Feminism in International Relations

Women’s lives and experiences are marginalised in thinking and theorising in International relations which is consequentially dominated by a ‘male stream’ views towards policy creation and security. This essay therefore argues in order to achieve a comprehensive understanding of international relations, the students of IR must ask the question, ‘where are the women’ through adopting a feminist interpretation. Feminist theory of international relations is fundamentally a political act of commitment to understanding the world from the perspective of the socially subjugated, drawing on gender inequalities through rejecting the ‘naturality’ of the patriarchal system in hope of progression to gender equality . To discover ‘where are the women’ in International Relations, this essay will identify the male domination of International relations via the marginalisation of women and feminist ideologies and the feminist concept of rejecting this to promote improvement, the lack of recognition of women’s realities and their active contributions to political and economic life and in conclusion, the essentiality including women has on achieving a comprehensive understanding of International Relations itself.

‘Making Women invisible makes the workings of femininity and masculinity in International politics invisible’. (Enloe 1990: 11) Nowhere is this feminist concept of gender inequality more true than in international relations, a discipline that bases its assumptions and explanations almost solely on the culturally shaped values and experiences of men. According to feminist theory, this socially constructed patriarchy acclaims ‘manly’ qualities, identified as toughness, courage, power, independence, and physical strength, as the underpinnings of values that shape the theory, practice and policies of international relations itself. IR maintains this patriarchy by marginalising women and feminine qualities through upholding gender stereotypes that, ‘characterize men as active,...