Feminism Approach to Politics (Term Paper Sample)

Feminism Approach to Politics
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Feminism Approach to Politics
Politics can be approached from perspectives that seek to outline the activities around an environment. These approaches provide specific views through which political issues are examined. Several views that are used to criticize politics include positivism, interpretivism, behaviourism, realism, and pluralism, among others. This essay seeks to evaluate the feministic approach to politics. The essay examines the epistemological and methodological explanations of feminism as an approach to politics. Furthermore, the essay contains strengths, weaknesses, and pros and cons of the use and application of the feministic approach to politics. Feminism is a distinct approach towards politics experienced under all political systems worldwide.
Female involvement in politics is an issue that has existed for centuries. In most political systems, women are considered as the gender that participates less in politics. Feminism is the current approach to get women involved in issues around society. According to Weed (2012), feminism is the advocacy that seeks to request equality in social, political, and economic participation of women in an environment. Delmar (2018) provides a similar view indicating that feminist is a political movement that exists in an environment dominated by masculinity, especially in relation to politics, culture, religious, economic, and social practices. A society where one gender is dominant in a given area creates a gap of inequality that makes the other gender feel the need to be similar or to have a common point of ensuring equilibrium. Hirsch & Keller (2015) argues that feminism results from the conflict that exists from the need of the female gender to gain control over a male-dominated field such as politics, the corporate field, and other forms of leadership that are present in society. Domination of different fields by the male gender is attributed to the factors that existed in history which influenced the social view about gender and their roles. Delmar (2018) provides that the differences that lead to the rise of feminism result from the stereotype that has been developed over the years defining what one gender can do and cannot.
Epistemology of feminism in the political context is presented by feminist political theory. In the 20th century, feminist movements grew extensively worldwide. Through this growth and development, feminists sought to expand the movement from a social and cultural development strategy to a more political oriented feature in the social context (Tucker, 2014). Through this, the political consideration and association of feminism were born. The expansion of feminism on a movement towards more political involvement led to the development of the feminist political theory. Tucker (2014) states that the construction of feminism political theory is contributed by the need to understand and critic the existing political systems, with the main being examining the loopholes that are embedded in the political dominant gender, which is male. Under this theory, feminism works to note the negatives that emerge from male dominating political field and look for ways to get involved or to develop solutions in such cases as a way of gaining recognition. The theory contains three major aims; first, it seeks to understand the role of gender in political environments by criticizing the contributions made by both genders in these environments. Secondly, the theory presents the political view, construct, and framework with the involvement of femininity in the context as a process of fighting for gender equality. Thirdly, it pressures the political systems to involve the feminine gender in political issues around the environment. Bryson (2016) argues that through this political theory, women support each other in fighting for equal considerations in issues involving political agendas. Under involvement of females in social politics feels like an offence under the feminist political theory (Tucker, 2014).
Researches relating to feminism contains some similar characteristics and aims that communicates a similar challenge. The methodological approach used in examining feminism contains one major objective of evaluating their involvement in political systems. Åhäl (2018) states that researchers concerning feminism are entangled with emotion and feelings that seek to explain why females seem excluded from social systems of which politics represents one of them. Studies related to this approach may contain different methods of research but will always have a similar output or expectation which evaluates gender equality in the social system.
Feminism as a political approach is best explained through theories that define its content. These theories include liberal feminism, Socialist feminism, postmodern, multiracial, and radical feminism, among others. Saulnier (2014) argues that feminist theories present different approaches to place women in the social system and to display different contexts where the feminine is considered as the less productive gender. These theories are applicable in different contexts of understanding politics. Liberal feminism theory is an approach to feminism that seeks to develop gender equality in two major areas; legal and political reforms. According to Saulnier (2014), liberal feminism seeks to gain liberty, where here, the female gender is considered as the oppressed gender. Under this approach, political involvement is a legal and political tight of women, and the current society breaks it whenever they exist in the current social structure. The practice is associated with historical figures such as Mary Astell, Harriet Taylor, and Mary Wollstonecraft, who challenged historical systems that contained masculine dominance (Ferree, 2012). These individuals provided that women should be incorporated and chipped into the power structure to give them an equal chance and opportunity to involve in high ranks of the political and legal order. The approach sought to change the future of female consideration in society.
Social feminism is an approach applied in women movements strategies with the aim of ensuring that there has equal social treatment and, therefore, accommodation of the minorities, which include women and individuals with special needs. Other approaches to feminism include multiracial and radical feminism, where multiracial feminism is the approach where women do not only evaluate female involvement; instead, they also provide for observation of racial inequality and acceptance of understanding the racial diversity and appreciating them (Hines, 2015). Radical feminism mainly concentration on the issue of male dominance in different areas, including politics, society, culture, and religion.
The other approach to feminism is postmodern feminism. This is one of the approaches that tend to appreciate the current system while at the same time questioning its existence in the system. The approach is a contemporary practice being applied in most feminist practices where applicants provide to appreciate the existing system while at the same tie criticizing it. Hines (2015) argues that in postmodern feminism, the female gender tends to appreciate what they lack in the environment, which includes privacy and personal protection, and tends to criticize the provisions of the system by stating that it is dissimilatory in offering chances that define a man or a woman, hence creating some gender roles and stereotype. Nicholson (2013) indicates that the positivity of this approach is that females can remain in the state of self-acceptance even after the failure of the social system to incorporate them and their needs. Thus, postmodernity makes one of the strongest and the best approaches to modernity and feminism that tends to cause the existence of a social disorder. Thus, postmodernity is the best approach to feminism which should be applied in ensuring that women appreciate the current environment in their process of ensuring that they are presented in the political system.
Feminism approach to global politics can be evaluated from the perspective of strengths and weaknesses associated with it. Strengths represent the positive contributions that are expected from this approach to political construct. Feminism is successful due to these effects in its environment. First, feminism communicates about one major issue; inclusivity. Hirsch & Keller (2015) explains that the motif of feminism is to address the need for women to be included in different systems, including political, social, cultural, and even environmental contexts where they require a chance to get an equal share from men. Secondly, feminism contains similar themes all around, which includes discrimination, equality, masculinity, and opportunities. The similar themes and the major motif present a chance to communicate a repetitive message that creates an impact in global politics. Thirdly, the feministic approach to politics always offers criticism to social norms, historically embedded practices, and the skewed legal and political system. Feminism can be referred to as an approach that is meant to strengthen society. At this point, feminism tries to explain the importance of dropping old norms and adopting new ones that treat women as equals to men as they also have the potential to help and perform better than some men (Munford & Waters, 2014). The stereotype that exists in different social sys