Masculinity is both a blessing and a burden in International Politics. From the very beginning, masculinity has been glued to politics because of large male involvement. This has led to many futile occurrences. From denying the right to vote to women, the poor, and people of color, to slavery and colonization, and, finally, to the President of the United States of America to improvise a threat to North Korea. According to Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, “In 2016, 105 (77D, 28R) women hold seats in the United States Congress, comprising 19.6% of the 535 members; 20 women (20%) serve in the United States Senate, and 85 women (19.5%) serve in the United States House of Representatives.” As stated in a New York Times Article written in May 11, 2017, the President’s cabinet includes only 6 women out of the 33 positions, none of them being of color and all of them holding extreme conservative beliefs. The lack of feminine point of view in the US government has been costly to the nation. United States’ politics would be more efficient if it involved masculine and feminine perspectives.
The feminist theory wants to explain how gender can intermingle to make a more just government and, in turn, a more just world. Traditionally, men in powerful positions do not tend to think of military action as a last resort, but rather as one of the ways they can gain military power. By giving another perspective to an issue, women could provide insight on how to deal with world crisis in a more mature and caring manner. Typically, women consider military action a last resort, which would increase the chances of growing other kinds of power that do not threaten other countries and do not create tension between nations. The world would not have to live in the realist frame of mind, if there were more women in power or in a position to do good.
Rita makes a good point in saying that there could be less violence and war in the world if more people used a feminist approach to viewing situations. There are many other options available than just war and this approach gives more light to these opportunities. There is also power in using soft power and I believe the feminist approach would help countries in recognizing this.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the feminist point of view within International relations would lead to less war around the world if more political leaders would follow it. I agree that it is wrong that within the United States many political positions are held by men, while very little positions are held by women. If more of these positions were held by women, the way the United States government interacted with other countries could be completely different.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rita and the other comments before me. Well having masculinity in International Relations isn't necessary bad in general, it is bad if you only look at masculinity alone. A state should look at both the masculine and feminine perspectives instead of just one to work out better. Its sad that very little of the positions are held by women and i agree that with more women, the feminine perspective would be looked at more often which is what is needed. Right now hard power is usually use and soft power is not. There is more than just the military, there are other type of powers like Rita said. I think we spend too much on our military and use hard power too much so having more women in politics would be more helpful since they would not use it as much like Rita said.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the the United States relationships with other countries could be very different if there were more women holding positions in government in the United States. However there are still a number of countries where our relationship with them are a little shacky and they view women very lowly. I agree with what Rita is saying but it definitely makes someone think that the countries we are having the most problems with are also ones who can view women in a negative sense. What could possibly happy is there were more women in high power in government. Would those relations get worse? Better? It just makes someone think about what could happen.
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