Modernist vs Postmodernist Perspectives of Feminism - Essay Example

Introduction Feminism has been a of great debate. The definition and focus of the feminist movement has changed and evolved over time. This essay will focus on the differences between the modernist and postmodernist perspectives of feminist thought. Early feminists wanted to be treated equal to men. They sought equality in matters like the right to vote and the right to property. In the 1960s began what is called the Second wave of feminism. Wikipedia free encyclopedia defines this period of feminist thought "as mainly concerned with independence and greater political action to improve women's rights "This second wave has also been called the modernist perspective. It deals with the acceptance that woman is the opposite of man and is treated unfairly in this binary relationship. The modernist sought to help women get fair treatment and stand up against their opposites - the men. The third wave of feminism, which is also referred to as the post-modern perspective, according to Wikipedia, began in the 1990s. The third wave of feminism "unlike second-wave feminism, which largely focused on the inclusion of women in traditionally male-dominated areas," it says, "seeks to challenge and expand common definitions of gender and sexuality." Jane Flax in her book 'Post-modernism and Gender Relations in Feminist Theory' states that post-modern feminism seeks to "understand and (re) constitute the self, gender, knowledge, social relations, and culture without resorting to linear, teleological, hierarchical, holistic, or binary ways of thinking and being". (Flax, 2000, p.39). This paper aims to understand the fundamental differences between the perceptions of modernist and post modernist feminism. With references from the works of theorists like Judith Butler and Jane Flax, this paper will argue whether the post modernist perspective, which raises fundamental questions over traditional classification of biological sex into 'men' and 'women', challenges the very nature of modernist feminism and its significance. The arguments presented here will be illustrated using articles like Lisa Soccio's essay titled, "From Girl to Woman to Grrrl:(Sub)Cultural Intervention and Political Activism in the Time of Post-Feminism", published in the Invisible Culture Electronic Journal for visual studies and Stephen Matchhett's, "Just Like Men, actually. The former deals with the culture of all-women rock-bands, and the latter about how films and television project women in politics. This paper will comprise of four main parts, each presenting one fundamental difference between the modernist and post modernist feminist perspectives. The first section will deal with the question of "Who is a woman ". This will look at the differences between the modernists and postmodernists in their perception and definition of the term 'woman'. The focus will then shift to 'sexed bodies'. This section will examine if 'biological sex' is merely a physical fact or is it the basis for gender. The third part of this paper will focus on 'gender performativity'. Is gender merely a socio-cultural phenomenon that we imbibe and live with, as the modernists believe or is it a role that we play, which is the postmodernist perspective. Finally, the paper will raise the significant question of 'what is feminism'. With the aim of trying to understand both the modernist and postmodernist definition of feminism, this last section will highlight the positives and negatives of both these perspectives and also their relevance. The definition of Woman One of the most progressive nations in the world, the United States of America has never had a woman as its head of state. On the other hand conservative developing nations in Asia like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have had powerful women leading them. So does this imply that the feminist movement has succeeded in breaking gender-related barriers in these nations The answer to this question is simple. These women leaders are the exception and not the rule. Most of these societies continue to be male dominated, and innumerable women in these countries live as second grade citizens. Mary Klages in her essay on Judith Butler's book 'Gender Trouble' states that Butler raises an important question " who is a woman" Butler has said, "that the very subject of women is no longer understood in stable or abiding terms." (Butler, 1990, p.1) She says that feminism can be subject to misrepresentation if we look at feminism as a stable subject and all women are grouped together as one. This is because there are several different categories of women, whose needs and desires are shaped by the circumstances and societies in which they live. For instance, a Black woman in America may not always be equal to a white woman. Similarly, an illiterate Asian domestic worker may have nothing in common with her educated employer. Simone de Beauvoir too raises the question "What is a woman" in her book, 'The Second Sex'. (Beauvoir, 1949, p.13) As Sally Young, in her essay titled 'Is Judith Butler's approach to gender politics an improvement on previous forms of feminism' (1998) points out, while Beauvoir accepts that throughout history woman has been seen as 'the Other' of man, she is not satisfied with the age-old explanation that a 'woman is a womb'. If the woman were merely a womb, then women who choose not to have children or those who are incapable of giving birth would cease to fall within this category. Sally Young points out that Butler has questioned the traditional habit of associating a woman with her ability to give birth. Butler says, "there are female infants and children who cannot be impregnated, there are older women who cannot be impregnated. What the question does is try to make the problematic of reproduction central to the sexing of the body." (Butler, quoted in Osborne & Segal, 1994) The post modernists' perspective states that the needs of women differ according to the conditions in which they live in, their societies and race. This is a very relevant notion. However, they also refuse to brand a woman because of her biological status. While it is true that the ability to give birth alone does not make a woman, it remains a very important aspect of her being. It would be radical to state that elderly women, and little girls who cannot be impregnated are not women. But, motherhood remains an important part of a woman's life. Society often looks upon with sympathy at women who, for some reason, cannot conceive a child. Differences in Modernists and Postmodernist perceptions of the term 'Woman' Liberal feminist also agree that motherhood, the task of looking after children, and managing a household can put women in a subordinate position, as much of this work is not paid for. However, they do not question the biological fact that the ability to bear children does unify women. Modernists also accept that the woman is the other half of man. By this definition, all women would come under one category. The differences pertaining to race, culture and religion are not taken into account because liberal feminists united all into the wider category of woman. Post modernists, however, believe that the definition of women cannot be restricted to such biological attributes. A startling example of this can be found in Laura Thompson's article titled, "Motherhood Thanks but no thanks!" where she wonders why society assumes that childless women like her must be 'lacking' something in life, and hence 'fretting' She says, "the world never stops nagging us" and often offers the advice, "Give birth. If you don't you'll live to regret it". (Thompson, 2005) She gives instances where even successful career women and high achievers view motherhood as something very important. Thompson says that she longs for equal regard for motherhood and childlessness. Thompson's article reflects that society perception is rather similar to that of the modernists. This is because society accepts the significance of a career in a woman life, her rights and individuality, and yet stresses on her role of child bearing Sexed Bodies: The Significance of Gender and the physical self Do anatomical differences make our gender "The more we look for a simply physical basis for "sex," the more it becomes clear that sex" is not a pure physical category. What bodily signals and functions we define as male or female come already entangled in our ideas about gender. Choosing which criteria to use in determining sex, and choosing to make the determination at all, are social decisions for which scientists can offer no absolute guidelines," writes Anne Fausto-Sterling in her book, 'Sexing the Body' (Fausto-Sterling, 2000, p.4-5) As Jan Mercer, states in The Other Half: Women in Australian Society, western culture has believed that males and females act and behave in very different and clearly defined ways. Males in this context are seen as sexually aggressive, dominant, independent and having an uncontrollable sex desire which is easily aroused by a variety of stimuli and may need to be satisfied by a number of females. Females on the other hand are seen as passive, submissive, and dependent, with little sex drive"(Mercer, 1977.p.19) Modernists like Beasley wanted to remove all the artificial barriers imposed on women in the public worlds beyond the family and household. This form of feminism focused on 'public sphere, on legal, political and institutional struggles for the rights of from supposedly unwarranted restrictions by others." (Beasley, 1999, p. 51) Postmodernists, however, reject the very issue of 'sexing' the body. Jane Flax raises this question in her book, 'Post-modernism and Gender Relations in Feminist Theory ', asking, "why ought the anatomical differences between male and female humans assume such significance in our sense of our selves as persons" (Flax, 2000, p. 51). She goes on to ask, " Why ought such complex human social meanings and structures be based on or justified by a relatively narrow range of anatomical difference" (Flax, 2000, p.51). Flax explains that it might be the significance of reproduction in human lives that highlights the difference between the sexes. She says that distinct characteristics associated with the male and female bodies, like breasts and vagina with women or penis with men "make us believe that there are only two types of humans and each of us can be only one of them". (Flax, 2000, p.51). She also argues that this is a psychological notion that comes out of the tradition of male domination. Women tends to see herself as the other of man and hence the stress on their anatomical and biological differences. While sex is determined at birth, post modernists argue that it need not confine a person to specific gender rules. Jeff Langstraat states in 'Gendered Knowledge About Sexed Bodies' (2005) that we often associate sex hormones testosterone with men and estrogen with women. However, we ignore the fact that these hormones are present in both men and women, though in varying proportions. Are Gender- roles enforced by Society By stating that one does not have to follow specific gender rules, it is suggested that a woman does not have to be feminine, or a man masculine. These gender attributes are often enforced by society and are not natural traits. Anne Fausto Sterling also stresses that labeling someone a man or a woman is a social decision and not so much a physical one. There have been several instances in public and social life where women behave like men or vise versa. In "The Court and Gender Decoys - What's a Woman Anyway" which is an excerpt from the book, Imperial Democracy; Sexual Decoys and Racial Enemies" Professor Zillah Eisenstein, gives the examples of women soldiers in the US army who behaved like men. She says that these women, as decoys in military uniform, at Abu Ghraib "create confusion by participating in the very sexual humiliation that their gender is usually victim to" (Eisenstein, 2005) Postmodernists believe that gender determines sex, and not vice versa. Gender, they believe, is not a cultural component of sex. In her essay, 'Is Judith Butler's approach to gender politics an improvement on previous forms of feminism' Sally Young (1998) refers to an article in the 'The Independent on Sunday', which noted the growing trend of sexual ambiguity. The article, she says, refers to the new era of ''flexi-sex' "where boundaries are blurring and labels are losing their meaning and power." Reena Mistry in her essay titled, 'Madonna and Gender Trouble' (2000) quotes Cathy Schwichtenberg who has said that pop icon Madonna reduced "reducing gender and sex to the level of fashion and style" (Schwichtenberg, 1993, p. 134) when she dressed I drag, donning a suit and monocle. Schwichtenberg says that, "At one point she teasingly opens and closes the jacket to reveal a black lace bra, thus exposing gender as a 'put-on'". (Schwichtenberg 1993 p. 135) It can be said that the difference in perception between modern and postmodern feminism deals with the issue of what comes first - sex or gender. Gender Performativity The next issue is that of gender performativity. Modernists believe that gender is something that we have. We learn about the various gender roles and choose what suits us best. At the end of this we are either masculine or feminine. Modernists are of the opinion that society considers the man or masculinity as superior to the woman or feminity. Modernists seek to ensure that women are treated fairly. Post modernists however believe that we are constantly performing gender roles. Sometimes, our reactions are feminine, and at other times masculine. Judith Butler says in her book 'Gender Trouble' that "There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... identity is performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its results". (Butler, 1990, p. 25). Fluidity of Gender Reena Mistry, in her essay titled, 'Madonna and Gender Trouble', states that pop icon Madonna "parodies traditional female stereotypes and adopts at her will identities that 'contradict' herself as a heterosexual female." (Mistry, 2000) She says, "Madonna dramatizes the discontinuity of sex, gender and desire, particularly in Justify My Love, Truth or Dare and Sex. The Justify video depicts Madonna in a sexual encounter with Tony Ward (a former gay porn model). Later, other figures enter the scene, many are androgynous; one of them engages in an open kiss with Madonna - it is difficult to tell whether it is male or female." Another example of this could be a father playing a feminine role while he is with his child. His treatment of the child could be what we usually refer to as 'mothering'. Similarly, the women in uniforms at Abu Ghraib may have just been playing a more masculine role while dealing with prisoners. Postmodernists believe that gender is not constant. It changes all the time according to the role that we are performing. There is no real or absolute gender and we all perform varied gender roles depending on the social and situational requirements. The main difference between the modernist and post modernist perspective is the issue of fluidity of gender. While modernists believe that you acquire a particular gender and live with it, postmodernists believe that gender is all about performance. We perform various gender roles and a person can, at once, be both masculine and feminine. In the newspaper "Just Like Men, actually", Stephen Matchhett states that popular culture now shows women in important positions, probably indicating that women have arrived in the political scene. He gives the examples of Geena Davis in her role as President of the United States in Commander-in Chief. He points out that there have been other such examples in the past, but in all these productions, the women have been typecast as having the "political and policy smarts to implement agendas that are heavy on social justice and light on economics". (Matchett, 2005) He stresses on the fact that the portrayal of women politicians in the media is exaggerated usually as paragons of virtue attempting to cleanse politics. However, the real women politicians, he feels, have to ignore role-play and focus on their work rather than gender. Those who work to implement their agendas, he says, end up behaving 'like men'. What is Feminism Is Feminism losing its Meaning The modern feminists had their goals very clear. They knew who was a woman, what was feminity, and they also knew what they wanted. They were aware of the traditional gender roles and power structure. However, the very issues that feminists stood for like equality between sexes has been questioned with the rise of the postmodernists perspective. Now they are posed with fundamental issues like, "who is a woman" Are there clear gender roles Which gender does one belong to And does the physical concept of natural sex or sex at birth mean anything at all As Heather-Nol Schwartz says in 'How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Postmodernism" says "Feminism risks losing itself through existential deconstruction.". However she also says that postmodern theories "reveal important under-theorized areas of feminism and thus offer feminists another position in which to theorize, mobilize and even act." Relevance of the post-modernist perspective As Sally Young says, Butler's theory about sex and gender performativity can help one break the shackles of being men and women. Instead, we would all be on a level playing field as 'human beings'. Lisa Soccio in her essay titled, "From Girl to Woman to Grrrl:(Sub) Cultural Intervention and Political Activism in the Time of Post-Feminism" says that Rock journalist Ann Powers has even defined Girl Culture as post-post feminist, and considers the Spice Girls as exemplary of this phenomenon. She says that "Riot Grrrl," is the term used to describe the self-conscious proliferation of all-female bands in alternative music. (Soccio, 1999) Soccio goes on to quote the article "Everything and the Girl," by Ann Powers, where she says, "Unlike conventional feminism, which focused on women's socially imposed weaknesses, Girl Culture assumes that women are free agents in the world, that they start out strong, and that the odds are in their favor" While such a thought may be a liberating one, this theory may not be very realistic in developing countries where women are not treated as equals. While the postmodern theory of classifying women as not one identity, but a 'web of identities' might be more realistic, the issues put forth by post modernists may be of no significance to the average woman living in oppressed conditions in several parts of the world. The theory of flexi-sex and gender performativity may mean little to a poor Afghan woman who suffered oppression by the Taliban or an Indian woman who was forced to kill her girl child (female infanticide) because her family wanted her to bear a baby boy. While both modernists and post modernists seek to achieve equality, their thoughts and ideals are rather different. Each perspective has its benefits, and while one school of thought may be applicable in certain societies, it might be totally irrelevant in another. Conclusion Concepts like gender and sex are all mental concepts according to the post modernist feminist perspective. The role of the woman has changed from merely being the bearer and nurturer of children. Today, she seeks to establish her identity in the world. Today, more and more women are competing with men, and doing exceptionally well. Similarly, men are trying to get in touch with their 'feminine' side. This does indicate that concepts like sex and gender may be just a 'mind-set.' However, it is equally true that this cannot be said for all the women in the world. It must be recognized that the needs of women and the society they live in is responsible for their status. In several parts of the world, infant girls are killed because their families do not want them. Oppression against women is common in many parts of the world. So, in places where women are not treated equal, or are subject to physical and emotional torture, the modernist perspective of helping them gain respect, social and economic equality is most important. Quoting, Foss, Griffin and Foss, Craig R. Smith in his article titled Multiperspectival Feminist Critiques and Their Implications for Rhetorical Theory says, "Feminist perspectives are numerous, not easily categorized, and not mutually exclusive" (2001) This is rather true and is applicable even in the case of the modernist and post modernists perspectives. Both of these call for the emancipation of women. However, their relevance and significance to a woman depends largely on the society and culture to which she belongs. As Judith Butler says, it is important to look at women as multiple and discontinuous and not as a category. If the differences between women are understood, it will also be evident that different perspectives need to be applied for different women. References: Books and Articles: Beasley. C. (1999) What is Feminism Anyway (St Leonards, NSW. Allen & Unwin) Beauvoir, S. (1949), The Second Sex, (London: Pan Books, 1988) Butler, Judith (1990), Gender Trouble: Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, (London: Routledge, 1990) Fausto-Sterling, A., (2000), Sexing the Body, (New York: Basic Books, 2000), Flax Jane, (1990), Post-modernism and Gender Relations in Feminist Theory, In Linda J.Nicholson (Ed.), Feminism/Postmodernism, (New York: Routledge, 1990) , 'Gender as Performance: An Interview with Judith Butler' (1994); interview by Peter Osborne and Lynne Segal, in Radical Philosophy 67 (summer 1994). Matchett, S., (2005) Just like men, actually, Weekend Australian, 17-8 September, 2005. Mercer.J. (Ed.), (1977), The Other Half: Women in Australian Society. (Middlesex: Penguin,1977) Schwictenberg, C (1993), 'Madonna's Postmodern Feminism: Bringing Margins to the Center' in The Madonna Connection: Representational Politics, Subcultural Identities, and Cultural Theory, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado. Thompson, L., (2005), Motherhood, Thanks but no thanks. West Australian Weekend, 3 September 2005 Web Resources: Eisenstein, Z., (2005) The Court and Gender Decoys - What's a Woman Anyway, Imperial Democracy; Sexual Decoys and Racial Enemies. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-what_woman.html Klages, M., (1997) Judith Butler- Gender Trouble, Retrieved on 27th October at http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-butl.htm Langstraat, J., (2005) Gendered Knowledge About Sexed Bodies. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.culturekitchen.com/archives/003075.html Mistry, R., (2000), Madonna and Gender Trouble. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.theory.org.uk/madonna.htm . Siegel, K., Introduction to Literary Theory'. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.kristisiegel.com/theory.htm#postmodern Smith, C.R, Multiperspectival Feminist Critiques and Their Implications for Rhetorical Theory, American Communication Journal, Volume 4, Issue 3, Spring 2001 Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.acjournal.org/holdings/vol4/iss3/articles/smith.htm Soccio, L., (1999) From Girl to Woman to Grrrl:(Sub)Cultural Intervention and Political Activism in the Time of Post-Feminism, Invisible Culture Electronic Journal for visual studies, Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.rochester.edu/in_visible_culture/issue2/soccio.htm Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia, Retrieved on 27th October, 2005 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism Young, S., (1998), Is Judith Butler's approach to gender politics an improvement on previous forms of feminism. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-b-e1.htm Schwartz, H.N., How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Postmodernism. Retrieved on 27th October 2005 at http://members.aol.com/ThryWoman/PFII.html Read More