Women in International Politics
Why the World Needs Women in International Politics
When thinking of such a large and important topic as International Politics, it is disheartening to hear such sentiments as the one voiced by J. Ann Tickner: “International politics is a man’s world, a world of power and conflict in which warfare is a privileged activity” (Tickner 429). However, just because a fact is disheartening, does not mean that it’s not true. The realm of international politics is heavily dominated by men who retain control and power over others, and don’t allow room for many others. In alliance with Tickner’s thinking, there’s strong benefits of including more women in the world of International Politics.
One reason why the increased inclusion of women would generate better results is that “Women political scientists who do international relations tend to focus on areas such as international political economy, North-South relations and matters of distributive justice” (Tickner 429). The emphasis that Tickner posits here in the fact that women political scientists specifically focus on these areas signifies that this is an area that male political scientists do not focus on as heavily, if at all. Expanding the workforce in regards to international politics could assist in getting topics that usually aren’t as heavily discussed into the current conversation. If women inherently focus on other topics that men don’t, then integrating them into the workplace could have lasting effects on the broad scope of international politics. Diversifying the types of issues brought into consideration and giving less common issues a chance to be discussed could help solve problems that have been ongoing for years due to their lack of attention. And if adding a woman’s voice to this conversation is how these goals are accomplished, then it seems to be the only solution.
Additionally, including women in international organizations would assist in demolishing the harmful, misogynistic stereotypes that exist within the field. Ticker notes that “Nuclear strategy, with its vocabulary of power, threat, force, and deterrence, has a distinctly masculine ring” (Tickner 429) and explains how “women are stereotypically judged to be lacking in qualities which these terms evoke” (Tickner 429). Having women be placed on the outside of this important conversation simply because of misogynistic views is doing a disservice to women everywhere, and only proves that there is a significant gap in the respect and power given to women compared to men. There is nothing limiting a woman from making decisions regarding nuclear use. Women aren’t less intelligent, less capable, or less prepared. The reason why women are restricted from this area is because the prevailing belief is that “...they are more comfortable dealing with domestic issues such as social welfare that are more compatible with their nurturing skills” (Tickner 429). Using the word “comfortable” suggests that women shouldn't conduct activities that would challenge them, or would place them outside of their comfort zone. However, believing that it’s more “natural” for women to deal with domestic issues because of every woman’s inherent “nurturing skills” is extremely misogynistic and untrue. The prevalence of this stereotype restricts women from truly gaining any power and will continue to confine them to a very limited role in international politics if not changed.
In conclusion, more women need to be integrated into international politics to expand the topics of conversation that are discussed and focused on. As Ticker suggests, “Adding a feminist perspective to its discourse could also help to make the field of international relations more accessible to women scholars and practioners” (Ticker 430). By allowing women to contribute to the conversation, the younger generation of women would realize that they could in fact have a place in the realm of international politics. Furthermore, once allowed, they would have their opinion be respected and given the weight and attention it deserves.
Works Cited
Tickner, J. Ann. “Hans Morgenthau’s Principles of Political Realism: A Feminist Reformulation (1988).” International Theory, 1995, pp. 53–71., https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23773-9_4.
I think this blogpost is really eye opening to further discrimination women are still facing today. Whole Tickner's book was published in 1988, I still agree some would agree with the statement that "international politics is a mans world" and would argue that women are more naturally equipped to deal with domestic issues. It is interesting that women focus more in the fields of international relations that men falter in, which shows a clear indication that women are more than capable of maintaining high positions in this field of study and contribute solid understandings of studies that should have more focus. I do think even today in politics women are given high positions at an alarming lower rate than men, and it shows how disregarded women’s opinions are held in society. I believe with more work and providing women with more opportunities to pursue their careers it will provide more diverse opinions and excel the world of international relations with more solid understandings of the world and give more insights to how other states act amongst one another, particularly in the areas in which men falter in and don't pay enough attention to.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting to see as well is that Tickner wrote this piece in 1988. However, more than 30 years later the field of international politics is still dominated by a majority of men. Although some of Tickner's arguments may be a little dated, her main point is still clear, there needs to be more women within the field of international politics to give different insight on important issues.
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