A Series of Thoughts

The notion of “modernity as negation of tradition” that Dorothy Ko brings up in her article “Cinderella Stories,” is one that was brought up both at the conference as well as by other authors we read this week. What I think is important to think about amid the clearly Eurocentric critique in this week’s reading (as articulated in Ko’s statement), is not only the imposed western ideals, but the clear hypocrisy of western feminism. Both Abu-Lughod and Narayan highlight hypocritical assumptions, Abu-Lughod stating that while American women weep for the veiled women they too are subject to the “tyranny of fashion,” and Narayan pointing to gun use and gun violence in the United States as a hypocrisy of the critique of dowry murder. What other areas of hypocrisy exist within the western feminist framework?

To speak to Claire’s point, where do we draw the line between cultural relativism and the understanding that relegating non-western practice to the statement “its just their culture” might be a cop-out? Are there, or should there, be any (even one) objective standards about the status of women? And yet further might the approach be to give more thought to the language we use today vis a vis feminism. How might we create a more nuanced feminist vocabulary?

In reaction to the conference, one question has lingered and that is: Where does the UN fall into the feminist political equation today? The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (or CEDAW) is ideally supposed to be tackling the very issues that were raised at the conference, and yet there was little, if any, mention of how the UN, an international body, is confronting the notion of feminist politics today? Are they simply ineffective? Should there be another international body of women both theorizing and creating practical ways to confront feminist politics today? And moreover, how can international networks foster more grassroots, instead of top-down, organizations?