Restructuring the International Relations Theory

International Relations Theory was predominantly patriarchal especially in practice. As a

social constructed identity, gender plays a role in understanding the contributions of Feminism to
IRT. However, it is also a marginalized field in IRT, born from the assumptions that women do
not have a role in the decision-making in the study of international politics. The feminist discourse
acknowledges and exposes gender biases that are rooted in the major IR theories assuming gender
roles in politics. In this, the feminist theory engages itself within the scope of International
Relations Theory.

Despite being relatively new compared to others, the feminist theory argued that
conventional IR theories had a massive failure leaving gaps on major historical events. Having
said that, it is important to note that it contains competing theories rather than being unitary.
Although, scholars are still united by this true matter, the gender. Gender both constitutes and is
continually being constituted by the inequalities in power relations and that of social structures,
and brings significant implications for the respective experiences of women and men (Tickner,
2008). Fighting for women's visibility is rooted on global violence against women, a borderless
violence that is not exclusive to one system. According to Jacqui True, the connection between
domestic violence and violence against women in public exposed the fact that women do not share
the same political, economic and social rights as men. As part of the human security agenda, the
feminist discourse puts the light on the fact that despite of gendered violence prevalent globally,
there are societies that are deemed to be equal and stable. However, it does not align with the
discussions of insecurity in the topic of international security which is important in the study of
International Relations.

The role of gender in international relations theory is best started by figuring out where
women fall within the scope of international politics such high politics itself, economic structures
and the wars that happened. Globally women made up little of the percentage of national
governments compared to men. Even though most of the states' constituents are mostly women,
consequently being affected by decisions of men-dominated politics that exclude them. It signifies
the economic inequality when crises hit and conflicts arise as women become on-demand for
labors that do not award them even the bare minimum. Yet, of all the conflicts in the world, women
and children make up most of the civilian deaths.

Cynthia Enloe, one of the feminist theorists, encouraged the IRT field to recognize the
importance of women in international politics: where are the women? As such, she showed how
the impact of politics creates a divide that puts a burden on gender roles and how conventional IR
theories belittled the role of women in high politics while putting men on a higher pedestal. Yet,
women are the most vulnerable when conflict and war happens, where violence against women
through many ways become horrifyingly abundant. These are evidence of gender inequality and
contribute to how women are marginalized in the study of IR because they are not seen as
competent actors but rather victims whose sufferings are ignored and freely justified. Thus, the
feminist theory challenges how IR theories do not reflect the marginalization of women as a result
of gendered identities, constraining their abilities in politics.
 The contributions of the feminist theory in IR Theory are essential to the contemporary
world. The value of women and their experiences as transformed in the feminist discourse reveals
the lack of ability of other theoretical paradigms to locate them in international politics and thus
goes beyond the focus on only women, as it exposes the state of inequality prevalent in the world
and how it translates to power politics. Looking through the feminist lens is revolutionary in the
sense that it reveals a whole different layer of discussions that IR theory is conveniently ignoring,
empowering women as competent actors who have been contributing to the study of IR even before
the feminist thought landed on the radar.

REFERENCES

Ackerly, B., & True, J. (2008). Reflexivity in practice: Power and ethics in feminist research on
international relations. International Studies Review, 10(4), 693-707.
Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jacqui-
True/publication/227824133_Reflexivity_in_Practice_Power_and_Ethics_in_Feminist_R
esearch_on_International_Relations/links/5a0e26e4aca27244d28589c7/Reflexivity-in-
Practice-Power-and-Ethics-in-Feminist-Research-on-International-Relations.pdf

Carpenter, R. C. (2002). Gender theory in world politics: Contributions of a nonfeminist

standpoint?.
Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/download/33465753/3deec5181472412ebf.pdf

Sjoberg, L., & Tickner, J. A. (2013). Feminist perspectives on international relations. Handbook
of international relations, 170-194.

Tickner, A.J. (2008). “Gender in World Politics”, in Baylis, John, Smith, Steve and Owens,
Patricia, The Globalization of World Politics: An introduction to international relations,
Oxford University Press: Oxford, pp262-277.