Modernity and Gender

Gender division in society is an age-old phenomenon. It is based upon the assumption that women are naturally
disadvantaged to assume a subordinate status in the society. On these terms, men are seen as the holders of
power and are therefore active players in the public sphere like religion, culture, economy and politics. Women on
the other hand are meant to be confined to domestic or household activities. Their reproductive power makes
them skillful at raising and rearing children at home while men become the bread-earners for the family.

Concepts and Ideas in Gender Politics The feminist discourse begins with the understanding and explanation the
difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. It challenges the argument of ‘biological determinism’ that gender division
in society is naturally determined which implies that distinctions in the social roles of men and women are because
of their biological formations. In other words, naturally women are seen as weaker than men. Women, because of
their reproductive capacity, are considered to be most appropriate in the role of child-bearing that involves staying
at home and nurturing their children. On the other side, men are the primary bread-earners of the family. They are
active at the workplace or any public arena.

Such natural or biological differences are also taken as a stereotypical basis to distinguish between the
characteristics of ‘masculinity’ and ‘femineity’. Attributes like power, intelligence, knowledge, rationality and ability
to take decisions on public front are generally associated with masculinity. In contrast, femineity which gets linked
with irrationality, unintelligible, dependence, physical weakness and emotionality is considered to be inferior in the
hierarchical order of psychological traits. The division of social responsibilities between men and women is driven
by these contrasting features that further becomes a basis for establishing male supremacy is all spheres of human
thought and action.

Patriarchy is the outgrowth of a gendered society that firmly established male supremacy and subordination of
women in every sphere of life including, social, cultural, political and economic. It is an institution that begins to
define the relation between men and women in the family as ‘rule by the father’. This form of male domination
then finds its application in other institutions of the society like civil society, state, political parties, market, and
above all the state or the government. The exclusion of women from these institutions is clearly reflected in their
under-representation or miniscule presence in them

Modernity that triggered democratic processes in Western societies also brought the issue of gender and women’s
rights center stage. It gave rise to the ideology of Feminism that became the driving force behind women’s
movement in advanced capitalist societies. The central themes of gender politics include the understanding of
patriarchy, equality, rights, and social movement. Sex, according feminist is a natural construct while gender is
seen as a socio-culturally constructed term. Women remained confined to family and domestic responsibilities that
constitute the private sphere.

Nedelsky argues that in the 18th and 19th century Europe and England men’s citizenship was justified on the
ground of their rule over women at home and the values and culture of society so demanded that women must
focus on their responsibilities at home. As family was seen as a private realm, the state had no jurisdiction in the
structures of familial power even when such structures authorized domestic violence and deprived women of their
right to education, employment, association and expression.

Modernity thus triggered democratization and provided avenues for challenging the social cleavages that were the
creation of medieval ages. It generated political consciousness in masses especially amongst those social groups
who faced discrimination and exclusion is all forms and in every possible way. The most visible form of social
exclusion was found in case of women who constituted nearly half of the population in most of the Western
societies.
However, it was not until 1960s that the movement assumed political significance as it came to define the personal
arena or family in political terms. Broadly speaking, feminist thought that emerged as a result of modernization can
be divided into three categories: Liberal Feminism, Socialist Feminism and Radical Feminism.

Liberal Feminism

Liberal Feminist thought and the associated movement found its ideological basis in liberal democracy that firmly
took roots in Modern Europe, especially Britain and United States. It also marked the first stage of Feminist
movement that primarily focused on achieving equality between sexes. It made forceful claims for extending civil
and political rights to women. As individualism is the core theme of liberalism, Feminist thought during this stage
demanded equal entitlement for individuals irrespective of their sex, race, color, creed and religion. They believed
that women’s equality must be the basic aim of the movement that could be achieved by removing legal obstacles
that denied equal opportunities and rights for women.

Two very significant scholarly works that belong to the liberal tradition and in that sense initiated Feminist
movement are Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) and John Stuart Mill’s on the
Subjection of Women (1869). She demanded equal access to education for women that would have not only open
up new opportunities for them in employment but also ensure them a life of dignity and self-respect. On a similar
note, John Stuart Mill advocated extension of civil and political liberties to women especially the right to vote.

Socialist Feminism

Socialist Feminism as a stream of feminist thought can be located in the writings of Marx and Engels. The capitalist
mode of production is found to be responsible for systematic oppression of women. In the famous text ‘Origin of
the Family, Private Property and the State’ they observe that sexual oppression arose at a particular stage of social
development and was conditioned by two simultaneous processes: emergence of modern capitalism and origin of
patriarchal family. Capitalism has enhanced both wealth and social status of men and relegated women to
domestic work and household responsibilities. Women became unpaid labor in what Engels calls as the
‘bourgeoisie family’ and also turned into instruments of reproducing children. Therefore, emergence of modern
capitalism became the source of gender inequality in the society. It created gendered patterns of division of labor
and established the dominance of men in all spheres of human activity. The socialist feminist also find a gendered
pattern in the international division labour. Women are made to perform unskilled or semi-skilled professions that
are normally low-paid in the global capitalist market. Their roles in the international market are again decided by
their qualities of femineity. On this basis, they mostly enter professions like nursing, primary school teaching,
garments industry, receptionists, low-paid household work, baby sitting, and so on that are considered to be of
lesser value. Socialist Feminism thus held modern capitalism responsible for institutionalizing patriarchal system.
Gender inequality was found to be a by-product of class divisions in a capitalist society and was therefore not
understood independent of class analysis.

Radical Feminism

Radical Feminism represent the second-wave of feminist movement that became popular in the writings of
Simone de Beauvoir, Firestone, Eva Figes and Germaine Greer. It indentified gender as separate from other
modes of social stratification like class, race, and ethnicity and therefore required independent analysis. Gender
difference was considered to be significant in itself as women irrespective of their other identities face collective
discrimination and therefore require collective action to overcome their predicaments.

Radical Feminists during the 1960s and 1970s questioned the established norms and traditions of Western
societies that adhered to the notion of public-private divide and advocated non-interference of state in the private
or family sphere. They raised the slogan of ‘personal is political’ to state that family involved power politics to
establish male supremacy and discriminate against women. Therefore, they claimed state intervention and
regulation of family and marriage through strict laws and policies. Few radical feminists celebrate the sexual
difference and show strong resistance to the idea of considering the superiority of masculinity or what is often
called as ‘manliness’. They hold femininity and womanhood in high esteem and believe that women should create
a world of their own through a revolution.

Issues and Women movements

Political Rights: Participation and Representation

women’s movement at its take-off stage, that covers the period from the French Revolution to the First World
War, focused on attaining voting rights and political equality. During the French Revolution, middle and lower-
middle classes got voting rights but women remained excluded from general franchise. Due to the prolonged
struggle led by women’s organizations across Europe and America, political rights for women were legally
sanctioned by many countries after the Second World War.

Political rights that appeared as the central demand of women’s movement during the first phase was directly
linked with changes in civil laws that inhibited women’s participation in politics. This mainly included the revision
of marriage and family laws that excluded women from property rights in the family. However, the movement led
by suffragettes became extremely forceful at the beginning of 20th century by resorting to the techniques of civil
disobedience and direct confrontation with the authorities. Ultimately, after a prolonged struggle of almost two
and a half centuries women attained the right to vote in Britain under the Equal Franchise Act of 1928.

Education and Employment

In England, France and Germany the early phase of women’s movement that could be located around the mid-
17th century remained closely linked with other social reform movements. Besides political equality, women’s
movement made strong claims for equal employment opportunities, improvement of women’s education, and
regulation of prostitution. Amongst these, education was given prime importance. It was believed that education
was a vehicle of change in the status of women. It will open gateways for employment opportunities and relieve
them from their traditional roles at home. Women’s professional organizations in countries like Germany and
Netherlands struggled for equal opportunities in public employment.

Sexual or Reproductive Rights

Demand and pressures for reproductive rights and sexual liberation by radicals is of recent origin. These areas
received wide coverage in American politics since 1970s especially after the verdict of the Supreme Court on Roe
v/s Wade case concerning the abortion right of women. The state laws that prohibited abortion on moral and
religious grounds were invalidated as abortion was considered to be a matter of personal choice.