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"Gender" is part of feminism
Amalia Fischer
The "gender" concept is becoming increasingly diffuse, it has become confused and apolitical due to the fact that it has become detached from feminism, or as stated by Rosi Braidotti, from its feminist references. What are we referring to when we talk about gender democracy? Are we referring to equality or to equity? Gender equality and equity imply, from the feminist standpoint, a change in power relationships, not only in rights. I cannot separate gender from its feminist reference because otherwise our struggle will fall into the trap of the recovery of the gender concept made by masculine dominance, with no political content.
I am not really convinced that the most appropriate expression should be "sexual difference" as used by the Italians and some French, as some of these positions appear to be essentialist, however, their inputs are enriching. I also think that "the difference" has been recovered and is even the object of fundamentalism. An example are the most conservative right-wingers, such as Le Pen, who use as an argument their "right to be different" to persecute emigrants. On the other hand, western democracy only started accepting different cultures when they started becoming increasingly similar to western culture.
What do we call the gender dimension? Is there a gender dimension? When I refer to gender relationships, I first clarify many points. I do not use gender as a similar expression to: men, women, feminism, women's struggle, because I do not want this democracy, these politics, and this inequality based on power relationships between men and women. Gender is one thing and feminism is another. The gender concept has been elaborated by the feminist theory, it helps us to understand and to become aware of situations of subordination of women in relation to men and to understand that the relationship between men and women is COMPLEX and does not respond merely to sexual roles or to socialization. Masculine dominance confuses gender and feminism, a confusion that benefits masculine domination of western democracies and the patriarchy in the Middle and Far East, subtracting from feminism subversion, creativity and strength, and from its struggle, something which "is more than rights".
"Gender" is within the feminist theory; it is part of feminism, which in turn is a struggle that goes beyond the analysis of power relationships between men and women, as it seeks to "degenderize" these relationships in all their contexts and establish another order of relationships and another logic for living together, without exclusions.
Amalia Fischer is a Latinamerican feminist.
Translation from Spanish by Victoria Swarbrick