Comparison of the referenced articles pinpoint some major contradictions in the accuracy of feminist theory as it pertains to developed and developing countries, as well as the categorization of women as individuals in a globally relative perspective. Both authors aim to address the discursive practice of ignoring cultural relativism through upholding the image of Westernized women as the ideal woman; an ideology that is further instilled through feminist scholarship.
Chandre Talpade Mohanty goes into detail about the categorization of women and how ideologies are falsely globalized and attempts are made to implement these ideologies across cultural boundaries. This ideological framework, coupled with compounded bias rhetoric and supporting a Westernized sociological perspective, further stratifies women based on their geographic and cultural history, but does not take into account differences among women of the world.
Instead, this universal approach to Western perspectives on social problems leads to the devaluation of cultural differences, when in fact feminism, and the social sciences at large, should be focused on “a serious appreciation of differences among women in the world-as products of different histories, expressions of different circumstances, and manifestations of differently structures desires” .
Both articles explore different perspectives on the notions of the developed and developing worlds, along with differences amongst women at the individual and collective levels. The historical contexts of these articles differ slightly, and we can see the advancement of social movements through these differing time periods as well as the link that Lila Abu-Lughod’s article has with respect to modern problems. The fact remains that Western ideology is just that, a perspective on the way life should be, and the evidence supports that cultural relativism is not respected in the manner that it should be, causing a hard line to be drawn between “developed” countries and those deemed as “developing”; a rhetoric that is condescending to say the least.
References
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism." American Anthropologist 104.3 (2002): 783-790.
Mohanty, Chandre Talpade. "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse." Feminist Review (1988): 333-358.
