The Impractical Use of Western Feminist Ideology and Rhetoric in Foreign Situations

Abu-Lughod's article really resonated with me because I read it a day after I heard a fascinating presentation from a classmate of mine in my Gender, Justice and Environmental Change class. She discussed how Western feminists incorrectly apply their ideology and rhetoric to women in the Middle East, specifically Afghanistan and Iraq. She described how many Western feminists use a "one size fits all" mentality to these women, and then they ultimately misunderstand the situation at hand, like in the case of Laura Bush. Abu-Lughod points out that doing so often comes off as quite patronizing -- these Western scholars think they're superior to anyone else and their reasoning and solutions are the best. However, they don't have first-hand knowledge, much less experience of what it is like to live in these diverse, unique cultures; they only know what works in the West, for the West. This colonial approach is tried and tired, and is fairly arrogant.

Rather, it's necessary to partake in a post-colonial approach. That is, utilize a more participatory method whereby Western scholars work WITH residents of non-Western countries. They'll gain a greater understanding of the culture, and empower these women to work to implement their OWN changes based on what they think they need. Such solutions are based on a modern development discourse -- changing society in such a way that will help not only women, but the entire country.

When I heard my classmate's presentation the other day, I thought it was pretty radical subject matter. Interestingly, after reading the Mohanti, Bunch and Abu-Lughod articles, I realized how this is a pretty hot topic that many feminist scholars have written about. It made me think of an issue we touched on earlier in the semester: we must acknowledge/appreciate our similarities with people, but also, as Abu-Lughod illustrates, recognize that Western scholars don't know it all and ultimately, understand that there are differences among women in the world. Doing so is the first step in achieving progress in the realm of justice in and out of the Western world.