and Wallace (1990, p. 11) asserted that there are four feminist perspectives in sociology: Liberal/reformist, Marxist, radical, and socialist. According to Abbot and Wallace (1990, p. 11) liberal feminism dedicate itself to uncovering the immediate forms of discrimination against women. Like Beasley (1999), Abbot and Wallace (1990, pp. 11-12) described that Marxists feminists argue that the major factor or women’s oppression is the exclusion of women from public production and that their struggle for liberation from men oppression is part and parcel of the fight of the proletariat to overthrow capitalism. In contrast with the Marxist perspective, Abbott and Wallace (1990, p. 12) meanwhile radical feminists view patriarchy as the main problem rather than class dominance and that women must free themselves of patriarchy. In contrast with all these, however, Abbott and Wallace (1990, p. 12) stressed that two systems, capitalism and patriarchy, combine to oppress women. III. Critical Assessment of the Women In Development Let us assess one feminist group with regard to its achievement: the AWID. AWID is the official acronym for the organization, Association for Women’s Rights in Development. AWID describes herself in her own website as an “international, multi-generational, feminist, future-oriented organization committed to gender equality, sustainable development, and women’s human rights” (AWID 2008). It defines that her mission consists in strengthening the “voice, impact and influence of women’s rights advocates, organizations and movements internationally to effectively advance the rights of women” (AWID 2008). It believes that women’s rights are not only important for their intrinsic values but also because they are the key to the resolution of problems that the world confront: eradication of poverty, building peace, and HIV/AIDS pandemics (AWID 2008). Defining its vision to consist in “why we do it”, AWID (2007, p. 5) said that their work is built upon feminist values grounded in the full equality of women. Further, AWID (2007, p. 5) articulated that it is committed to work towards the eradication of all discrimination based on gender, sexuality, religion, age, ability, ethnicity, language, nationalist, class or other factors. Based on this statement, it is possible for us to see that AWID is a socialist feminist according to Beasley’s (1999) framework. However, the lack of an explicit program or articulation in defence of OR advocacy of socialism prevents us from putting AWID into the category of socialist feminists. It is also not possible for us to include AWID in the category of Beasly’s (1999) classification of radical or Marxist/socialist feminist. In my view, it is best to put AWID in the category of Beasley’s (1999) liberal/reformist feminists rather than in the category of Beasley’s (1999) socialist feminists. It is also best to classify AWID as a liberal feminist in the sense of Macionis and Plummer (2008) as well in the category of Abbott and Wallace’s (1990) liberal/reformist feminists. As articulated earlier, although AWID expresses a notion of class oppression, nowhere is there an AWID advocacy for socialism. AWID traces is origins in 1982 when 26 people from various groups founded the AWID as a professional organization where people concerned with women in development could dialogue and enhance their effectiveness along this new field (AWID 2008). The original vision of AWID was to integrate women into development practices but later on covered transforming the process of development itself to make a better world for women (AWID 2008). For its current strategic plan, it is seeking to acquire greater visibility and greater capacity to make change happen (AWID 2008). In particular, AWID is seeking to transform social norms, institutions, laws, and economic policies so it is able “to ultimately guarantee the rights of women and girls” worldwide (AWID 2008). No annual or comprehensive achievement report from AWID is immediately available other than its annual report for 2007. It is not clear if the AWID has made tangible achievements in the area of its mission, vision, and goals. AWID expressed that its principal goals include building knowledge and understanding of the trends and institutions that are undermining women’s rights (2007, p. 5). It also expressed an intent to create resources and strategies that will strengthen its overall impact (AWID 2007, p. 5). Largely, its 2007 annual report states not a list of achievements but a list of what it intends to do. The AWID annual report for 2007 states a list of activities they have undertaken and not a list of impact of solid achievements. The AWID 2007 national report narrated educational activities, strategy meetings, and conferences. So many years have elapsed since the goals of feminism have been articulated but until now it is not clear whether solid gains have been made in the area of advancing women’s rights. At the same time, however, it seems the solid achievements of the feminist movement must not be sought from the specific achievement of organizations but from the overall impact that a battalion of feminist organizations worldwide can make on internationally. It may be possible to quantify how women’s participation in the political arena or policy-making has been facilitated by the AWID. Unfortunately, the AWID 2007 annual report was unable to articulate their achievements this way. It has list of seminars, conferences, and training activities they have done but they have not quantified how many women may have overcome their low self-esteem or how many women are now active in the political process or policy-making. One emphasis of the 2007 annual report (p. 10) consists in its “resistance and challenge to religious fundamentalism”. The achievement consisted in action research, review and analysis of survey findings, and the like. Based on this, I think the proper way to describe their achievements in this area is that the AWID was able to raise consciousness and promoted the “ideology” of the liberal/reformist feminist perspective in the process. Realistically, when a group is small then the achievements that should be expected from the group should only be small. As pointed out, the AWID started from a group of only 26 people in 1982. No figures are available with regard to its current strength but it appears appropriate to suppose that they are not even in several thousands or millions this 2011 or in 2007. Nevertheless, AWID has an achievement of 54 website issues produced and 21 interviews in English, French, and Spanish (AWID 2007, p. 12). AWID may or may not have produced solid achievements with regard to the realization of greater rights for women. However, it is worth noting that Aronson (2003) reported that women that were exposed to the feminist movement or “postfeminist” movement have greater awareness of their rights as women (p. 903). IV. Conclusion Our discussion suggest that although there are Marxist/socialist, socialist, and radical feminists, the reformist/liberal feminist may be at the forefront of doing something concrete in advancing the feminist movement. Of course, the other types of feminists may be doing a number of things but their vision of what society should be that would enable their visions to materialize require a radical change in power relationships that may take several decades, centuries, or thousands of years to be realized----if they would materialize at all. Reference Abbott, P. and Wallace, C., 1990. An introduction to sociology: feminist perspectives. London and New York: Routeledge. Aronson, P., 2003. Feminists or “postfeminists”? Gender and Society, 17 (6), 903-922. AWID, 2008. What is AWID? Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). Available from: http://www.awid.org/About-AWID/What-is-AWID [Accessed 15 February 2011]. AWID, 2007. Annual report 2007. Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID). Beasley, C., 1999. Starters on the feminist menu: Liberal, radical and Marxist/socialist feminisms. In: What is feminism: An Introduction to feminist theory, Sage Publicationns, pp. 51-55. Macionis, J. and Plummer, K., 2008. Sociology: A global introduction. Prentice Hall. Read More