Women are divided by their (non) western identity

Intro :

First World Women and Third World Women. In today's world, we confront the labels of
"first" and "third" world when discussing women's identities. These problematic terms not only
oversimplify diverse cultures but also perpetuate economic, cultural, and ideological hierarchies.
These labels foster a sense of difference and separateness, reinforcing an "us and them" attitude. It
contributes to the perpetuation of stereotypes and challenges in understanding the complexities of
non-Western women's identities. Women are divided by their non western identities because of the
role of Imperialism and Western feminism and the repercussions of capitalism and globalization.

I. Imperialism and Western feminism

Imperialism, a tradition resulting in a power balance between the First World and the Third
World, has historically positioned the West as a savior and relegated Third World countries to a
position of weakness. Western standards, often originating from industrialized and democratic
societies, are hegemonically imposed on developing countries, leading to ethnocentrism. This raises
questions about the legitimacy and applicability of these standards in different cultural, political, and
economic contexts. Imperialism and ethnocentrism have significantly impacted how Third World
women were perceived. For instance, the imperatives of racial imperialism led to the formation of a
cult of true womanhood, idealizing the white woman as saintly, while the black woman became the
antithesis.1 Feminism, originating from Western cultures, seeks to combat gender inequalities. Despite
its commitment to fighting the oppression of all women, the movement is inherently biased due to
challenges in considering the perspectives of all women. Western feminists impose their cultural
norms on Third World women, disregarding the diversity of women's experiences globally. Oriental
Occidentalism distorts perceptions in the East, portraying Arab women as "foreigners" and
perpetuating Western supremacy. This creates a binary divide between the civilized West and the
uncivilized East. Western feminist scholars contribute to this distortion by viewing their own culture
as superior, reinforcing a false sense of inferiority and division between non-Western and Western
women. Moreover, Western feminist discourses have transformed these Third World women into an
oppressed monolithic group. As Chandra Mohanty notes in Under western eyes : feminist scholarship
and colonial discourse, Western feminist discourse assume a homogeneous oppression of women,
thus, it produces the image of an « average third world woman » represented as sexually constrained
and ignorant, poor, uneducated without freedom to act, contrasting with self-representation of western
women as educated and in control of their decisions2. Therefore it creates a concept of « Third World
difference ». Moreover, the dichotomy between « developing » and « developed » nations
oversimplifies the experiences of women in the Thirld World. Feminist writings often generalize
women in developing countries, perpetuating western authority and superiority and portraying them as
docile, submissive and setting universal images like the veiled woman or the obedient wife. This
universalist approach ignores the unique experiences shaped by local culture and history and thus,
fails to answer the need of third World Women. Similar situations cannot be universally treated. For
instance, the practice of veiling among Muslim women does not universally imply sexual segregation
and control. Its meanings vary across historical contexts, Iranian middle class women wore veils in
solidarity during the 1979 revolution while present day Iran mandates veiling for all women. The
homogenization of women as a group by western feminism exhibits cultural reductionism, reducing
their tradition and way of living as uncivilized. In Can the subaltern speak ?, Spivak’s analysis of the
« sati » practice, an act of self immolation by women, in colonial india, illustrates how Western
intervention, here British, framed as « a civilizing mission » silenced and disempowered women, this
act was a voluntary sacrifice expressing a wife’s devotion3. Moreover, western discourse portrays
Third World Women as victims of various systems such as male violence, the Arab familial structure,
economic development, Islamic code and so on. These images of Third World Women as an
oppressed and victimized group, are perpetuated by the education in the US on women of Third
World. Areas studies in US academic such as « Women in Muslim Society » even though they appears
ideal, giving a voice to third world women to express themselves. In reality, the foreign women
become the object of knowledge under the western eyes and are seen as a group, disregarding context,
thus it creates a distinctive binary and « a notion of separateness » 1. The limitations of Western
feminism in addressing the needs of Third World women underscore the impracticality of
universalism within these groups. While the fourth wave of feminism aims to account for
discriminations experienced by various groups of women, it falls short of effectively integrating
intersectionality. In response to this oversight, other types of feminism such as Black feminism have
emerged, placing greater emphasis on the division among women based on their non-Western
identities. The proliferation of diverse feminist movements highlights the differences and divisions
that exist between women.

Imperialism is one of the main factors of the differences between First World and Third World
women. Its legacy is perpetuated by the different capitalist traditions and globalization that have
accentuated divisions between Western and non-Western women.

II. Capitalism and Globalization

Third World women bear the brunt of the repercussions of globalization and capitalism.
Chandra Mohanty notes how girls and women, particularly in the Third World, are the most affected
by environmental conditions, wars, famine and restructuring of work. In a globalized and capitalist
context, environmental inequalities can worsen between Western and Third World women. Capitalism
often favors an extractivist economic model, intensively exploiting natural resources for profit, with
serious environmental consequences: such as environmental degradation, climate change, etc... For
example, mining can lead to pollution of water sources, compromising women’s access to safe
drinking water for consumption and domestic needs. Chandra Mohanty argues that, according to a
study, “Three of the five African Americans and Latin Americans live near toxic waste sites, and three
of the five largest hazardous waste landfills are in communities with 80% people of color .” 4
Furthermore, agricultural policies promoting agribusiness marginalize women engaged in traditional
agriculture. Globalization and capitalism are interconnected, creating a system particularly impacting
Third World Women. Multinational corporations' relocation to the Global South exploits poor,
working class and migrant women in flexible job markets. They are marginalized in the domestic, sex
and service industry. Capitalist policies facilitate mass migration as Third World Women come to
work in Western countries but they end in precarious jobs due to restrictive policies and
discrimination even though global cities rely on them. Migrant women replace unpaid domestic labor
First World women, they are facing social isolation and limited opportunities. Whereas First World
women work as professors, doctors or even pilots. Educational inequalities persist, affecting women
in the Third World by underfunded education systems, creating employment gaps. Economic
restructuring and conservative nationalism results in policing women’s bodies in public spaces and
workplaces, they seek and discipline the labor of the poor, but also in the prison industry. Angela
Davis and Gina Dent highlight how the US prison industry system particularly affects women of the
Third World, the prisons of Europe and US incarcerate disproportionately large numbers of women of
color and immigrants, reflecting the intersection of gender, race, colonialism and capitalism.5 Let's
now delve into how Western narratives exercise power by using a politic of truth. Western centric
narratives exercise power by defining valid knowledge, marginalizing non-Western perspectives and
deepening the divide between the first and third world. This aligns with Foucault’s power/knowledge
concept, where power establishes contingent truths, excluding alternative knowledge. This power
dynamic, intensified by globalization and capitalism, exacerbates the division of women, third world
women being more affected. For instance, Vandana Shiva criticizes the World Trade Organization for
enabling biopiracy, allowing corporations to claim ownership of indigenous knowledge. This process,
rooted in corporate power and capitalist values results in patenting indigenous knowledge, illustrated
by the Neem tree in India. Its traditional uses for medicine and agriculture are devalued as it is now
the intellectual property of US. Tribal and peasant women, who were keepers of this knowledge, are
the most impacted by this exploitation. Their contributions to medicine and agriculture become
subjects of corporate control, threatening vital practices to their communities. 6

Conclusion :

To conlude, it is undeniable that women are divided by many factors that are inherent in
themselves. This separation between "First World" and "Third World" induces at first sight an
incompatibility of the struggles of these women all together. The legacy of imperialism and western
feminism have also prevented a bond of all these women by the establishment of a superiority. Finally
globalization and capitalism are a tradition that perpetuates these divisions. The question of whether
the identities of Western or non-Western women constitute a factor of division between them is not to
be questioned. All these women have different experiences, and it is necessary to recognize and
identify their struggles in individual ways, but the failure to do it, the constant application of the
Western norms on third world women, perpetuates the division among them.

1
“The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860.” American Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 2, 1966, pp.
151–174, www.jstor.org/stable/2711179, https://doi.org/10.2307/2711179.
2
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. “Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial
Discourses.” Boundary 2, vol. 12, no. 3, 1984, pp. 333–358
3
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty . Can the Subaltern Speak? Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1988.
4
Chandra Talpade Mohanty. Feminism without Borders : Decolonizing Theory, Practicing
Solidarity. Durham ; London, Duke University Press, 2003.
5
Davis, Angela, and Gina Dent. “Prison as a Border: A Conversation on Gender,
Globalization, and Punishment.” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, vol. 26, no.
4, July 2001, pp. 1235–1241, https://doi.org/10.1086/495654.
6
Shiva, Vandana, Rebecca Gordon, and Bob Wing. 2000. “Global Brahmanism: The Meaning of the
WTO Protests: An Interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva.” ColorLines: Race, Color, Action 3(2):30–32