Global Feminism - Essay Example

Locating global feminism elsewhere

The author of the article explores global feminism by analyzing how the US views women in the post-1990s. The author has analyzed global feminists in two ways. One way involves examining the organization of the feminism discipline. The other ways include studying the political deployments of global feminism.  Some of the theories used by the author in the analysis of the subjects are anti-racism and transnational feminism in the US. According to the author, global feminism after the year 1990 is linked to past arguments associated with Western liberal feminists. The current global feminism in the US eliminates important bodies that are intersections and transnational feminism.  This has affected academic female studies. In the US, “other women” are usually referred to as women of color. The term is used when referring to minority groups. The author also thinks that the term plays a significant role in invoking the transnational connection. Women of power are among the marginalized groups in the country and are classified based on the center of power. This concept has contributed to the occurrence of social superstructure.  The most powerful are the males from the upper and middle classes. Such men usually prefer white females who are able to give them racially pure children. The most preferred females are also those from the upper, middle class, and working-class because men believe that they have superior qualities. The author also thinks that white females still hold a subordinate positions in the US. For instance, they are not allowed to participate in high societal positions like men. The situation is worse for women of color since they are outside the power center. The power relations have greatly impacted the white females’ perceptions regarding gender oppression in politics (Chowdhury 2)

The center cannot hold: American Studies and global feminism

The author of the article argues that Western communities produce and direct global feminism.  This is because different aspects of global feminism are affected by theories that focus on the society, culture, and economics of western. The American female writers have introduced other elements of global feminism such as race and ethnicity. Global feminism had not embraced the contribution of women of color in social movements until recently. For example, studies about their culture and immigration experiences in the US were previously neglected. The author has offered various alternatives in order to come up with a critically reflective global feminism. One alternative offered by the author includes incorporating various factors such as eating disorders, medical conditions, and self-destruction in global feminism. One of the medical conditions that result from body image issues includes anorexia nervosa. The medical condition occurs when females starve themselves so that they can achieve a standard global beauty standard. Eating disorders have spread to most part of parts of the world. It usually affects women belonging to specific classes.  For instance, it now affects females in India, Taipei, and the Philippines. The author believes that the contemporary hallucination of modern beauty is strongly influenced by the market world. The image of a woman is not caused by Westernization only. It has been a continuous process that is now a widely recognized global female culture that should be addressed in global feminism (Lin-lim 27).  

Global Feminist and transitional identity politics Weir

The author in the article analyzes the connection between global feminism and identity politics. According to the author, identity politics has now overshadowed and substituted the liberal identity dimension. The author discussed identity-based on a solidarity perspective and later focused on sameness to illustrate the identity model and politics. The author defines identity politics as experiences and activities concerning injustice that are shared by females globally.  Identity politics replaces the definition of females based on their biological makeup and embraces a new definition based on their experiences. Global feminists are influenced by the claims introduced by females to highlight differences emerging in society. According to the author, females have turned to political identity to prevent oppression.  Most people criticize identity politics because it is difficult to apply within the constraints of global feminism because women from various parts of the world with different economies cannot have similar experiences. It will be difficult to connect global feminism and transnational feminism.  In addition, some claim that identity politics will encourage females from the middle and upper class to take advantage of the lower class females and immigrants. The author thinks that more studies should be done in order to know the effects of identity politics on global and transnational feminism (Weir 1).