‘I don't even know what gender is’: a discussion of the connections between gender, gender mainstreaming and feminist theory

Abstract

In this article I discuss some of the connections between gender, gender mainstreaming and feminist theory. As a global initiative, gender mainstreaming is now well established; but the role of feminism and feminists in achieving this success is questionable. Some, including Harvard Law Professor Janet Halley claim that feminists, particularly in the realm of governance feminism, have been extremely successful. Yet despite this success Halley invites us to ‘take a break from feminism’. I consider this political and intellectual invitation in this article in order to shed some light on the relationship between gender mainstreaming and feminism but also to probe what Robyn Wiegman refers to as a ‘critical incomprehension’ around feminism. My discussion includes a brief analysis of the imagery used in documentation relating to the United Kingdom's Gender Equality Duty Legislation; the latter a contemporary example of a legislative attempt to properly mainstream gender. In conclusion I return to the Halley's invitation to ‘take a break from feminism’ and introduce, by way of contrast, Angela McRobbie's recent discussion of post-feminism ultimately suggesting that we might see Halley's call, as well as the popularity (and ‘failures’) of gender mainstreaming as examples of post-feminist practice. Image 1.Pop-art images advertising the ‘Gender Agenda’ on the Internet {http://www.gender-agenda.co.uk/} which is part of the UK's legislation on gender equality produced by the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (formerly the Equal Opportunities Commission).If you look around the United States, Canada, the European Union, the human rights establishment, even the World Bank, you see plenty of places where feminism, far from operating underground, is running things.1Any force as powerful as feminism must find itself occasionally looking down at its own bloody hands.2

Curious erasures: the sexual in wartime sexual violence

“…3 Nonetheless, despite their slipperiness (Zalewski and Runyan 2015), these terms and their constellations of meanings often appear so firmly established and stable in contemporary discussions about sexual violence (particularly in terms of what wartime rape is not about) that we, as scholars of global politics, forget to probe how they are being imparted with meaning and to what effect. Zalewski's (2010) persistent reminder that we/she does "not even know what gender is or does" could be of help here in inviting us to rethink what we "know" about "the sexual." Moreover, we take our point of departure in the well-rehearsed notion that wartime rape is about power and violence, and not about sex (cf.…”

Gender mainstreaming and policy coherence for development: Unintended gender consequences and EU policy

“…It is therefore neither threatening nor disruptive to business as usual, but provides added value to organisations seeking to present themselves in a particular way. 'Gender' in this version of gender mainstreaming lacks the meanings it carries in feminist and gender theory, in particular its underlying conceptions of power and intersecting inequalities (Zalewski, 2010). Instead, it refers to undifferentiated categories of men and women, and is often a shorthand for policies targeted at women or an excuse to discontinue such policies (Stratigaki, 2005).…”

Horizontal policy coordination and gender mainstreaming: The case of the European Union's Global Approach to Migration and Mobility

“…Many authors draw attention to the contradiction between gender mainstreaming as a transformative, agenda-setting idea with radical feminist potential and gender mainstreaming as an integrationist policy practice (Porter & Sweetman, 2005;Stratigaki, 2005;Wittman, 2010;Zalewski, 2010). The former is, of course, far more threatening to established organisations, structures and policy actors, which are all deeply gendered and which play an important role in reproducing gender relations (Acker, 1990;Connell, 2006;Daly, 2005;Walby, 2004Walby, , 2005Waylen, 2011).…”