"Where are the women?" - Meeting Cynthia Enloe...

Like many Politics courses, the International Relations (IR) module I studied at university was dominated by white, male theorists and their overarching, entrenched ideas about global politics. That was until I learnt about Cynthia Enloe - a trailblazing scholar who has always refused to take IR theory at face value. She pioneered a feminist approach to International Relations through her careful and gender-sensitive analysis, which highlights that women are often overlooked by mainstream theories. Enloe asked the question that every woman who has studied Politics and/or International Relations has at some point questioned - ‘Where are the women?’. Her contributions to IR strongly resonated with me (even outside of the lecture theatre). Ever since that second year lecture, she has been my ‘academic crush’ - so I was really excited when I found out that she was giving a public talk in London last month!

Her lecture, which was co-hosted by the LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security and King’s College London’s School of Security Studies, analysed the implications of the #MeToo movement on security studies and for both feminist academics and activists. The main question which she focused on — and expands on in her latest book, “The Big Push”, — is how, despite countless feminist movements, the patriarchy still remains largely intact. Looking beyond the example of Hollywood, Enloe argued that we, as feminists, have to think about more everyday case studies. While office politics might seem less interesting than, say, abuses of power in Hollywood (something which she admitted), the same underlying principles apply. Ultimately, both situations have a power imbalance which consists of a few individuals who are in charge of hiring and firing everyone else. Enloe argues that despite operating in drastically different workplaces, women are likely to be affected by the same gender dynamics (even if they manifested in different ways). This really forced me to think about how the patriarchy operates on an everyday level and in ways that might not always make the headlines or inspire global hashtags.

Enloe told audience members, “we will make a difference”. The question this has left me with is how? If patriarchy is so pervasive then how can we tackle it? I am beginning to realise that the institutional sexism which impacts us everyday is upheld by individuals, and therefore the power to challenge it must also lie with individuals. We should also work with one another to uncover the patriarchal principles which link our individual stories and as this will help us to tackle it collectively. And in the meantime, we can also read “The Big Push”, which I’d recommend adding both to Politics and IR reading lists and Christmas wishlists!

Ashvini Rae is a Newsletter Contributor at WIFP with a background in International Relations.