Basic Tenets of Liberal Philosophy and feminism

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www.helsinki.fi/yliopisto

Basic Tenets of Liberal Philosophy

Individual Rights (including property)

Freedom of choice; freedom from confining embraces of otherpersons or institutions.

Critique of religion Values science/reason over religion

Commitment to social progress/change

Science/reason as a basis for social change

Embraces achievement over ascription

Social position should be based on merit not birth (critiques idea ofbiological superiority)


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Basic tenets cover three key forms of freedom:

Economic freedom

Political freedom

Religious freedom

LIBERTYEQUALITY


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Enlightenment thought was rooted in thinking of

white propertied men (a reaction of growing

merchant class/middle class to nobility)

Not extended to women or racial minorities.

Enlightenment


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Liberal Approach to Equality

Equality of Opportunity Model

Freedom to chose education and career.

Need a level playing fieldeveryone should have equal access to

opportunities.

No legal or social barriers to economic opportunities.

Education, hiring, promotions based on achievement.


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Equal rights to everybody ?

All citizens are equals

Olympia de Gouges, Declaration of theRights of Woman and the Female Citizen

"law is the expression of the general will:all female and male citizens have the right to participatepersonally, or through their representatives, in its formation."

Are women citizens ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_the_Rights_of_Woman_and_the_Female_Citizen


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Olympe De Gouges

Olympe De Gouges (1748-1793): A proponent of democracy, she

demanded that French women be

given the same rights as French

men. In herDeclarat ion o f the

Rights o f Woman and the Female

Citizen(1791), she challenged the

practice of male authority and the

notion of male-female inequality.

She was executed by guillotine duringthe Reign of Terror for attacking the

regime of Maximilien Robespierre.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marie-Olympe-de-Gouges.jpg


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Female subordination

Womens inferiority to men legitimated historically by:

Enlightenment writers such as Rousseau and Jefferson

Some religious traditions

Aristotle (classical Greece)

Western democracies in the 19th & early 20th centuries


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PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM

LAW CODES

NAPOLEONIC CODE(March 21, 1804)

WOMEN APPEARS IN LAW AS MOTHERS , WIFES ,

NEVER AS INDIVIDUALS,PERSONS OR CITIZENS.

Womens right vs men rights

What men can do vs women cannot


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EQUALS
http://lagolosina.com/productimages/1001/31527.jpg


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History

Three Waves of Feminism

19th through early 20th centuries

1960s-1980s

1990s-Present

1 EQUALITY

2 STANDPOINT /Difference3 GENDER MEN / QUEER STUDIES


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First Wave (1800s):

Fight of political inequalities

Suffrage movement

Extend rights (voting, property) to

women

Focus also on social reform

overturning legal (de jure)

obstacles to equality (i.e. voting

rights, property rights),


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Early liberal feminists

Mary Wollstonecraft

Lucretia Mott

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Susan B. Anthony

Wollstonecraft


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Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft in the late 18th

century used classical liberal arguments

in favor of womens rights:Women are human beings, rational and

capable of self-determination and liberty.

Patriarchy distorts womens personalities

so that they seem to be the worst

stereotypes (vain & shallow).


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Feminisms roots in liberalism

In many ways similar to liberalism: emphasis on

equality, on personal autonomy (the right and ability

of individuals to make decisions for themselves), on

the importance of democratic processes, on the rightof revolution against tyranny.


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Simone de Beauvoir- The Second Sex

Written in 1949- precursor to 2nd wave

Trying to theorize about why women are

oppressed, have less power, less status

Historical and current status of women in

western world

Change in womens subordination is possible

With women organizing, differences will disappear

E li


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Equality

Use law to redress oppression and inequality

Law has used a difference model of men andwomen (will continue separate, unequal

treatment and gender pigeon-holing)

Separate spheres- private/public

Stereotypical dichotomies

Breadwinner/homemaker

Sexual aggressor/passive

Offender/victim

Goal of feminism is to utilize an equalityapproach


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Liberal feminism

Shared with liberalism these ideas:

Human equality

Human rationality

Importance of individual rights


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Liberal Feminism

In line with classical liberalism, liberal feminism sees social positions

(gender, class, status) not as biologically determined but as originating

through social learning/custom.


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LIBERAL FEMINISM Formal equality

Enlightemnt vindication

Equal acces to the public spheres

Reform of the law- destroy legal barriers

what do women want ? what men want

Private life as a limit to public life

CRITICS

Structures are patriarchal and women

becomes men

Conform to a male define world


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Liberal Feminist Theories

Thinkers

Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem,Wendy Williams

Problem

Gender stereotypes Division of work into mens and womens

Lack of affordable child care

Limitations on reproductive choice

Analysis- separate and unequal Binaries and stereotypes (private/public,

emotional/rational)


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BETTY FRIEDAN

THE FEMININE MYSTIQUE

The problem that has no name

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Gender-neutral child-rearing and education.

Bringing women into occupations and professions

dominated by men and breaking through the glass

ceiling to positions of authority (affirmative action).

Bringing more women into politics through equal-

representation rules and financial support.

Promoting gender mainstreaming in policies ensuring

attention to womens needs.

Sharing parenting and subsidizing child care.

Legal, accessible, and affordable reproductive services.


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Making language, childrens books, and education more

genderneutral.

Making formal and informal gender discrimination visible

Working with civil rights organizations to frame affirmative

action guidelines and to bring lawsuits for women and

disadvantaged men.

Getting more women elected and appointed to governmentpositions.

Encouraging employers and governments to provide workplace

child care and paid parental leave.

Getting abortion legalized and reproductive rights recognizedas human rights


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Legal reform:Remove barriers to opportunity

Extend rights to women


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ANTI- DISCRIMINATION LAW

INTERNATIONAL

NATIONAL

REGIONALS (EU)


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INTERNATIONAL

UN DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

UN COVENANTS 1966

ECHRs 1951 RACE CONVENTION 1960

CEDAW CONVENTION 1979

DISABILITIES CONVENTION 2006


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TheInternationalBill of Human Rights

UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights (UDHR) -1948

Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural

Rights (ICESCR) - 1966

Optional Protocol (individual complaints) 2008 (not yet in force) Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) -

1966

1st Optional Protocol (individual complaints) -1966

2nd Optional Protocol (abolition of the death penalty)-1989


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The Convention on the Elimination of

Discrimination against women (CEDAW)

Adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December1979

Entered into force on 3 September 1981

As of November 2012, 187 countries are parties to the

Convention


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CEDAW

International Bill of Rights of women

Equality - equal access to, and equal opportunities in, political and publiclife, as well as education health and employment.


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CEDAW Convention

Part I (articles 1 6) Advancement of women

Part II (articles 79) Womens rights in political andpublic life

Part III (articles 10 14) Elimination of discriminationagainst women in the fields of education, employment,health, economic and social rights

Part IV (articles 15 16) Women equality before the lawand in marriage and family law


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STATE INVOLVEMENT

ACTION PROGRAM TO

ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION

The Convention on the Elimination of

Discrimination against women (CEDAW)

DEFINITION OF DISCRIMINATION


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Part I (articles 1 6)

Advancement of women

Article 1: definition of discrimination against women

Any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on the basis of

sex which has the effect or purpose ofimpairing or nullifying therecognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their

marital status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human

rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic,

social, cultural, civil or any other field


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Article 2: obligations to eliminate discrimination

States Parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms, agree to pursue, byall appropriate means and without delay, a policy of eliminating discrimination againstwomen and, to this end, undertake:

a) to embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their national constitutions or otherappropriate legislation and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means the practicalrealisation of this principle;

b) to adopt appropriate legislative and othermeasures, including sanctions where appropriate,prohibiting all discrimination against women;

c) to establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal basis with men and to ensurethrough competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of womenagainst any act of discrimination;

d) to refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination against women and to ensure that

public authorities and institutions shall act in conformity with this obligation;

e) to take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women by any person,organisation or enterprise;

f) to take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing laws,regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women;

g) to repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women


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AFIRMATIVE ACTIONSCULTURAL ASPECT

OF GENDER .

STATE FIGHT

AGAINST GENDER

STERIOTYPESthe only human rights treatywhich reaffirms the

reproductive rights of women

and targets culture andtradition as influential forces

shaping gender roles and

family relations


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Articles 5 & 6

Article 5: sex roles and stereotyping

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:

a) to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and

women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and

customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of

the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on

stereotyped roles for men and women;

b) to ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of

maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common

responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development

of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children

is the primordial consideration in all cases.

Article 6: trafficking and exploitation of prostitutionStates Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation,

to suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of

prostitution of women.


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WHY IS IMPORTANT ?

Permite medidas

temporales de accin

afirmativa

Reconoce el papel de

la cultura y las

tradiciones en la

discriminacin.

Obliga al Estado a

eliminar estereotipos

en los roles de genero


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Violence against Women

GR No. 19 (1992) The definition of discrimination (art. 1) includes gender-based

violence, that is, violence that is directed against a woman

because she is a woman or that affects women disproportionately.

It includes acts that inflict physical, mental or sexual harm or

suffering, threats of such acts, coercion and other deprivations ofliberty. Gender-based violence may breach specific provisions of the

Convention, regardless of whether those provisions expressly

mention violence.

VaW can be perpetrated by a state official or a private citizen, in

public or in private life and such violence impairs or nullifies the

enjoyment by women of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

It requires State parties to CEDAW to prevent, investigate, and

punish acts of VaW by State officials or private individuals and to

provide reparations for the victims.


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187 - The number of countries, out of 194 countries, that haveratified the treaty.

7 - The number of countries that have NOT ratified CEDAW,

including the United States, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan,

and two small Pacific island nations (Palau, and Tonga).

67 - The number of votes needed for the U.S. Senate to ratify

CEDAW.

WHO


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In arguments against CEDAW, the conservative organization

Concerned Women for America cite that ratification of the treaty will: negate family law and undermine traditional family values by

redefining the family

force the U.S. to pay men and women the same for "work of equal

value" thus going against our free-market system

ensure access to abortion services and contraception

allow same-sex marriage legalize prostitution

promote gender re-education

negate parental rights

undermine the sovereignty of the U.S.


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h l i ki fi/ li i t

Motivation: can democracy increase the

effectiveness of a human rights

convention?

- Is an international convention on human rights effective?

In which condition can

an international human rights treaty be effective?

Focus on democracy as a crucial institutional

condition

1. Oktober

2013IPES

2009

Basic Tenets of Liberal Philosophy and feminism

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