Feminism is defined as a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality regardless of gender. The stereotypical archetype of the male being the alpha or provider is a thing of the past, as in modern-day society women have more rights and freedom to do and be who they want in society today in most countries. However, there is still a fight for equal opportunities today as women are still looked upon of being lesser than a man, and in other countries women still have no say or freedom in their lives. Women have the same abilities as men to work in high-powered positions, become part of political parties, fight for their country, and run international business alongside their male counterparts without any bias. Almost all modern societal structures are patriarchal and are constructed in such a way that men are the dominant force in making the majority of political, economic, and cultural decisions. Feminism has manifested and spread worldwide and is represented by various institutions committed to activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests. Feminism seeks to achieve equal treatment and opportunity for women in order to achieve similar opportunities across different fields of work and culture and equal respect in a variety of roles.
Feminist contributions to International Relations can best be understood through their deconstruction of gender both as socially constructed identities and as a powerful organizing logic. In Jacqui True’s chapter on Feminism, she explores three forms of feminism: empirical, analytical, and normative, in which all describes how there is a lack of representation of feminists’ perspectives in international relations. True states, “Feminists argue that conventional International Relations theories distort our knowledge of both ‘relations’ and the ongoing transformations of the ‘international’…These International Relations theories overlook the political significance of gendered divisions of public and private institutionalized within and by the state and state-system” (True P.232). This in turn causes an absence in women’s decision-making within institutional structures which inhibits their advocacy. Women are generally excluded from positions of power and decision-making. Feminism in international relations and international politics is based on the call upon the men to look at the position of the women in international politics and reflect on their thoughts and feelings about the involvement of women in international politics.
The influence of feminist in international relations has been steadily developing and international issues and international policy communities such as the United Nations and many other various institutions. They all have become more responsive to the requirements of the liberal feminist and ensuring the opportunity of equality among women and male counterparts. Women played a very major role in the development of any society which is why feminist theory is very important to the field of international relations. True states, “Feminist International Relations contributes to expanding and strengthening existing theories and analyses including liberal, critical theory, postmodern, constructivist and green theories of international relations” (True P.233). Women have a major role to play in any type of issue that the world needs which is why their importance to international relations is crucial to ensure the protection of the human rights, protection of the environment, life sustaining development and other critical issues.
Work cited
True, Jacqui. Chapter 9. Feminism.