Judith Butler is an American philosopher and feminist who in her book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity, explore the idea whether we are assigned our gender or do we perform it based on what values we have learnt. She seeks to radically reconceptualize, challenge and help alter our ideas on how we understand gender and sex. She starts off by saying that existing feminist movement are limited in how they define gender. She says that this definition is outdated but still reflected by the world’s treatment of gender as a set of binary categories, this means that when we are born we are distinctively placed into one of the two categories i.e. male of female and these categories define how we behave.
The journal entitled “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critiques of the International Human Rights –Friends or Foes”, written by Oonagh Reitman is a good fully equipped critical journal since the author put the focus on the discussion about the similarity between two branches of international human rights, the cultural relativist and the feminist in term of their critiques towards the international human rights and also present the fact of the clash between these two critiques when talking about women’s human rights. This critical review paper will provide a summary of the journal by Oonagh Reitman and more importantly giving arguments of evaluation, comments as well as suggestions to Reitman’s writings itself. Summary The journal is well organized by the author. Reitman has divided the journal into 3 sections to answer how these critiques from two different branches of the international human rights, the cultural relativism and the feminism, clash each other in term of women’s international human rights. The first section contains the examination of cultural relativism argument related to the human rights of women.
Females and males are supposed to behave in certain ways. There are things that are socially acceptable for men but not for women. This is one of the factors that differs a male from a female. Both genders aren’t supposed to communicate and behave in the same way. Feminism should be more about allowing women to apply for the same jobs as men, equal pay for both men and women, the right to vote, etc.
Feminism in its broad sense is a movement that aims at establishing and achieving equal political, economic, cultural and social rights for women. It believes that both men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. Feminists call for the right of women to receive education, to have equal opportunities in work as well as equal pay. Additionally, they believe that women should be self- determined and have the right to vote. Feminism actually emerged as a reaction against the unjust treatment and subjugation of women; it aims at the emancipation of women from all forms of oppression.
Cultural relativism is a perspective who believes that culture is the source of all human rights. Culture is a community trust is a reliable source to become a pillar of human rights. Cultural relativism also believes that every country has different cultures and also will have a view of human rights that is different effect on each country. Feminism is a movement against the rejection of the views or suppression of women 's rights (Karen, 1988). Feminism is aware of the gender inequality in society and in the family, among others in the form of oppression and exploitation of
For example, it is said that feminism was used to refer to a historically specific political movement in the United States; nowadays it has received a different meaning. On one hand, Emma Watson (UN Women Goodwill Ambassador) stated that the term feminism is: “The belief that men and women should have equal rights. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” but on the other hand we have another point of view on the definition of feminism and what it means by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi. This woman claims that feminism or feminists is: “A man or woman who says, ‘Ýes, there is a problem with gender as it is today, and we must fix it, we must do better.’” These are two different point of views that share the same idea and main theme, they support that there are injustices against
Cultural Relativism and Feminism are two different sides in the world of human rights, and in the international society compels different demands to be established in the formulation of human rights law, for example. Oonagh Reitman gives a clear understanding and argument for the two sides, and how it can show a better role in the international stage. The critique raised for cultural relativism is that the human rights should be a universal concept, and all human beings should be able to exercise their equal rights in order to have
Abstract The article of “Cultural Relativist and Feminist Critiques of International Human Rights – Friend or Foes?” the article seeks to understand the similarities two critiques of international human rights made by cultural relativism and feminist and the second is how these two critiques have come to oppose each other in the realm of women’s international human rights. The paper begins by defining kinds of human rights, feminism, and universalism from cultural point of view in relation to international human rights. Then analyse the similarities and equations among feminism and universalism. And this paper also reviewing the challenges for women’s rights as human rights for feminism and also women’s universal human rights movement. The
The bad thing about it is that a part of their education is the knowledge of what women and men are supposed to do and how they are supposed to react. Even from the past, girls did not receive the same education as boys did, because of the fact that girls were supposed to be wives and mothers and due to the society’s beliefs, they did not have to gain any important education as men should, such as that women should not take any scholarly or professional accomplishments (Mc Lean and Burrows, 1988). Due to this fact, men had a better education needed for a job, rather than women, because they would have to get a job, as their wives would be attached to them and men would have to provide the basic commodities to the family. Furthermore, women did not have the same job opportunities in the job market as men did, because of the limited education they were getting as they were "designed" to be the loyal wives and mothers, staying at home and caring for their children treatment. How is gender inequality going to stop if even the academic scheme supports it by teaching children from a really young age that they have to be different from each other and that they should have different abilities and ambitions, just because they look different as their sex
SUMMARY Feminist Critiques of International Law and Their Critics Feminist Critism of International Law Feminist analysis of international law investigates the structure and the substance of the international legal system to perceive how women are incorporated into it. Feminist analysis of international law has two main parts, which is Deconstructive and Reconstructive. Deconstructive means challenging their claim to objectivity and rationality as the result of the limited base on which they are built. All instruments and categories of international legal analysis become problematic when we understand the avoidance of women from their construction. In this analysis, the state has its own particular complex set of power relations and issues that also include gender.