feminism - international politics

why 'feminism' and not 'human rights'? - feminism is part of human rights in general-- human rights is vague and used to deny the specific problem of gender - it would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have suffered for centuries. - the problem is not about being human; but about being a female human what is gender? a social construct the social construction of gender: 'throwing like a girl' - According to feminist theorists, these binary oppositions (like 'throwing like a girl') structure most social, political, and economic meanings - The opposition is not simply symmetrical but is also hierarchical - masculinity is encoded as privileged and positive; femininity is encoded as subordinate and negative - feminists argue that these hierarchical binaries function as ahistorical and fixed, and they are presumed to be self-evident and universal - this constrains understanding of the construction of differences, which cannot be reduced to the simple opposition of men versus women, b/c these binaries are falsely taken to explain differences what is feminism? it's fundamentally rooted in an analysis of the global subordination of women -- which can occur economically, politically, physically, and socially -- and is dedicated to its elimination it promotes equality and justice for all women, so that women's expectations and opportunities in life aren't unfairly taken away b/c they're women feminism is an analysis of power and its effects in doing so, feminists have tried to understand what women are saying and doing, rather than relying on what men are saying about, and doing to, women