Gender and Discourse

Chandra Talpade Mohanty challenges the Western World’s perception of global feminism in her article “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse.” She begins the article discussing the ideas of the “Third World Woman” (333). To do this she first provides her definition of colonization. She writes:

The definition of colonization I wish to invoke here is a predominantly discursive one, focusing on a certain mode of appropriation and codification of ‘scholarship’ and ‘knowledge’ about women in the third world by particular analytic categories employed in specific writings on the subject which take as their referent feminist interests as they have been articulated in the U.S. and Western Europe (334)

Mohanty, using this definition, begins the discussion of intellectual feminist colonization throughout the world. Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin define feminism as “the ways and extent to which representation and language are crucial to identity formation and to the construction of subjectivity” (117). For Mohanty, Western Feminism is directly responsible for the subjectivity of the global woman and most significantly responsible for the objectification of the “Third World Woman.”

One of the most intriguing parts of her article was her explication of the historical woman and the re-presentation of Woman. She writes, “Connection between as historical objects and the re-presentation of Woman produced by hegemonic discourses is not a relation of direct identity, or a relation of correspondence or simple implication. It is an arbitrary relation set by particular cultures” (334). Understanding her definition of colonization, the concept of the “Third World Woman” seems to be easily constructed by the Western World. For Mohanty, the Western World, through discourse, propagates the image of the “Third World Woman”. By emphasizing their superiority, the Western Feminists marginalize the “Third World Women.” In assuming superiority, the Western Feminist movement inflicts an inadvertent subjugation of the Third. This idea was incredibly helpful in understanding the idea of feminism on a global level.

This idea seems to aide Leila Ahmed in her article “The Discourse of the Veil.” Ahmed focuses her work on the misconception in the Western World of the headscarf in the East. In keeping with the idea of colonizing feminist thought through the Western lens, Ahmed discusses the prevalence of implied superiority from the Western world. What helped me to understand her position the most was her podcast interview. While my typical podcast playlist consists of Runner’s World and Jalen and Jacoby, On Being has quickly become subscription worthy. To me, what resonated the most was her ability to quickly counter the implied inferiority of the, to borrow from Mohanty, “Third World Woman” by thrusting the inconsistencies of equality towards women in the Western world. She mentions this in her podcast, but expands on this idea in the article. Ahmed writes,:

In the colonial era the colonial powers, especially Britain, developed their theories of race and cultures and of a social evolutionary sequence according to which the middle-class, Victorian England, and its beliefs and practices . . . represented the model of ultimate civilization . . . Victorian womanhood and mores with respect to women . . . were regarded as the ideal measure of a civilization (321)

For me, the very idea of the Victorian woman is one of restrictions and forced passivity. Using this as the bastion of the woman in the free world allowed the colonizers to shift their attention from dampening feminism in the Western world to dominating the Eastern. Ahmed discusses the malleability of Western Victorian colonization when she describes Colonial Feminism. She explains the concept as “feminism as used against other cultures in the service of colonialism” (321). For her, the idea of Western Feminism in the Victorian period became a moldable term that no longer applied to the uplifting of women, but the subjugation of the marginalized “Third World Woman.” For me, this idea is what dominated my thought for the remainder of the article. Ahmed is constantly discussing the misconceptions of the headscarf in the Western World. While the amount I’ve underlined in the article is vast, I always ask myself “what is my main takeaway?” For Ahmed, much like with Mohanty, discourse is something that possesses an incredible amount of POWER over the perceptions the Western World has of the East.

If discourse played a role in Mohanty and Ahmed’s article, discourse was the leading lady in Gayatari Chakravorty Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?” While the writing I found to be incredibly complex and the concepts difficult to fully understand, I think her main purpose for writing is to discuss the impact of discourse in gender formation and more importantly in the subjugation of “Third World Women” throughout the Western world. It seems she discusses the inability of the subaltern to possess any agency within their discourse. To do this she discusses the idea of worlding. Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin describes worlding as “the way in which colonized space is brought into the ‘world’ that is, made to exist as part of a world essentially constructed by Eurocentrism” (283). Throughout “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Spivak discusses the multiple ways Eurcentric thought impact the Eastern world. Again, I think my comprehension of what she is saying is somewhere in the 65% range, but overall I think she is stressing the power of discourse over the world. When a discourse assumes superiority, much like the European, all others are perceived as inferior and marginal.

What I really enjoy in Spivak’s work is her emphasis on the importance of class in determining gender and gender equality. It seems she looks at women in the “Third World” as barring the cross of not only their perceived inferior discourse as a race, but also their gender. It reminds me a lot of Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectionality but applied globally. Women of all cultures must overcome not just their race inequality, but they must also reconcile the struggles of being a woman. Again, I feel like there is so much to discuss about the three articles, but to formulate would be far more than a blog post.

These readings elucidate the ideas of Western Feminism and the sometimes detrimental effect it can have on women across the world. It made me focus on my subject position as a white male even further and call into question some of the Feminist ideals I had before. Growing up in a small rural town, some of the feminist critiques of the “Third World” seemed really impactful for me, but as I grew older and read more enlightening pieces like the three this week, my understanding of Feminism and gender formation has grown substantially. We as people possess an incredible amount of power in our language. By bringing into being certain parts of the world, the Western world can unintentionally and intentionally limit the ability of women in the “Third World” to truly form their own identity.

Yaa Gyasi also looks at the impact of colonization on the mind. Throughout “Inscape,” Gifty deals with her mother’s failing awareness to the world around her. Gifty begins the story picking her mother up from the assisted living village. Once there she learns her mother is telling everyone she is a “disciple” tasked with writing two new books to the Bible. As the story progresses, Gifty’s mother begins saying words and phrases that remind Gifty of her childhood. The memory that seems to have the strongest hold on her is “Jesus is fire.” With the added background we get throughout the story, I think this phrase reflects the struggles of her life. Jesus correlated with fire when Gifty’s mother experienced colonization as a young girl. Despite this trauma, Gifty’s mother becomes a Christian woman who raises Gifty as such. The image of destruction wasn’t just symbolized in Gifty’s mother’s word but in her actions as well. By slitting her dog’s throat, named Peace oddly enough, Gifty’s mother begins to symbolize the colonizers belief in peace through destruction. Using the dogs blood to write excerpts from her new book of the Bible further cements the symbol of the destructive nature of colonization.

Throughout all the readings for the week, the idea of gender formation and the impression of colonization on both the intellectual level and the physical level are made abundantly clear. I can honestly say I have a further understanding of just how impactful discourse and language can be in constructing and destroying an identity.