Feminismo

Feminism & Normative Theory
Feminism is a theory which includes a wide array of liberal, radical, and postmodern perspectives utilized to study and understand the different subject matters in the field of international relations. Feminist theories have allowed a different view of existing theories to study international relations. They do this by questioning the soundness of the masculineapproach used to understand and provide theoretical explanations about the events that take place in the international world. The methods used by feminists help to bring more attention to certain blind spots that are present in International Relations, and give an alternative insight on the roles that women play in politics, society, and the economy. The main argument used by feminists is that manypeople wrongly believe that the masculine experience is the same thing as the human experience. Because of this feminists put greater focus on the premise of creating and prolonging peace by reducing violence and conflict since most often than not it is women who suffer the effects of conflict the most.
The major assumptions of feminism are: first, feminist focus on gender as the major factorthat determines what are women’s views on social matters and it also influences how they do their research. Gender is viewed as certain characteristics that have been created by societies and cultures around the world that tend to be associated with a masculine or feminine nature. Masculinity tends to be associated with the search and applications of power, lack of interest in human concerns, andassuming leadership. Feminism on the other hand is thought to consist of less aggressive behaviors, sustaining relationships with others, greater sensitivity towards issues and the focus on privacy. Feminists maintain that gender is what influences the way in which the member of society interact throughout their lives, and that ultimately gender has deep and profound effects on the actions ofstates, international organizations and transnational actors. Feminism’s second assumption is that from its perspective gender is of crucial importance when determining relationships of power both in the domestic and international arenas. Feminists argue that when privileges are given to one gender the other becomes a subordinate of that gender, such case being masculinity regarded as superior tofemininity. The main unit of analysis in feminism is social relations, due to the fact that feminists are interested in the causes and consequences of unequal power relationships between men and women. The third assumption is the fact that feminists’ main goal is to achieve equality among genders by erasing unequal gender relations. They emphasize on the effects that conflict can have on the lives ofthe poor, especially women and by doing this they try to champion the idea that gender allows for a more humane view of the world. There are 3 strands of feminisms, these are: the liberal which Seeks to expose the many of areas of international politics where women are underrepresented and identify ways to overcome these barriers. The Radical, which argues that women are more peaceful and lessaggressive than men. Also that feminine characteristic should be as worthy as “masculine” concepts, and finally the Postmodern which seeks to highlight how women’s stories have been left out of the narrative of international relations and maintains that the concept of gender is “constructed”.
Among the intellectual precursors of feminism we find early feminist writer Mary Astell, who argued that“men and women are equally capable of reason, and that therefore they should be equally educated in its use.” Another well know feminists was Mary Wollstonecraft, who also believed in the arguments made by Astell, and at the same refuted the belief that women were less capable of reason than men. She also argued that the education of women would allow them to exercise their reason, and to...