Transnational-April 7

I would like to focus on one of the readings today, the essay by Amrita Basu, in order to put the idea of transnational feminism into the contect of my undergraduate tuies.  basu analyzses the processes and the outcomes of the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference as it relateds to local and global feminist issues.  In 1985 omen in the "South" were linked to the concept of the local, as their issues seemed to be involve more basic needs.  The definition of local and global were disputed because it led to the polarization of the North and South.  The North financially upports the South; however, this underscores a legacy of colonialism and the third world dependence on the North.  Furthermore, the two way flow of ideas becomes restricuted.  Globalism ofers some leverage to alleviate the tensions of Northern dominance by emphasizing women's issues as human rights issues.  Campaigns on this global platform have been successful, specifically in protest of the Taleban's treatment of Afghan women.  Although, the North's perception of the Middle Eastern  local and feminist issues continue to be biased and dangerously limiting.  The focus on sexual victimization in the Middle East is exacerbated by U.S.-Arab tensions.  The North views the Middle East as backwards.  Moreover, the women are considered to completely voiceless beings in an oppressive theocratic state.  Little good can be done in the world if our strongest mobilizing force is formed upon historical and political resentments.  This is why I think it is so important to study diffferent cultures and remove regional biases.  Women become equally as oppressed by ignorant feminist discourse as they do by patriarchal legacies.  For example, Iranian women in 1937 were forced to unveil by King Reza Shah, who wanted to modernize the country and maintain close economic and political ties with Europe.  Forced unveiling created great insecurity within Iranian women who found the veil to be integral to the expression and concealment of their femininity and religion.  Feminist discourse mostly takes global and historical phenomenons into context in order to become more conscious of human rights matters.