Feminism’s role in international politics has had a lengthy and complicated story, which is not easy to see. For a majority of recorded history, men have debated over laws, positions of power, and politics, and as such, they have decided the roles, duties, and rights of everyone. Men have seldom ever considered or included women in policy making and politics. As a result, women have historically been disadvantaged in the pursuit of knowledge, influence, power, and political achievement. In large part, this is due to the sex-based discrimination propagated throughout history regarding women’s intelligence and women’s ability to be authoritative. Because of this, women have lost a lot of privileges, rights, and opportunities to prove themselves to be diplomats, politicians, and scholars. To this day, women have less involvement in international politics. Fortunately, opinions that women are less suited to roles in politics are slowly changing; as women’s voices strengthen, and they garner more respect and public favor than most women in the last 30 years.
Figure 1: A women graphic
In the modern era, which is dictated more-so than ever by global politics and international relations, feminism is representative of women’s interests and women’s issues. Throughout the early modern period women have fought for many rights, from women campaigning for the right to vote to campaigning for equal pay and campaigning for the right to freedom and personal autonomy. In almost every aspect of a woman’s life, there is organizations which support women’s problems. Organizations can range in focus from healthcare, human rights infringements, domestic violence assistance, reproductive care, reducing female poverty, and training and educating women with modern technology. This is only a few examples of the various aspects of social life where women of any age may need assistance in the 21st century. Some of these organizations are relatively well-known, such as the Women’s Global Empowerment Fund, UN Women, Happy Period, and World Pulse. These organizations work with women and co-operate with others to assist in any challenges that women face today.
Figure 2: Logo of Happy Period, a non-profit organization that tackles period poverty.
Due to the shifting global climate towards women propagated by hundreds of liberation movements, women in the last few years have been more influential on the global stage, such as becoming prime minister and president of countries. The feminist approach of voting women into positions of power in order to inspire and pave the way for future generations of women has been working, but it’s still in small effect. In 2013, women only accounted for 8% of national leaders, with 75% of that being within the past 2 decades [1], which whilst it’s a way off being gender-equal, it is a momentous achievement for the feminist movement. Global positions such as Queens, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and governor-general in several countries are filled by women. This is representative of the shift in attitude towards women being intelligent, energetic, determined, and resolute. This presence of women in leading and powerful roles is inspiring young women everywhere to fulfill their goals and fight through the sexism and inequality to achieve their dreams.
Whilst this has been a global effort, not all areas of the planet have progressed at the same rate, and as such, women have created an organization to amalgamate women’s liberation efforts in politics. The “Council of Women World Leaders”, created by Vigdis Finnbogadottir, is run by 70 female Heads of State. The main aim for the organization is to promote gender equality and to encourage and support women who want to be leaders in their countries. They have multiple meetings where they debate about new projects and campaigns, deciding which issues are more crucial and relevant for women. The organizations current campaign is called the “Generation Equality: Realizing women’s rights for an equal future”. Most campaigns center around equal pay, healthcare, domestic abuse assistance, and encouraging self-determination.
Figure 3: Logo of the Council of Women World Leaders.
The increase in women in international politics has not only helped the field of women’s politics, it has affected multiple other areas of women’s lives. Women feel safer, women see a more hopeful and equal future as a goal instead of a dream and women have more opportunity now than ever to learn new things, all because of the advancements and sacrifice of the feminist movement. This has greatly helped society, for example, giving women equal pay and encouraging them to join the workforce has boosted the economy, bolstered the labour market, and built self-esteem and conviction in women that was previously diminished.
Despite the constant and passionate work of the feminist movement, it isn’t uncommon to hear dissenting opinions and grating comments against the feminist movement. Typical examples of this would be associating the entire feminist movement with “feminazis” [2], saying the feminist movement is irrelevant in modern society, and saying that other sources require the funding more desperately. Another common reason that feminism is ignored is because it would be a fundamental change to the culture and social life, as the historical tradition of women being seen as “lesser” than men is still upheld and believed.
This is why the feminist’s voice should be developed, cultivated, and popularized by main international leaders, as is the case with the “Council of Women World Leaders”, as they take a valuable and potentially under-developed campaign and spread awareness and reach to the entire world with their prestige and fame. This shows how women’s inclusion and representation in international politics doesn’t only affect the political stage, or the national stage, but the global stage, which has the potential to improve the lives of every woman on the planet.
Figure 2: https://hashtaghappyperiod.org/
Figure 3: http://www.councilwomenworldleaders.org/
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