Feminism (IR)

Feminism (IR)

1. Marxist view of feminism: women need more representation in the labor force

2. Feminist view of security is different from that of realists; stronger focus on domestic security. International and domestic security are intermingled

3. Myth of protection

4. Gendered division of labor

5. Liberal feminists believe removing legal obstacles will lead to overcoming women’s subordination and that all individuals are essentially similar. All other approaches though (called post-liberal) see the patriarchal structures in society and remedies alone cannot overcome those

6. Post-structuralist feminists believe that gender identities are created by/through discourse and that the state constitutes a patriarchal system. The state seeks to preserve gender inequality

7. Ontology and gender studies (what are we studying?)

   • Rationalist (tries to find a theory that can lead to an explanation)
     • The state can be liberal or norm-driven. Applies a positivist (empirical) approach
   • "Standpoint" perspective (focus on questioning existing knowledge)
     • The state constitutes a patriarchal system. Focus on past experiences
   • Post-structuralist perspective (focus on the way people talk about/describe things)
     • The state constitutes a patriarchal system. Focus on discourse