It is understood by many that from the global outlook, women are not afforded the same rights as men and often have their rights violated. An issue unique to the violation of the rights of women is that these violations are sometimes not actually recognized as violations (Okin, 1998). Beyond the scope of the individual rights of women, there tends to be an under representation of women in the international political arena. It is argued that the political system is set up and run by males and all attempts at human rights are male oriented and excludes women. Confounding the agenda on women’s rights is the role of culture and religion as being a justification for discrimination against women (Peach, 2002). Even if a woman lives is a country where she seemingly has equal rights with men, these rights disappear at the international level to the extent that where traveling abroad can be unsafe. It's a battle between cultural/religious/social institutions and policy making which contribute to the talk on women's rights. The purpose of this current paper is to explore women’s rights through the lens of the feminist critique on human rights. In the pursuit of human rights in the international arena, specific attention should be paid to the rights of women because of the severe issues they face in our world today. First, it will be explained how the rights of women are often violated and what type of violations have been challenging women. It will also be discussed how religion and culture plays an important roles in women’s rights. Secondly, it will be explained how the goal of women’s rights should be to equalize human rights for all people and how literature on women’s rights can sometimes promote inequality. What will lastly be discus...
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...efinite violation of the rights of women. The inequality, itself, is the problem, yet the rhetoric used to solve this injustice can sometimes confuse discourse about women's rights. In a collaborative effort, various organizations and policies have been created to promote equality across the world. So far these organizations have been fairly successful at making people aware of the disparity of basic human rights for women internationally. Slowly but surely, people are considering the importance of women in political affairs and the added perspective that women lend which men cannot. Possibly the biggest barrier to equality amongst all genders is resolving the competing rights of freedom of religion and gender equality. Undeniably, future work in this field should help to bridge the gap between different cultures and religious groups to ensure equality amongst all
Women have had it rough throughout history. Their declining position in the world started during the Neolithic revolution, into Rome, and past the Renaissance. However, at the turn of the twentieth century, women began advocating for equality no matter their governmental situation. This promotion of women's rights is evident in communist nations during the twentieth century and their fight against hundreds of years of discrimination. It can be seen that women were brainwashed into believing that their rights were equal with the male population through the use of propaganda, yet this need for liberation continued despite government inadequacy at providing these simple rights. Women in communist countries struggled for rights in the twentieth
It is difficult to realize the harsh standards and obligations imposed upon women of different cultures. It is especially disappointing to note that women whom may seek to relieve themselves of such discriminatory practices, face little to no government support in terms of fighting inequality. Such as distinguished in text The War Against Feminism, women of Algeria must fight against patriarchal and incredibly sexist political movements, such as the “Islamic Salvation Front,” which although was banned, had won an election and the promotion of their platform’s ideas despite their notions consisting of extreme patriarchal views and their actual assassinations of individuals not compliant with their beliefs. I also strongly agreed with the United Nations decision to aid individuals from fear of the Taliban, in their stating of refusing to continue aid to Afghanistan if intense cruel practices were to continue. The interference of other government agencies in helping to promote the end of cruelty, such as was occurring by the Taliban, act as great movement of defiance against
With such a unanimous resentment, particularly in the dominating religious sect of Iran, it is important to address the ideologies within the religion enforce the country’s patriarchal social structure, i.e. the “form of social organization in which males dominate females” (text 38). Furthermore, with the Islamic Revolution of 1979, these attitudes were the driving force behind many of the discriminatory laws that confined women in Iran to a life defined by its limitations.
It is precisely this point, which proves the argument of this paper. The well intentioned attempt of Western feminist to write a feminist book in order to help, both women in the East in an exchange of ideas and stimulation of still more ideas and women in the West in providing knowledge with which to further aid the women of the East. On both counts it fails. In the West it gives further ground to the false generalizations and assumptions of women in the Muslim and more generally the developing world who are seen as oppressed and in need of “liberation” while in the East it serves to colonize and dehumanize the women. These good intentions did not create what can be construed as a positive contribution.
The rights of women have expanded tremendously in the United States over the years. Women 's rights are a lot more flexible. They are allowed to be independent. While these new milestones are a big step forward for woman 's rights in the United States there are still things that need to be corrected. While in other countries women 's rights have not changed at all. There are women in some countries who are denied the right to go to school. They are also not considered equal to men. I will be comparing women 's rights within marriage as well as the justice system in the United States to those of women in other countries in the justice system as well as being married in the Middle East.
“Let it be that human rights are women’s right and women’s right are human rights once and for all.” These were the words that changed the course for women’s rights. On September 5, 1995, everyone at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing heard these words uttered by- then First Lady- Hillary Clinton. The conference was, “the biggest United Nations conference ever held,” (Otto), and it was, “a call for equality… by half the world’s population… a challenge to change the course of social and economic development in a direction that places people- and women- firmly at the centre of analysis and objectives,” (Moghadam). The speech that Clinton gave completed the challenge and more, by persuading everyone, in the audience and all over the world, with anaphoras, strong emotional diction and the three persuasive appeals, she altered the history of women’s rights for the better.
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies worldwide. In some countries these rights are supported by law, local cultures and behaviors, but in others they may be ignored or infringed on. They are considered different from the broader concept of “human rights” because of historical and traditional bias against the rights of women in favor of men. These rights include: the right to vote (also called suffrage), the right to work, the right to have equal pay, the right to own property, the right to education, the right to serve in the military, the right to enter into legal contracts, and the right to have marital, parental and religious rights.
The thought of women having equal rights has caused major controversy throughout American History. Women have fought for their rights for many years, wanting to be more than a wife or a maid. Women’s Rights Movement was an effort by many women around the U.S standing up for themselves. Feminists like Charlotte Perkins Gilman had a big impact on the movement by writing stories and articles, she spread awareness by writing these. Throughout this Movement women got the right to vote, and many more opportunities they were not offered before.
Through the 20th century, the communist movement advocated greatly for women's’ rights. Despite this, women still struggled for equality.
“The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive
Academic discourse is the means by which new and old theories may be applied to a topic in order to reach a better understanding or challenge a notion raised within the field. It is through discussing and analyzing these concepts that individual voices may be applied to an academic community, allowing for a wider lens of thought to be picked up and further discussed. Grewal participates in this discourse in her article “'Women's Rights as Human Rights': Feminist Practices, Global Feminism, and Human Rights Regimes in Transnationality”. This paper shall analyze and discuss how Grewal applies previous theoretical concepts related to feminist discourse in order to offer a Transnationalist Feminist critique to the Global Feminist notion of Women's Rights as Human Rights.
Religious context founded on dogma and history of male privilege is a space where patriarchy gets more chances to flourish. The principle of secularism, with its visions of citizenship, the role of state, societal inclusion and human rights is more adopted for constructing gender equality and improving women’s conditions. Thus, I regard secular discourse as the best tool for the feminist argument. Secular discourse provides a space for believers of all confessions without distinction, as well as non-believers. Secular discourse is not attached to any dogma or authority with whose vision of women’s rights it has to comply.
In recent modern times, the Islamic faith and culture has been scarred by bad publicity and criticism worldwide concerning terrorism, fanaticism, and the treatment of women. All these issues have existed in most religions throughout time, but the treatment of women is different in which most other cultures and religions have minimized the issues and Islam, under its attempts to also end it, has failed to create a society in which the treatment of women is equal to that of men. The treatment of women, beginning from the time when they are born, to the time of their marriage, to the moment of their death, has not been equal to that of men despite the actions taken to end the injustice.
In the past, many people believed that women’s exclusive responsibilities were to serve their husband, to be great mothers and to be the perfect wives. Those people considered women to be more appropriate for homemaking rather than to be involved in business or politics. This meant that women were not allowed to have a job, to own property or to enjoy the same major rights as men. The world is changing and so is the role of women in society. In today’s society, women have rights that they never had before and higher opportunities to succeed.
Women face oppression all around the world, and when states infringe upon the human rights of their people, women in particular are left with very little power. The firm establishment of human rights within many states is improving the quality of life of many women. As outside states increase their investment in the world population, the probability of humanitarian interference rises. Even without direct intervention the scrutiny of outside states can have a dramatic effect on the actions of a state. A state leader is aware that any abusive action they take against their population will be noticed and criticized, and in extreme cases, might even be acted upon by outside states. This puts pressure on the state, encouraging it to change oppressive laws. As legal gender equality becomes more of an international expectation, states are feeling increasing pressure to adopt equal-rights laws. This is helping to empower women, as laws which favor men often put them at the mercy of the men in their lives. For example, there are countries in which only men have access to obtaining a passport, and others still in which a woman cannot legally prosecute a man for rape. These laws are certainly not endorsed by the international human rights regime. Therefore, states continuing to conform to the human rights regime and adopt equal-rights laws are drastically improving the lives of