The Dialogue on Culture and Feminism

On September 5th, WLP held a special session on culture and feminism during the Transnational Partners Convening based on the concept paper, "Culture and Women's Rights" by Mahnaz Afkhami. According to Afkhami, "Culture is the perceptive medium through which individuals, groups, and societies relate to and experience their environment. One way to look at culture is to think of it as consisting of three interacting dimensions: facts, values, and aesthetics. Facts relate to questions about what is--that is, truth and falsehood; values relate to questions about what ought to be--that is, good and evil; and aesthetics relate to what is liked or disliked--that is, beauty and ugliness. Clearly, all dimensions of culture may change, and, in fact, they have changed over time. Culture, therefore, is dynamic and changes in response to evolving conditions and needs."

"In traditional societies the three dimensions of culture almost always correspond. Modern societies are by definition societies that have experienced, and are experiencing, culture change. In Western societies culture change has been organic--that is, the impetus for change has come mostly from within. In non-Western societies, change has been primarily induced as a result of contact with more powerful societies... Consequently, in developing societies cultural change has been associated with helplessness and loss, producing many conflicting predispositions, including a nostalgia for an imagined past. That seems to me a primary cause of the appeal of fundamentalism in certain layers of society in these countries. On the other hand, because contemporary societies are interconnected and dynamic, and individuals in these societies are increasingly aware of their rights and their agency, change is inevitable and for that reason attempts to petrify culture will almost always lead to violence... To achieve a dynamic balance among the contradictory requirements of non-violent cultural change is a major task for any group that seeks to achieve women's rights and gender equality."

The discussion moderated by Jacqueline Pitanguy resulted in a lively debate in which partners shared their viewpoints and perspectives on the intersection of culture and feminism. Since the culture of patriarchy provides the institutional foundation on which relations between individuals are organized in the family, community, and society, and this culture is reinforced by religion, by folk traditions, by familial and organizational, and political power arrangements, any change that will bring about equality and justice necessitates changing patriarchal culture. Gender equality cannot be achieved without changing the hierarchical, competitive, aggressive culture that not only favors men, but men from a particular race, ethnicity and socio-economic, and political class. Participants discussed the importance of consciousness raising and mobilizing of public opinion, especially under the present world conditions that have made the discourse of culture change as well as that of human rights and gender equality indistinguishable from what is considered "western propaganda."

They agreed that although there is commitment by people across the globe to universal rights, prioritization of rights as well as implementation methodology have to be adjusted in relation to the context in which they will be realized. In relation to this, the group discussed the importance of adjusting language to what is positive and meaningful in each community and favoring references to admired and accepted cultural personalities, myths, and narratives. Participants mentioned that such words as "feminism," "gender," "philanthropy," and "privacy," do not exist in some languages and have varying definitions in others. They discussed the importance of utilizing words that do not create undue antagonism, yet convey our message of rights and justice.