Social Movements and Gender - Essay Example

? Social Movements and Gender Social movements are groups of people who loosely organize themselves to campaign in support of a common goal that they believe in. It is mostly related to advocating for the implementation of a social goal, or consolidating their resources, to prevent a change in a society that can affect their social lives. Social movements differ in size and can cover just one neighbourhood to an entire continent or even the whole world. Gender has played a significant role in size and number of social movements because once people became aware of the influence gender has in their lives, social movements began materializing basing their ideologies on gender related issues. All social movements have a common social goal in their objectives. This paper primarily focuses on describing three social movements and their impacts on gender. Social movements are mostly informal unlike clubs or political parties that have leaders and flag bearers who represent the rest of the group. A social movement is based more on an individual's moral standing and belief, and its membership is not fully defined. Additionally, it does not have any legal binding. Therefore, the only way a social movement remains in existence is through commitment and loyalty of its members to its ideologies and objectives. They do not have an exact size because there is no formal registration of members to determine their numbers. Social movements have in their agendas the notion of bringing about social change, and the methods they use to implement their ideals is used to categorize them as either moderate or radical social movements and they can also be legitimate or underground. This categorization is influenced by their nature of conducting business. Revolutionary and radical social movements are prone to reliance on violence and civil disobedience while moderates are more inclined to use dialogue and parliamentary and legal manoeuvring. There are various reasons to explain the emergence of social movements, and they include psychological and social reasons. Psychologically, individuals derive a sense of belonging and attain a status when they belong to a social movement. Social factors, like poverty and age groups, can lead to the formation of a social movement with its members representing a group that needs some change. Most social movements hold regular demonstrations in the hope that they promise delivery of a desired change. Deprivation is another leading cause for the formation of social movements because individuals will come together to address the scarcity, and in doing so, they identify with one common goal of changing the situation. Most social movements do not usually survive to see their ideals and goals come to fruition. This is because they do not garner enough support to warrant their ideologies proper attention to be institutionalized and incorporated into the society, and achieve the desired change. Some social movements usually manage to realize and implement their goals, and these are the ones that are subject to the test of time and have loyal and committed members who strive to ensure their success. Social movements have always had an effect on gender because it influences the type of movement that develops. Males usually form a larger part of social movements more than females. This usually influences the ideology of the group because both the genders have different characteristics, which is also manifested in the group. Social movements have been used to advocate for gender based liberties and the advancement of gender rights. Gender has been used, by many social movements, as a tool to further their ideologies because they understand that it is a debate that is close to people’s hearts. The Lesbian and Gay Rights Activists movement was formed in the early 19th century, but its activities became more pronounced in the 1960s, 70s, 80s to date due to the advent of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, which advocated for equal rights to everyone irrespective of colour, creed, or ideology. It was formed to advocate for the right of homosexual people in America. It was formed at a time when there was widespread discrimination and hate against those individuals who practiced homosexuality. The lesbian and gay movement’s objective was to advocate for more visibility and legal protection by the constitution. Their campaign is based on three fronts, which include economic, political and social change. Economically they agitated for equal opportunities in the corporate world through employment without any discrimination based on their sexuality. For example, the shunning of gay men and women, in the United States military, was perceived as a direct violation of their right to participate in national issues and development. Politically, they advocated for inclusion into an electoral process with their members vying for elective posts in city councils, United States Congress and state legislature. Social-cultural change has also been achieved as evidenced by increased acceptance in the community. Homosexuals have seen their members being ordained in churches and legalization of gay marriages in some countries. All of this has helped ease the stigma that they used to live with. In the midst of all this, it brought to fore the subject of gender because within these movements there was the manifestation of gender disparity, which was evidenced by the leadership being predominantly gay male dominated. The rights of gay males precedent over lesbian rights, which saw the breakaway of female members of these social movements and the formation of Lesbian Rights Movements, which solely advocate for lesbian rights. This helped put more focus on the gender gap that exists across all social parameters like sexuality, race and nationality. It reinforced the existing need for change towards more equity across the gender divide. Activism for gender equality was able to permeate all schools of thought irrespective of sexual orientation. The women’s social Movement in Latin America has its origin after the Second World War which brought with it rapid industrialization and urbanisation, and as a consequence, there was increased demand for labour. Women, who were traditionally meant to take care of their families, found themselves actively participating in their nation’s building projects by becoming part of the workforce because their male spouses could not earn enough to sustain their families. This strengthened economic and political forces diminishing the role of the family and heightening the influence state had in their lives. For instance, Latin American women formed social movements to address their key challenges when the economic crisis hit their country. They achieved this through directing their anger towards the state, instead of private sector that financed the corporations they came to depend on. They formed these social movements, not only to protect their private family domain against market and state intervention, but also to demand to be incorporated into the state in order for their rights as citizens to be fully realized. The women wished to be recognized as full and actual participants in the economy and public world. They did not wish for their interests to be represented by men only. Their strategy was different since they did not want to participate on a gender-neutral basis, but they instead reaffirmed their position as women especially as wives and mothers unlike in contemporary Western European and U.S. women demanding gender-neutral participation. They used this strategy to demand participation because they also had a direct role to play in state affairs by feeding their families who, in turn, worked for these governments. They campaigned for inclusion because they believed the state was doing an injustice to them by the rising cost of living and the military governments taking away their children. In doing so, they redefined and transformed their domestic traditional role to that of collective public protest. A unique aspect of the social movement, in Latin America, is that the majority of its members are poor people unlike in the beginning before the war where it was composed of the middle class and the wealthy in agitation for some vague elitist right in their society (Stephen 1997). Women, in this case, are using their gender to further their objectives instead of using their class in society, which is as a subordinate class of the exploited and underprivileged. They instead use their power, as the majority consumers of state’s and private sector’s services, to urge their governments to acknowledge their significant roles as committed citizens. This is also an indication of their active role in the government’s decision making process. These Latin American women do not reject their domestic roles, seen by others as gender subordination, but use it to acquire strength and legitimacy in their demands to the state for better living conditions and rights. Social movements have seen a change in gender dynamics, in Latin America, with increased women literacy levels, which has occasioned a decline in fertility levels that has been acclaimed to increase women’s higher education levels, and greater access to family planning programs and contraceptives. Women’s educational levels have also been seen to rise at a faster rate than men’s, and their contribution to home economics is higher than that of men (Stephen 1997). Social movements in Latin America that have seen women use their designated gender roles as a bargaining chip to afford them more roles in governance and the realization of their rights have seen them influence the social and political fate of many countries, in Latin America like Chile and Brazil. Upholding their domestic roles and use of strong points to agitate for their rights have proven to be a successful strategy for achieving their goals and objectives (Stephen 1997). The civil rights movement was a popular social movement, whose main goal was to secure equal access to opportunities and privileges to enjoy the basic rights of a U.S citizen by the African Americans. It started in the 19th century, but it gained momentum in the 1950s and 60s. They used non violent means to advocate for an end to social segregation, discrimination in education and voting rights. They pursued their objectives through nonviolent protests, legal means, petitions and negotiations. Before the civil rights movement, there were immense gender disparities which were worsened by racism and discrimination. The civil rights movement was able to realize its goal, and it became a significant influence in the emergence of women’s rights movement and the student movements of the 1960s. Their methods helped form the basis on, which other social movements depended on. The civil rights movement also call for equal rights for every citizen irrespective of race or gender brought to the fore, and the need to harmonize liberties across the gender divide and bring an end to gender oppression especially that of women. Therefore, issue of gender based discrimination was addressed and it prompted the formation of women rights activist group, which agitated for equal gender representation in government and society. This saw women and other marginalised groups like the homosexuals actively taking part in government and other social activities. The civil rights movement did not only advocate for the African Americans, but it represented all those who were not protected by the United States constitution. In a society where women are perceived inferior to men, this movement has a notable milestone for women, in the United States. Social movements throughout history have been used to advocate for basic human rights and advancement of gender equality. They have proved to be extremely powerful and efficient tools for agitating the rights for women, the exploited and underprivileged in society. They are good because they are not legally binding and it is voluntary. Ideals in a social movement can rarely fail to serve the purpose of its members because it is a collective effort aimed at a common goal. Social movements are excellent advocacy platforms. Reference Stephen L. (1997). Women and Social Movements in Latin America: Power from Below. Latin American studies: Women Studies. Illustrated Edition. University of Texas Press, 1997 Read More