Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2/25/09
The Personal is Political – Seeking Strategies to deal with Gender Inequality in a Global Village
Nancy Rosenblum writes in “Feminist Perspectives on Civil Society and Government”, that
relationships of domination and subordination along gender lines infuse social and domestic life
inextricably linking public and private status. This makes the personal political and complicates
seeking solutions to the challenges presented by gender inequalities1. This “church versus state”
positioning complicates any institutional (government) or associational initiative towards
establishing equal access to resources for women as it blurs the lines between what is acceptable
and permissible publicly versus privately.
Susan Moller Okin adds to the issue’s complexity when she places the feminist goal of equality –
“recognized as having human dignity equally with men and the opportunity to live as fulfilling
and as freely chosen lives as men can”, in the context of multiculturalism2. Women, already
disadvantaged by their sex, are victimized once again. This time by societal cultures which Will
Kymlicka says provide “members with meaningful ways of life across the full range of human
activities, including social, educational, religious, recreational, and economic life, encompassing
both public and private spheres3.”
If associational life reflects a level of communal intimacy but is also inextricably linked by
individual choice and colored with the goals, assumptions, prejudices and biases (boundaries) of
the community at large, how best can one navigate these circles of influence and circles of control
towards any reform?
Consider that women and children in the United States and in most nations are disproportionately
represented in the ranks of the poor. Women are also discriminated against in virtually all labor
markets. Occupations where women predominate provide lower pay - teaching versus stock
trading; plumbing versus childcare to cite a few examples. This represents a public situation of
the status of women.
Privately, women are often denied equal access to education, forced into arranged or polygamous
marriages, mutilated to ensure chastity, raped and forced to marry the rapist to save their family’s
name, or killed in an honor crime. These are private acts placed in a public and cultural context.
Anne Phillips contends that too many misrepresent culture as the explanation of everything
individuals from minority and non-Western groups do. Her thoughtful defense of
multiculturalism dispenses with notions of culture, and places the individuals themselves at its
core5.
What is the best strategy to deal with an inequality between men and women in terms of
“participation in associational life”? Are legal dictates effective or will it take grassroots
organizing or other means to achieve equality?
Complex issues need a holistic approach.
In 1979, the UN General Assembly adopted the Convention on Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW) internationally cited as the most proven and effective tool improving
gender equity. As a result of complying with this initiative, women in Canada, Europe
and Cuba enjoy greater wage equality and paid maternity rights than women in the United States.
Full-time, year-round, wage-earning American women now earn an average of 75 cents for every
dollar earned by men in similar jobs. Women in the United States only enjoy the right to short,
unpaid maternity leave, and they can be fired for being late due to pregnancy or maternity-related
illness6.
Signed by then President Carter, 30 years later the US remains the only democratic country that
has not ratified the treaty. Many opposed to ratification seek to protect the large corporations
1
Leslie Baker
SOC-263444-01-09SP1 Comparative Political Theory
from having to enact equality provisions that would imperil the bottom line while others cite
emotional reasons based in a fear of fundamental change.
How much policing should there be of associations that refuse basic principles of sexual equality?
Given that for 30 years our Congressional representatives have not been able to abandon their
personal political agendas offers little hope that any smaller associational body with gender based
discriminatory practices can be legislated into compliance unless there is considerable pressure
from without.
The overriding prejudicial bias persists as part of an individual and personal agenda. That is why,
as Okin points out, “it has not infrequently been a good thing that civil society has been able to
influence the state...since only through (some of its) civil organizations was the dysfunctional half
of the population been able to achieve and use political influence.” (Okin, 2002, p 185)
President Obama said in his February 24th congressional address:
Those of us gathered here tonight have been called to govern in extraordinary times. It is
a tremendous burden, but also a great privilege — one that has been entrusted to few
generations of Americans. For in our hands lies the ability to shape our world for good or
for ill.
I know that it is easy to lose sight of this truth — to become cynical and doubtful;
consumed with the petty and the trivial.
But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration
often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and
aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary7.
Perhaps now that we have broken the first cultural taboo by putting Obama in the White House,
we may be able to move forward on the gender front as well on step at a time with individual
action combined with a collective will. To quote Winston Churchill - “We are all worms, but I
believe I am a glow worm.”
References:
1. Post, Robert C. and Rosenblum, Nancy L. (Ed.), “Feminist Perspectives.” Civil society and
government / edited by Nancy L. Rosenblum and Robert C. Post. Princeton University Press,
Princeton, N.J.; Oxford : 2002
2. Okin, Susan Moller “Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women.” Boston Review 1999 24 Feb 2009
<http://www.bostonreview.net/BR22.5/okin.html>.
3. Kymlicka, Will. Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1995.
4. Marjorie Cohn, Truthout Perspective, December 5, 2008. http://www.truthout.org/120508R)
5. Phillips, Anne. Multiculturalism without Culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press,
2007.
6. Okin, Susan Moller. “Comment on Nancy Rosenblum’s ‘Feminist Perspectives on Civil
Society and Government’.” Civil society and government / edited by Nancy L. Rosenblum
and Robert C. Post. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.; Oxford : 2002
7. President Barak Obama, Address to Congress, Washington, DC. February 24, 2009.