Feminism Political Equality

To what extent does feminism promote political equality? The definition of feminism is heterogeneous subject to different philosophical standpoints. However, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Politics defines the term in the most common way as "Feminism is a way of looking at the world which women occupy from the perspective of women. It has at its central focus the concept of patriarchy which can be described as a system of male authority which oppresses women through its social, political and economic institutions. Feminism is, therefore, a critique of patriarchy on the one hand and an ideology committed to women's emancipation on the other." Starting from the 1840s to 1920s first feminism waves arose in western English-speaking countries primarily

There was a referendum that took part in 2015 for the nation to decide whether to extend Kigali's presidency until 2034 or not, and 98% of the people voted "yes", and only 10 people showed up to be against it. This astonishing fact leaves a great doubt whether women's authority is real or it is just formally on paper and they play as robots of Kigali's system.

Islamic feminists claim that women and men should have equal rights, however, the claim contradicts with sharia laws. In Islamic societies, women are too much oppressed that they cannot even report someone who raped them because they are afraid to be buried and stoned by the public. This means that their basic human rights are stolen from them, therefore, feminism is not as wide-spread as "slavery". Arab countries are the lowest regional measure of women's participation in politics, taking only 7.7 percent of the parliamentary seats of their countries on average, according to Inter-Parliamentary Union

Countries with more feminism are expected to have more equality among genders. Muslim countries as low-feminism-low-equality are examples to be provided. However, feminism and political equality are not always positively correlated. Rwanda and Nordic countries cases are to be provided as an example. To conclude, feminism actually assists societies in viewing men and women as equal political players around the world.

Citation

Women Run the Show In a Recovering Rwanda. (2008, October 27). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102602197.html

Women in Parliaments: World Classification. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

McAfee, N. (2009, March 01). Feminist Political Philosophy. Retrieved April 02, 2017, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-political/#HisCon

Rwanda Constitution article 101

McVeigh, T. (2015, December 19). Rwanda votes to give President Paul Kagame right to rule until 2034. Retrieved April 02, 2017, from