Redefining Social Roles for Women in the 21st Century

Globalization, feminism and the labor movement, terms not initially considered jointly as crucially defining self-identity. But as the saying goes, politics makes strange bedfellows. The globalization of feminism can be attributed to the speared of capitalism abroad. Women are shifting to new role identities from the relational mother, to that of the provider (traditionally attributed to men). Businesses in many developing countries employ women because of cheaper wages and supposed greater efficiency as workers, generating the feminization of labor. Therefore, although globalization has lead to moving women into new roles around the world while establishing greater equality to men; at the same time it has persisted is the perpetuation of the same stereotypes that suppress women. As a result, globalization has set the stage for the feminist movement to join with the labor movement to revolutionize and reshape ideologies and protect human rights within labor.

Introduction

The feminization of labor is the more striking consequences of globalization. Industrialized countries argue that globalization affords greater opportunities for women; along with establishing their autonomy. Indeed, this is true because women are undertaking new social roles, but are often bound to traditional conservative roles that hinder them. Consequently, women are struggling to redefine their social roles in relation to their self identity in traditional third world societies, societies reluctant to integrate western ideals into their way of life. As governments are eager to become industrialized and competitive in the global market, western capitalist ideals have been forced into societies; redefining what roles men and women take in the family. The obligatory shift in social roles is one of the key reasons there are issues arising within the institutions of developing societies.

“The transitional movement of people, information, and even discourses, characteristic of contemporary neoliberal globalization is having a large impact no only on economic relations but also on sexual identities (Lee 2004: 29).

The growth of feminism and the labor movement in third world countries is due to societal factors seeking to be rectification in the social systems of third world nations were dramatic changes have commenced in the structure of society. The labor movement seeking to rectify human right abuses at the work place; and the feminist movement empowering working women to leadership positions within the labor movement. These social movements are positively redefining the social roles of third world society. Examining these two crucial movements within developing nations will demonstrate how globalization has helped the feminist movement and labor movement in consciousness raising. As a result, the greater awareness generated allows for the movements to gain momentum toward their goals jointly.

The History of Feminism

In order to understand where feminism is today, we must look at the history of feminism. Feminism can historically be divided into three wave, each wave demonstrates how women reshaped ideologies of their time. Every wave of feminism had distinct goals which it relentlessly worked for. The first wave of feminism began in the seventeenth century. This wave was centered on institutional equality, and reached it’s pinnacle with women winning the right to vote. This landmark achievement gave women political and institutional equality with men. The second wave of feminism aimed at redefining the role of women. Moreover, the second wave of feminism grew out of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s. African American women struggled to find a place within the civil rights movement. As White women entered the movement and challenged the position of African American women, a realization arose among the activist in this movement of the problems women faced with in the movement gave birth to the women’s movement. It particularly ended the ideas that a woman’s purpose was reproduction, mothering, and the responsibility for maintaining the domestic sphere. “In this second wave, feminists pushed beyond the early quest for political rights to fight for greater equality across the board” (Haslanger et al. 2004).The third wave of feminism (1980’s-1990’s) sought to create a multidimensional theory of feminism. Moreover, it looked at differences among women and their experiences. The third wave of feminism gave rise to competing views of feminism as theorists tried to understand the plight of women around the world. The third wave of feminism sought to understand the differences among experiences around the world, therefore studying how globalization impacted women was a critical aspect of feminist research. Therefore, globalization is the new focus of feminist theory, as feminist seek to empower women abroad to challenge traditional ideals that subjugate women in their society. Feminism’s goal is to understand specifically how globalization can benefit and hinder feminist perspective and women in today’s society.

Joining Forces

A key characteristic of the feminist movement is consciousness raising. The feminist movement’s ties to other social movements, such as the civil rights movement and gay liberation movement, demonstrates the how the feminist movement has unified with other social movements to accomplish critical social restructuring goals. The labor movement within the United States is attempting to move in a direction that needs a mass consciousness raising movement. The attempt to move into social movement unionism (SMU) within the United States, as Ian Robinson states can be attributed to neoliberal restructuring. The business union model no longer is effective in the new globally dynamic capitalist market. Therefore, SMU offers a viable opportunity to the American labor movement, and labor movements abroad, to bring vitality and effectiveness to accomplish the movements goals (Nissen 223). One of the key characteristics of SMU is its inclusive membership policies. Therefore as globalization spreads through out the world, feminism must aid the labor movement in preserving the rights of women (and men) in the work force, thus ensuring equal human rights for all workers abroad. The unification of powers between these two social movements will result in greater effectiveness in accomplishing their goals, along with generating the necessary awareness needed to accomplish them.

Analysis

Analyzing how globalization has impacted the lives of workers globally, we can examine how women are becoming in disproportionate numbers the greater majority of the labor force in developing countries. As a result, globalization has spread feminism throughout the world by moving women into the workforce and in turn, redefining the role of women in many parts of the world. Although globalization has positively redefined social roles (establishing greater equality among the sexes, and new opportunities for women); the feminization of labor in developing countries has also caused many human right injustices. Examining previous research on how globalization has impacted labor will show the potential that these two social movements have to restructure ideologies and practices in labor by working together.

Christa Wichterich has identified three critical reasons for the feminization of labor:

“Women are deemed to be the winners of globalised production, services and trade because more women are able to obtain employment. However, this “feminisation of employment” pulls the vast majority of women into three sectors of the labour markets. Firstly, female labour-force has been the main comparative advantage of the new export-oriented economies in Asia, Middle America and Eastern Europe because it is cheap, flexible, and unorganizedâÂ?¦Secondly, women are pioneers in the new modes of labour, as temps, just-in-time- and parttime-employees, as piece-rate- and home-based workers, as self-employed in the informal sector, or as small-scale entrepreneurs assisted by a micro-credit. It is not only in countries of the south and the eastern transformation economies that the informal sector boomsâÂ?¦Thirdly, as migration and more recent the feminisation of migration have become a characteristic feature of globalisation, low-waged and undervalued jobs, especially in the urban service sector, are taken up by migrant women”

As a result, women become instrumental to the reduction of costs and deregulation of the labor market. This trend towards feminization of employment is exemplified within Asian countries (Ghosh 1999:2). The need for employers to find cheaper and more “flexible” sources of labor is now described as “labor market flexibility.” This theory became an integral part of developing economies once external competitiveness became the goal of domestic policy-makers, and defined the policies of domestic and foreign employers within their operating economies (Ghosh 1999:2). In addition, the belief by employers in Southeast Asia that female employees are more “tractable and subservient to managerial authority, less prone to organize into unions, more willing to accept lower wages, and easier to dismiss using life-cycle criteria such as marriage and childbirth” made women predominant in the labor force (Ghosh 1999:2). Although the reasons why women are dominating the workforce are dismaying, the labor and feminist movement offers an opportunity to empower them through their new social roles.

Even though globalization causes social differences within societies and among women, simultaneously, it equalizes economic structures in different societies and experiences in women’s life. Six UN-summits in the nineties caused common concerns to emerge around human rights, the gendered structures of globalization, and its gender-specific impact (Wichterich 1999:3). The summits understood the importance of globalization in the development of the world, but it also recognized some of it’s weakness, as discused above. Consequently, women’s organizations began to educate women of the repercussions and benefits they undertook with the new social role as worker and mother. Women’s organization employed various strategies in the nineties to reach women in various developing countries. They began getting involved in mainstreaming and intervention in developing nations through lobbying, monitoring and negotiations in the context of UN-conferences (Wichterich 1999:3). Networking increased and intensified, at national level and cross border, and intensely on the internet, giving the feminist movement the ability to actively employ consciousness raising strategies and educate third world women.

Globalization has also reshaped how self-identity is determined. Identity is derived from gender, race, and nationality in conjunction with the urbanization and individualism fostered by capitalism (Lee 2004:30). Often with the arrival of capitalism in developing countries, social values are challenged by new competing capitalist ideals. As a result, society is faced with critical ideological challenges. Integrating new values that directly conflict with traditional societal values is a critical obstacle many developing nations must overcome for both the feminist movement, and labor movement to succeed.

“One of the biggest contradictions in Indian society today is that the ideals of womanhood have not been transformed to include the modern woman (Chana 2004:54). As husbands become more dependent on their wives incomes, traditional values system have not altered to recognize the new role women are undertaking. Ideal womanhood is still embodied as a role related to the moral mother, responsible for the domestic sphere. Chana argues that the rapid modernization of India, along their quest to become a key player in the global economy has lead to irreparably damaging the traditional respect women derived from their mothering position. As a result, women are now viewed as commodities for exploitation in the market economy, moreover even leading to the demoralization of women through violent acts.

Examining the social structure of another developing nation, Egypt, reveals quite similar tensions. Patriarchy is but one of the fundamental structures contributing to Egyptian women’s underdevelopment. “Repeated invasions and imperialism, past and present, all contributed to women’s current experiences in the global society” (Mason 2002:65). In addition the state advocates an Islamic conservatism to define the space that working class women and men occupy within society. “Their plight was complex: their oppression, at the hands of men and, supported by many women, evolved out of an interpretation of the Quran, that could, ironically, if instituted as written, actually spell their liberation” (Mason 2002:65). Furthermore, in an attempt to move into the 21st century, the state is embracing western development strategies that reduce its citizens to pawns and support units in the global economy.

Consequently, women are driven outside the domestic sphere and into the economic sphere in order to maintain the family, currently Egyptians live off 33 cents a day (Mason 2002:66). But then an ideological paradox occurs, as tradition teaches in Egypt, that the role of a woman is that of subservient mother and wife. Men do not acknowledge the importance of the new role women undertake as economic actors. Moreover, men are resistant to accepting women within the workforce, often making the labor experience difficult for women. “Structures spawned by western capital accumulation, nurtured in the board rooms of transnational corporations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, provide hurdles that women and their families must negotiate with it daily” (Mason 2002:66). As a result, women are trapped in a double bind, they must continue to struggle because they have responsibility for the home and the family. Men devalue the work of women, and attribute their economic roles as an extension of the domestic role. Women must continue to create avenues of income generation if they and their families are to survive, while simultaneously reaming true to tradition. This role conflict causes a critical undermining to the structure of society.

Empowering women abroad in developing nations where there is much resistance in the acceptance of women into the labor force is crucial to both the labor and feminist movement. Establishing an equality of roles among women and men will diminish the gendered inequalities within many developing societies. Consequently, the gender gap in wages will be rectified. Also, with greater equality among the sexes, the labor movement would gain greater power from membership of both sexes. Feminism has had tremendous success on the global level in attempts to rectify injustices toward women, for that reason the women’s movement in the 21st century is targeting developing nations facing many hardships centered on gender in the workforce. For example, The UN has played an important role in the process of Korea’s economic development, and the UN’s efforts to promote the status of women have had significant impact on improving the lot of Korean women (Jung-ja 1995:2). “The Korean Women’s Development Institute was established in response to the demands of women leaders who were inspired by the UN’s recommendations, as was the National Committee on Women’s Policies also established” (Jung-ja 1995:2). In addition, Korea ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a pivotal move towards establishing greater equality. Such a series of domestic achievements have been made possible by the impact of international developments, and the phenomenal role many women’s organizations undertook in the process. The Korean government is preparing for the 50th Anniversary of the UN with various programs in which many women are participating (Jung-ja 1995:2). The redefinition of social roles within Korea demonstrates the effectiveness of consciousness raising in social movements and the potential that labor and feminist movements have in redefining the role of women.

The development of feminism in Korea occurred in two ways: by fighting against cultural and institutional patriarch, and by feminists becoming part of movements for broad social change at the national level, specifically the labor movement (Kwon 780). In South Korea in the 1970’s feminism emerged through the labor movement. The Korean economic success of the 1970’s was attributed to low wages, long hours, sexual harassment, exhaustion, and heart breaking abuse of young women in factories (Kwon 783). To overcome adversity, female factory workers joined democratic labor unions to fight against these social inequalities. The labor movement offered an opportunity for the feminist movement unify and consequently, solidify their powers into working toward ramification of social injustices. The success of the labor and feminist movement in Korea demonstrates the power these social movements can exert together in reshaping ideologies.

Conclusion

The concept of globalization does not only encompass increased economic integration and capital flows; moreover it includes social, political and cultural change (Bishop 2002). Several changes associated with social and political globalization have facilitated the development of feminism and the labor movement. These include the “increased salience of non-state identities, the opening up opportunities for effective political activity at a local level, a raised the international profile of women, and the potential for activists to use international law and organize transnationally” (Bishiop 2002). As women move into the workforce, the labor movement provides an outlet to achieve social goals pertinent to the moment; improved working conditions, respect and equal treatment of workers, ending worker abuses, etc., goals which both the feminist movement and labor movement endorse.

The labor movement also served as an outlet for empowerment of women. Allowing women to take leadership positions within these social movements lets them break the stereotypes of their society that suppress them. Developing nations that devalue women’s rights, in turn employ women predominantly due to negative societal stereotypes these same women are battling. The integration of subjective ideologies to control the scope of women perpetuates a conducive environment for human right abuses within the workforce. The role paradox experienced by women in developing nations is often used to their disadvantage. As a result, a dramatic social restructuring of ideologies is necessary to redefine what are acceptable roles for women in society. The new awareness of the role paradox found in many developing nations due to both the labor and feminist movement is monumental. As unions begin to rise up against oppressive work environments, women are finding new roles to build new positive self-identities. The labor and feminist movement give women an opportunity to find self-identity outside the domestic sphere. Furthermore, as members of these social movements, they find a way to cope with role paradox, by attempting to eradicate it through the social movement.

The role of labor feminism, the unification of the feminist and labor movements, is critical now in the age of globalization. As unions in the United States seek to cross borders, and move into SMU, to be more effective institutions, special attention must be made to the feminization of labor. The labor movement must integrate feminist ideals into their perspectives to effectively unify internationally with developing nations where women out number men disproportionately in the labor market. The example of Korea demonstrates what international organizations are capable of achieving, therefore labor feminism must make it their mission to internationalize their movements and redefine the role of women to include the economic sphere.

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