WMNS 1103 Chapter Additional Readings: Mohanty 'Under Western Eyes'

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Mohanty: Under Western Eyes
Colonialization implies a relation of structural domination and oppression, often violent.
Feminist scholarly practices are inscribed in relations of power- how they counter them,
resist them or support.
Woman: a cultural and ideological Other constructed through representational discourses.
Women: real material subjects of their collective histories.
There is no universal patriarchy we are trying to resist, but rather a world power balance
We label women in Third World countries as “poor, uneducated, tradition-bound, and
victimized,” and overlook their complexities and diversity. This takes away their political
and historical agency.
Over-generalization of women: damages solidarity and unity among women, and
stratifies them into opposite groups: Western women, who are universally liberated,
superior, intelligent, and educated, and the “Third World women,” who are universally
uneducated, victimized, sexually battered, and hence in need of some kind of salvation.
This sets Western feminism as gatekeeper of knowledge vis-à-vis the Third World
women who are oppressed victims.
Discursive colonialism: First world women attempting to explain third world women is a
way of creating power hierarchies and cultural domination.
Reduction that men oppress women and women are oppressed is over simplification-
example in some countries, veils are oppressive where as in others they are defiant
The true advantage western women have over “third world women” is their countries are
better developed with stronger economies. Socially they suffer from many of the same
disadvantages of being female.
The western world views the third world and third world women as means to an end.
Third world remains subservient to the West at the levels of economics, politics and
technology.
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