5 Impact of Modernity on Gender

Pampa Mukherjee

Introduction

The scholarly understanding of gender as a basis of social stratification and power politics in modern societies is of recent origin although gender division in society is an age-old phenomenon. It is based upon the assumption that women are naturally disadvantaged to assume a subordinate status in the society. On these terms, men are seen as the holders of power and are therefore active players in the public sphere like religion, culture, economy and politics. Women on the other hand are meant to be confined to domestic or householdactivities. Their reproductive power makes them skilful at raising and rearing children at home while men become the bread-earners for the family.

Modernity that triggered democratic processes in Western societies also brought the issue of gender and women’s rights centre stage. It gave rise to the ideology of Feminism that became the driving force behind women’s movement in advanced capitalist societies. Although the origin of feminist ideas could be traced back to Greek civilization, it acquired the form of a concrete movement not until the mid-19th century. It progressed and assumed political significance at different stages. However, the strength and rigour with which it developed in different countries produced differences in its outcome. This requires a comparative analysis of gender issues in modern capitalist societies.

The central themes of gender politics include the understanding of patriarchy, equality, rights, and social movement. The chapter will therefore begin with a comprehensive understanding of these concepts. This will be followed by a detailed discussion on the various theoretical positions on Feminism that developed with the progress of modernity and democracy. It will be shown how modern ideas associated with democracy gave an impetus to women’s struggle for rights and equality in the Liberal Feminist discourse. On the other hand, modernity linked with capitalism was cited as a source of gender-based exploitation by the Social Feminists. Different from all these theoretical explanations, Radical Feminism represents an independent ideology of women’s liberation. The next section will attempt to understand the gender issues and concerns that have gained salience in women’s movement from time to time. This includes political rights and representation, access to education, employment, and more recently sexual and reproductive rights. An emphasis is on the feminist movement in United States during the latter half of the 20th century.

Concepts and Ideas in Gender Politics

The feminist discourse begins with the understanding and explanation the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. It challenges the argument of ‘biological determinism’ that gender division in society is naturally determined which implies that distinctions in the social roles of men and women are because of their biological formations. In other words, naturally women are seen as weaker than men. Women, because of their reproductive capacity, are considered to be most appropriate in the role of child-bearing that involves staying at home and nurturing their children. On the other side, men are the primary bread-earners of the family. They are active at the workplace or any public arena.

Such natural or biological differences are also taken as a stereotypical basis to distinguish between the characteristics of ‘masculinity’ and ‘feminity’. Attributes like power, intelligence, knowledge, rationality and ability to take decisions on public front are generally associated with masculinity. In contrast, feminity which gets linked with irrationality, unintelligible, dependence, physical weakness and emotionality is considered to be inferior in the hierarchical order of psychological traits. The division of social responsibilities between men and women is driven by these contrasting features that further becomes a basis for establishing male supremacy is all spheres of human thought and action.

Feminists question the authenticity of ‘biological determinism’ by highlighting the difference between ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. Sex, according them is a natural construct while gender is seen as a socio-culturally constructed term. Gender divisions are therefore social constructions supported several institutions of the society. In this context, Simone de Beauviour has commented that, ‘Women are made, they are not born’. i Inequality between men and women is therefore not natural but gendered.

Patriarchy is the outgrowth of a gendered society that firmly established male supremacy and subordination of women in every sphere of life including, social, cultural, political and economic. It is an institution that begins to define the relation between men and women in the family as ‘rule by the father’. Men exercise their authority by taking decisions for women and children in the family. This form of male domination then finds its application in other institutions of the society like civil society, state, political parties, market, and above all the state or the government. The exclusion of women from these institutions is clearly reflected in their under-representation or miniscule presence in them.

Patriarchy also becomes a basis to support public-private divide in gender roles. Here public sphere is synonymous with politics and government. Men dominate in politics and therefore occupy high echelons of decision-making. Here politics is understood in a broader sense. It includes all such organizations and institutions that are in some way or the other involved in the power game and takes decisions for rest of the society. Government, bureaucracy, political parties, civil society institutions including NGOs and other voluntary organizations, religious bodies and international institutions are all a part of it. They remain excluded from politics not only in the form of being under-represented but also voiceless. There passive presence limits the possibility of bringing in their issues and problems in the public forum. Women remained confined to family and domestic responsibilities that constitute the private sphere. Nedelsky argues that in the 18th and 19th century Europe and England men’s citizenship was justified on the ground of their rule over women at home and the values and culture of society so demanded that women must focus on their responsibilities at home. As family was seen as a private realm, the state had no jurisdiction in the structures of familial power even when such structures authorized domestic violence and deprived women of their right to education, employment, association and expression.ii

Streams of Feminist Thought in Modern Societies

Modernity brought significant changes in the ideas and thought process of human beings. It challenged the orthodoxies of medieval times by replacing faith with reason and rationality as guiding principles of human existence. On this basis it held democracy as the most rational arrangement for organizing political life. Modernity thus triggered democratization and provided avenues for challenging the social cleavages that were the creation of medieval ages. It generated political consciousness in masses especially amongst those social groups who faced discrimination and exclusion is all forms and in every possible way. The most visible form of social exclusion was found in case of women who constituted nearly half of the population in most of the Western societies. To begin with they were not even recognized as citizens and were therefore kept completely estranged from public life. The project of democratization in modern societies was carried forward by the struggles led by Feminists from time to time.

The feminist thought became the driving force behind women’s movement in Modern Europe and United States. It developed in different stages with new ideas, orientation and concerns. However, it was not until 1960s that the movement assumed political significance as it came to define the personal arena or family in political terms. Broadly speaking, feminist thought that emerged as a result of modernization can be divided into three categories: Liberal Feminism, Socialist Feminism and Radical Feminism.

Liberal Feminism

Liberal Feminist thought and the associated movement found its ideological basis in liberal democracy that firmly took roots in Modern Europe, especially Britain and United States. It also marked the first stage of Feminist movement that primarily focused on achieving equality between sexes. It made forceful claims for extending civil and political rights to women. As individualism is the core theme of liberalism, Feminist thought during this stage demanded equal entitlement for individuals irrespective of their sex, race, colour, creed and religion. They believed that women’s equality must be the basic aim of the movement that could be achieved by removing legal obstacles that denied equal opportunities and rights for women.iii

Two very significant scholarly works that belong to the liberal tradition and in that sense initiated Feminist movement are Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) and John Stuart Mill’s On the Subjection of Women (1869). Wollstonecraft was highly inspired by the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity echoed in the French Revolution. She found lack of education as the main impediment before the achievement of equality between men and women. As a result, she demanded equal access to education for women that would have not only open up new opportunities for them in employment but also ensure them a life of dignity and self respect. On a similar note, John Stuart Mill advocated extension of civil and political liberties to women especially the right to vote.

Liberal Feminism reappeared in a modified form during the second stage of Feminist movement in the writings of Betty Friedan. Her book entitled ‘The Feminine Mystique’ indentifies the constraints that inhibit women to pursue different varieties of career opportunities and participation in political life. Observing the plight of American women in the 20th century she says that, ‘It was strange stirring, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that women suffered in the middle of 20th century in the United States. Each suburban wife struggled with it alone.’ iv In her text, Friedan shows how women tend to confine themselves to homes as responsible mothers and housewives. Preoccupied with such socially-determined roles they lost their independence in choosing a career and taking decisions for themselves.

Socialist Feminism

Socialist Feminism as a stream of feminist thought can be located in the writings of Marx and Engels. The capitalist mode of production is found to be responsible for systematic oppression of women. In the famous text ‘Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State’ they observe that sexual oppression arose at a particular stage of social development and was conditioned by two simultaneous processes: emergence of modern capitalism and origin of patriarchal family. It is also shown that primitive societies had an egalitarian social and sexual order because of collective production and communal ownership. Families in primitive societies are found to be characterized by matrilineal inheritance.v

However, this form of egalitarianism in family relationships exhausted with the introduction of private property and modern capitalism. It has enhanced both wealth and social status of men and relegated women to domestic work and household responsibilities. Women became unpaid labour in what Engels calls as the ‘bourgeoisie family’ and also turned into instruments of reproducing children. Therefore emergence of modern capitalism became the source of gender inequality in the society. It created gendered patterns of division of labour and established the dominance of men in all spheres of human activity. Engels calls this epoch of social development in human history as one where the ‘overthrow of mother right was the world-historic defeat of the female sex.’

Extending the arguments of Engels, contemporary social feminists highlight the problems of gendered division of labour in modern societies. They trace its origin to 17th century Europe when gender polarization leading division of labour between external workplace and home became firmly established due to the emerging capitalism.vi Women assume the role of housewives and undertake the responsibilities of child-rearing and domestic works like cooking and cleaning. Men remain completely free of these responsibilities and expect their wives, mothers and daughters to do them so that they can focus on their domain of productive and paid employment.

Other than domestic division of labour, the socialist feminist also find a gendered pattern in the international division labour. Women are made to perform unskilled or semi-skilled professions that are normally low-paid in the global capitalist market. Their roles in the international market are again decided by their qualities of feminity. On this basis, they mostly enter professions like nursing, primary school teaching, garments industry, receptionists, low-paid household work, baby sitting, and so on that are considered to be of lesser value. Their salaries only serve as supplements to the income of the male members of their family. Second, when women enter the workforce they become doubly-burdened as they are made to shoulder the responsibilities of both household and outside work.

Socialist Feminism thus held modern capitalism responsible for institutionalizing patriarchal system. Gender inequality was found to be a by-product of class divisions in a capitalist society and was therefore not understood independent of class analysis. Accordingly, it was believed that the only way to uproot patriarchy was through a socialist revolution. Equality between sexes will naturally be achieved once capitalism as a system of production gets overthrown.

Radical Feminism

Radical Feminism represent the second-wave of feminist movement that became popular in the writings of Simone de Beauvoir, Firestone, Eva Figes and Germaine Greer. It indentified gender as separate from other modes of social stratification like class, race, and ethnicity and therefore required independent analysis. Gender difference was considered to be significant in itself as women irrespective of their other identities face collective discrimination and therefore require collective action to overcome their predicaments. Radical feminists rejected liberal and socialist frameworks to understand gender-related issues precisely on the same ground that a male-bias was implicit in these theories and the alternatives which they gave for achieving gender equality were only concessional in nature and content.

Patriarchal values in Radical Feminism are seen to influence every sphere of human thought and action like politics, economy, religion, culture, philosophy, and morality. Sexual oppression is institutionalized and recognized as a fundamental problem of modern societies. Firestone in Dialectic of Sex states that sexual exploitation does not merely emerge out of social conditioning as the social constructivists argue but from biological capacities. She believes that women must be accorded complete freedom in their sexual existence which is possible through modern technology in contemporary societies.

Radical Feminists during the 1960s and 1970s questioned the established norms and traditions of Western societies that adhered to the notion of public-private divide and advocated non-interference of state in the private or family sphere. They raised the slogan of ‘personal is political’vii to state that family involved power politics to establish male supremacy and discriminate against women. Therefore, they claimed state intervention and regulation of family and marriage through strict laws and policies.

Few radical feminists celebrate the sexual difference and show strong resistance to the idea of considering the superiority of masculinity or what is often called as ‘manliness’. Continuous reference to masculine qualities for making judgemental statements about ones intelligence, status, position and authority stands questionable. They hold femininity and womanhood in high esteem and believe that women should create a world of their own through a revolution.

Gender Issues and Women’s Movement in Modern Societies

Political Rights: Participation and Representation

Women’s movement in modern Western societies started during the turn of nineteenth century making strong claims for civil and political rights. Inspired by the writings of J.S. Mill and Mary Wollstonecraft, women’s movement at its take-off stage, that covers the period from the French Revolution to the First World War, focussed on attaining voting rights and political equality. During the French Revolution, middle and lower-middle classes got voting rights but women remained excluded from general franchise. In France, the Napoleon dictatorship had secured the domination of men over women by law. Same was true about other countries where modernization had created avenues for democratization but left almost half of its population deprived from voting rights.

Women’s struggle for political representation has been a long-drawn process in modern societies. Modernization facilitated the dissemination of egalitarian values that served a foundation for democracy. However, equality as a goal was far to seek until women remained excluded from politics. Due to the prolonged struggle led by women’s organizations across Europe and America, political rights for women were legally sanctioned by many countries after the Second World War.

Political rights that appeared as the central demand of women’s movement during the first phase was directly linked with changes in civil laws that inhibited women’s participation in politics. This mainly included the revision of marriage and family laws that excluded women from property rights in the family. In Britain, for instance, property qualifications for voting rights naturally inhibited participation of married women in politics and public affairs as they did not posses any claim over family property. Leading proponents of women’s political rights however held different viewpoints on this. Lydia Becker, for example, stated that only women holding property should qualify for voting rights. In contrast, advocates like J.S. Mill and Barbara Bodichon felt that absence of voting rights had led to denial of equal citizenship to women. Therefore, right to vote was the most important step to achieve equality between the two sexes. However, the movement led by suffragettes became extremely forceful at the beginning of 20th century by resorting to the techniques of civil disobedience and direct confrontation with the authorities.viii Ultimately, after a prolonged struggle of almost two and a half centuries women attained the right to vote in Britain under the Equal Franchise Act of 1928.

In United States, women voiced their demand for equality in the gathering at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. On the lines of Declaration of Independence, the Conference prepared a charter popularly called as the ‘Declaration of Sentiments’ and listed several issues and problems concerning women in American society that included denial of voting rights and male-centric marriage laws that made a wife ‘civilly dead’.ix As Britain, women in United States received equal franchise as late as 1920. In France, struggle for equal franchise was supposedly the longest and most exhaustive. The feminist movement in France that was initiated in the 1830s echoed the ideals of French Revolution. However, women were grated voting right only in 1944.

Gender parity in politics still remained a distant goal even after women got voting rights. A cross-regional comparative analysis in Europe given in Table 1 clearly shows the gender gap in political representation in the Parliaments.

As shown, the Scandinavian countries take the lead in women’s political representation as compared to West and East European countries. There is a fall in women’s representation in East European Parliaments from 17%in 1955 to 15.7% in 2005.

A cross country comparison in West Europe shows that representation of women in France stands close to lowest in the region. The data available for 2002 indicates that only 12% of deputies in the National Assembly were women while the figure was 6% for Senate. Representation of women in British Parliament and other government bodies is slightly better. But as per the 2001 data, male members in the House of Commons still outnumbered women by a margin of more than four to one.xi United States also falls behind many other countries in women’s representation with only 14% women in Senate and 15% in the House of Representatives in 2006.xii

Another notable feature about contemporary societies in the West is a gendered pattern of voting and party affiliation that varies across countries. It is found that in France and Dutch countries women are mostly affiliated to Left parties while in Spain they are closer to the Right.xiii In fact, when the Left parties acquired a good number of seats in the National Assembly elections of 1997 in France the proportion of women members almost doubled. Similarly, women mostly caste there vote for the Left parties.xiv In Britain, both men and women have similar political attitude. Gender differences are less significant than class or education for party preferences.

Most recently, the extent of women’s representation in politics and economy is measured through ‘gender empowerment index’. For this, certain values are assigned on the basis of their membership in political bodies, bureaucracy and private organizations. Table 2 below provides data on GEI measure of some of the advanced capitalist countries of the West.

Education and Employment

In England, France and Germany the early phase of women’s movement that could be located around the mid-17th century remained closely linked with other social reform movements. Similarities can be drawn between the nature of peasant, labour and women’s movement during this period. Besides political equality, women’s movement made strong claims for equal employment opportunities, improvement of women’s education, and regulation of prostitution. Amongst these, education was given prime importance. It was believed that education was a vehicle of change in the status of women. It will open gateways for employment opportunities and relieve them from their traditional roles at home.

Like education, gender segregation was clearly visible in the matter of employment. The public/private divide in defining gender roles inhibited entry of women in the industry. Women’s professional organizations in countries like Germany and Netherlands struggled for equal opportunities in public employment. Some of these organizations were German Association of Female Teachers, Professional Association of Women Clerks in Hungary, and National Committee for the Legal Regulations of Women’s Labour.

The Second wave of Feminism that mainly started in United States during the late-1960s left a deep impact on the state policies and laws. The movement was led by Betty Friedan, the president of National Organization for Women. It brought the concerns of women’s lack of access to higher education and equal pay centre stage. Parallels can be drawn with the civil rights movement led by Black community during this period. President Kennedy constituted a Commission of Status of Women in 1963 which clearly found that women were denied several rights and opportunities. The government amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in 1972 that, ‘extended the prohibition of sex-based discrimination to educational institutions receiving federal funds, enhanced women’s opportunities for postgraduate education and help enlarge the pool of potential feminist scholars.’xvi Similarly the Government of United States also passed the Equal Pay Act in 1963 to prohibit sex-based discrimination in the matter of employment and pay. However, the feminist movement in United States remained divided between Whites and Blacks. Black Feminists have opposed the feminist movement for having ignored the rights of Black women who are seen to be doubly-discriminated due to their gender and racial identities.

Sexual or Reproductive Rights

Demand and pressures for reproductive rights and sexual liberation by radicals is of recent origin. These areas received wide coverage in American politics since 1970s especially after the verdict of the Supreme Court on Roe v/s Wade case concerning the abortion right of women. The state laws that prohibited abortion on moral and religious grounds were invalidated as abortion was considered to be a matter of personal choice. The Supreme Court decision was widely opposed by Conservative groups particularly the ‘New Christian Right’ which was primarily concerned with preserving the moral code of conduct that constituted the Christian values and culture. As they became active in politics in the 1970s and 1980s, religious conservatism that was antithetical modern democratic ideas resurfaced in American society. Abortion was treated as an immoral act for violating Christian values and tradition. The advancements made by feminists including the radical elements during the 1980s were seen to directly threaten the moral values. These concerns were voiced forcefully by a Rightist organization named Moral Majority led by Jerry Falewell in 1979. It campaigned against the abortion rights of women and sexual liberation demanded by women activist groups.xviiConservative ideas got adequate state support in President Ronald Reagan’s administration. Traditional values were reinstated by showing opposition to abortion and starting prayers in US schools.xviii Thereafter, the opinions of different political regimes have fluctuated and conservative elements in politics and government have expressed their resentment over this issue.

 Conclusion

Gender issues and debates occupy a central place in policy making. A comparative analysis of women empowerment in advanced capitalist countries has shown how Scandinavian countries that also appear as the most successful welfare states score highest in the GEI. Although modern welfare state in the West has made several provisions for ensuring equality between men and women in all spheres of life, new concerns like sexual rights and liberation in more radical terms have assumed significance in contemporary Feminist discourse.

Recent feminist movement stands divided between liberal and radical ideologies. Lacking a common platform on strategies and modes of struggle, there seems to be lack of collective action in addressing the concerns of women. Second, the emerging multicultural character of European societies and United States results in further complications in identifying the common areas of problem and concern. For instance, the Latina, Hispanic, and Black women may face certain forms of discrimination in their social and economic life that may not be found in case of White women. Gender issues in modern Western societies may therefore assume new dimensions because of convergence and divergence in identities. Women from minority sections are still far from making inroads in politics and public affairs in Western countries. The success of feminist movement in these societies in near future will therefore be determined by the extent to which it makes a concerted effort to empower women from all sections, race, colour and communities.

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Notes:

• i Andrew Heywood (2004), Political Ideologies, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, p.248
• ii Jennifer Nedelsky, “Relational Rights in the World Context”, Paper prepared for Women and Human Rights in Muslim Communities Programme, University of California, Davis, May 8-9, 1998, p.4
• iii Ann Tickner (2008) “Gender in World Politics” in John Baylis and Steve Smiths’s, ed., The Globalization of World Politics, New York: Oxford University Press, p.266
• iv Betty Friedan (1963) The Feminine Mystique, New York: W.W. Norton and Company, INC.15
• v Introduction by Pat Brewer (2004), The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Fredrick Engels, New South Wales: Resistance Books, p.10
• vi Ann Tickner, “Gender in World Politics”, Op.cit. p.271
• vii Ann Phillips (1993), Democracy and Difference, Polity Press
• viii Sylvia Palet schek and Bianka Pietrow (2004), Women’s Emancipation Movement in the 19th Century: A European Perspective, California: Stanford University Press, pp.321-322
• ix Judith A. Baer (2009), “Feminist Theory and the Law”, in Robert E. Goodin’s, ed., The Oxford Handbook ofPolitical Science, New York: Oxford University Press, p.304
• x Pamela Paxton, Sheri Kunovich and Melanie M. Hughes, “Gender in Politics”, Annual Review of Sociology, 2007, vol.33, p.266
• xi Gabriel Almond, G. Bingham Powell and Kaare Strom (2006), Comparative Politics Today, Pearson Education
• xii Pamela Paxton and others, “Gender and Politics”, Op.cit., p.265
• xiii , p.265
• xiv Almond and others, “Comparative Politics Today”, pp.228-229
• xv http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_GEM.pdf, Table 29, accessed on 2 May 2013
• xvi Judith A. Baer, “Feminist Theory and the Law”, Op.cit., pp.305-306
• xvii Andrew Heywood, Political Ideologies, op.cit., p.313
• xviii , p.313

References and Essential Readings:

• Almond and others (2004), ed., Comparative Politics Today, Pearson Education Black, C.E., ed., Comparative Modernization: A Reader, Free Press
• Connell, James O. “The Concept of Modernization”, in C.E. Black’s, ed., Comparative Modernization: A Reader, Free Press
• Dahrendorf, Ralf (1992), “Democracy and Modernity: Notes on the European Experience”, in S.N. Eisenstadt’s, ed., Democracy and Modernity, Leiden University, the Netherlands Deutsch, Karl W. “Social Mobilization and Political Development”, The American Political Science Review, Sepetember 1961, vol.LV, no.3
• Einhorn, Eric S. (2005), “Liberalism and Social Democracy in Western Europe”, in Howard J. Wiarda’s ed., Comparative Politics: Critical Concepts in Political Science, London and New York: Routledge
• Giddens, Anthony (1990), The Consequences of Modernity, Cambridge: Polity Press
• Huntington, Samuel “The Change to Change: Modernization, Development and Politics”, inC.E. Black’s, ed., Comparative Modernization: A Reader, Free Press
• Kreutzmann, Hermann “From Modernization Theory Towards the Clash of Civilizations: Directions and Paradigm Shifts in Samuel Huntington’s analysis and prognosis of Global Development”, GeoJournal, 1998, vol.46, no.4Pye, Lucian (1966), Aspects of Political Development, Little Brown
• Sarangi, Asha (2009), ed., Language Politics in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press
• Wiarda, Howard J. (2005), ed., Comparative Politics: Concepts in Political Science, London
• and New York: Routledge