Gender and Geography: Defining Feminism and Gender Equality in Relation to Space and Place

Feminism consists of multiple discourses and multiple ways of knowing (Donovan Geog 423 Jan 2014). In order to understand the deeper and more nuanced meanings of feminism and gender equality issues we must first become familiar with some of the terms and concepts that are central to feminist discourse, eight of which I will list and describe below.

Power

The meaning of power is to have authority over others, and to have the ability to influence the actions and behavior of other people or objects. Those with power are able to influence the outcome of events and circumstances, both personal events affecting their own lives, or larger events affecting their communities and environment. It also refers to the political power of a country to dominate and control other countries or regions.

Agency is a specific form of power which encompasses individuality, motivation, choice, independence, and creativity (Emirbayer and Mische 1998:962). An individual's agency is his or her ability to take action, and exert power by interacting with the world in order to obtain desired results (Donovan Geog 423 Feb 2014). A person's power and agency can increase or decrease depending on his or her identity such as race, sex, gender, and other social factors.

Exclusion

To exclude someone is to separate and isolate them from a larger group and prevent them from participating in it. Women and LGBT individuals are often excluded from certain groups, activities, and spaces, such as male dominated professional fields, and public spaces. Exclusion is enforced by legislation, social norms, and fear.

In addition, government agencies and other organizations which gather data and information on demographics often exclude data and information that is pertinent to women. Women's work is in large part excluded from data collected on economic activity and the GDP (gross domestic product) (Domosh and Seager 2001:45). Preliminary studies undertaken by feminist geographers examining the informal sector of the economy have found that two-thirds of women's work is unpaid, while only one-third of men's work is unpaid (Domosh and Seager 2001:45-46)

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a feminist theory and a research tool used to analyze oppression and discrimination. It is based on the premise that multiple factors such as gender, sexuality, race, nationality, disability, class, and education operate in combination to create multiple identities and contribute to oppressive experiences limiting an individual's power and agency (AWID 2004:1-8). 

Intersectionality also interacts with geography, being further influenced by place and space, sometimes in contrasting ways. A case study described by Gill Valentine in “Theorizing and Researching Intersectionality: A challenge for Feminist Geography,” describes how a deaf woman who is also a lesbian, faces discrimination for her disability in the workplace, but not for her female or lesbian identities (Valentine 2008:17). In contrast, she initially finds acceptance in her support group for deaf people, but later is ostracized from the group when the other members learn that she is a lesbian (Valentine 2008:16).

Discrimination

Discrimination is the unfair or inequitable treatment of a person due to a certain identity he or she embodies such as race, gender, sexuality, or age.

In comparing The United States, Afghanistan, Mexico, and Australia, I found that not only are there significantly higher discriminatory factors and circumstances affecting the female gender in Afghanistan compared to the other three countries, there is a high level of discrimination against gay and lesbian people which is enforced by legal policies. While homosexuality is legal in Mexico, the United States, and Australia, it is illegal in Afghanistan (Seager 2009:26-27). The majority of countries in the Middle East and Africa make it a criminal offense to be gay or a lesbian, yet Afghanistan's legal policies are not as harsh as other nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Nigeria which call for the death penalty for individuals practicing homosexuality (Seager 2009:26-27).

Sexuality

The term sexuality has two meanings. It can refer to an individual's sexual preference such as whether they are homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual. It can also refer to a person's or group's own experience of sex. For example, the phrase, “women's sexuality,” is a way of collectively describing women's sexual experiences, desires, and preferences.

In western culture, sex and sexuality tend to be viewed as binary, e.g. a person can only be either male or female, but not both, and a person can be attracted to either the same sex or the opposite, sex but not both. However, according to Fausto-Sterling, there are actually five sexes, the three additional sexes being intersex individuals possessing varying combinations of both male and female biological sex organs (1993:1-2). In regards to sexual preference, research shows that 50% of the population is actually bisexual rather than being only homosexual or heterosexual (Hemmings 2002:410). This ambiguity challenges the prevalent social norms which view sexuality as binary.

Bodies and Embodiment

In gender studies, human bodies and the embodiment of an individual's being in her physical body is examined from a sociocultural perspective. Women are often associated with the physical body, while men are associated more with the mind, reason, and logic; and tend to be seen as metaphorically disembodied. This is commonly demonstrated by the media which overly emphasizes the female, rather than the male, body through overt sexualization and objectification of women. The body is also theorized as a site of inscription on which social interpretations are written and mapped. A person's role in society, and social and economic class is seen to be “written” on the body and visible in his or her mannerisms, gestures, and movements.

Body Politics

Body politics refers to multiple issues related to women's bodies such as prostitution and sex trafficking, health and reproductive issues, commodification of the body, and beauty standards. The body becomes politicized when public policies regarding and affecting women's bodies come into play, such as legalization versus criminalization of abortion and prostitution, and the eugenics policies of the 1930s which focused primarily on women when segregation and sterilization policies were instated. Some issues, falling under the heading of body politics, such as prostitution, are points of heated debate within feminist circles.

One significant issue affecting women's rights and demonstrating the devaluation of the female sex is the world-wide problem of human trafficking, existing in almost every nation on earth (Seager 2009:56-57) The average American is oblivious to the fact that the selling of women and girls commonly occurs in most major cities throughout the United States. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World indicates the U.S as being a top destination and source location for trafficked victims with 50,000 women trafficked from foreign countries into the U.S. each year (Seager 2009:56). Women living in countries with rising poverty rates are more likely to become targets of coercion into prostitution, and countries with an upsurge in economic prosperity create a demand for prostitution, resulting in more women being trafficked into these countries (Seager2009:56-57).

Resources and Access

A resource is an easily accessible source or a supply of something useful, often a source of wealth, or means of producing wealth, prosperity, and well-being. Examples of resources are access to water and sanitation, literacy and education, internet access, property ownership, ownership of income, and access to credit. When access to resources is limited, so too are options for women and their ability to overcome poverty. Access to resources is inherently linked to power and agency.

Higher illiteracy rates result in women having less agency over their economic well-being, health, and property ownership (Seager 2009:78). Illiteracy results in women being dependent on men for their economic well-being and health related needs, and limits their independence placing them in roles subservient to men, and confining them to the private realm of the home (Seager 2009:78). Compared to the United States, Australia, and Mexico, Afghanistan's illiteracy rate is significant, with 87% of adult women being illiterate, compared to the aforementioned nations which have illiteracy rates under 10% (Seager 2009:79).

Works Cited

AWID. “Intersectionality: A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice” Women's Rights and Economic Change. Number 9 August 2004:1-8.

Dictionary app for Mac 2011

Domosh and Seager (2001) "Women at Work" Putting Women in Place: Feminist Geographers Make Sense of the World. New York: The Guilford Press.

Donovan, Courtney, Geography 423 San Francisco State University 2014.

Emirbayer, Mustafa and Mische, Ann. “What Is Agency?” American Journal of Sociology Volume 103 number 4 January 1998:962-1023.

Fausto-Sterling, Anne "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough" The Sciences March/April 1993, p. 20-24.

Hemmings, Clare (2002) "Bisexual Landscapes" Bisexual Spaces: A Geography of Sexuality and Gender. New York: Routledge.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary 2014

McDowell, L. (1999) “Bodies and Embodiment” Gender, Identity, and Place. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press.

Seager, Joni (2009) “Part Six: To Have and Have Not” The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. New York: Penguin Books.

Valentine, Gill. “Theorizing and Researching Intersectionality: A Challenge for Feminist Geography” The Professional Geographer Web Feb 29, 2008.