Introduction
The Feminist Movement is one of the powerful social movements that have continued to shape diverse discourses in the modern society, which have improved social, economic, and political stances of women. In the ancient centuries, men have been dominant figures in the society, while women have been invisible in various aspects of life. In essence, women did not enjoy the privileges and rights as their men counterparts. In a bid to fight for their privileges and rights, women initiated the Feminist Movement in various parts of the world.
Sexual violence, domestic violence, political discrimination, labor exploitation, suppressive norms, and other vices prevented women from achieving their social, economic, and political liberties.1 The Feminist Movement came to the limelight in the late 19th century and has occurred in a series of waves. The first wave of feminism focused on political equality, the second wave of feminism concentrated on social and cultural equalities, and the third wave of feminism aimed to achieve social, cultural, and economic liberties.
The fourth wave of feminism is the current wave, which uses information technology and social media platforms in agitating for women’s rights and aiding them to liberate themselves from social, economic, political, and cultural chains. To enhance understanding of the Feminist Movement, the proposal seeks to apply cultural frames and resource mobilization, as two main frameworks in explaining the dynamics of the movement.
Justification of the Study
The Feminist Movement is a strong and established social movement that has existed for more than two centuries. The study of the Feminist Movement is very significant because it is a movement that employs a number of frameworks in sustaining the movement for centuries. Moreover, it is a movement that aims at liberating women and empowering them in economic, social, and political aspects of life. The movement has managed to create an equal society by overcoming cultural norms and demystifying traditions that favor men and discriminate against women.2
In essence, the movement is a landmark in modern society because it upholds and advocates for the liberation and empowerment of women. The Feminist Movement replicates elements of other social movements because it has social, cultural, political, and economic elements, which are present in Human Rights Movement, Civil Rights Movement, and the Labor Movement.
The Feminist Movement contrasts other movements because it applies multiple modes of mobilization, such as resource mobilization theory, collective behavior theory, action identity perspective, and new interpretation approach.3 Therefore, studying the Feminist Movement using a hybrid framework of cultural frames and resource mobilization is necessary.
Literature Review
A number of frameworks or theories exist, which explain the emergence and perpetuation of social movements. The Feminist Movement is one of the social movements that applies a number of frameworks in sustaining and perpetuating itself in the modern society. Cultural frames and resource mobilization are two forms of frameworks that the Feminist Movement applies in expanding and perpetuating constructs of feminisms in the modern society. Fundamentally, cultural frames are social constructs that aim at shaping social identities, which support a certain movement.
Cultural framing entails construction of collective identities among members of a movement to achieve common objectives that benefit everyone, for instance, the social movements that are against diseases.4 In diverse social movements, activists construct social identities that are against or support dominant culture. Through cultural framing, movements are able to identify, define, and shape identities that reflect their values, principles, tastes, and preferences.
Comparatively, resource mobilization is a central framework of the Feminist Movement. The framework came into existence in the 1960s owing to the realization that the setbacks of other social movements are disorganization and irrationalism. In essence, other social movements hold that movements comprise irrational activists, who perform collective actions aimed at achieving certain goals.5
However, resource mobilization holds that activists are rational actors, who perform rational actions in an organized manner with a view of securing and mobilizing resources for the benefit of all members in the movement. The fundamental tenet of resource mobilization framework is that rational actors, who are purposive activists, organize, accrue, and mobilize resources to effect optimal changes in a movement. The resource mobilization framework reflects how the Feminist Movement performs its activities and the roles of individual actors in sustaining and perpetuating the spirit of the movement.
Cultural frames have been applied in constructing collective identities, ideologies, and philosophies, which are against racism. For example, social movements such as Music and Social Movement and the Voice of the Southern Labor used cultural frames in constructing identities against racism.6
These movements used music in framing racial issues, creating social identities, and influencing perceptions of the people in the United States. Cultural frames have also been applied in the construction of the identity of working women in Turkey. Women in Turkey had common problems in their workplace and they constructed an identity of women workers to fight for their rights by striking to resolve the stalemate of the bargaining process. The cultural framing enabled women workers to register their union and gain collective bargain for their issues.
In comparison to cultural frame, resource mobilization is an important framework, which numerous movements have applied in initiating and sustaining their activities. For instance, when striking workers in Turkey united with feminist organizations, the strike transformed from a labor issue and became feminist issue, which aimed at liberating women from exploitation in the labor market. Moreover, Music and Social Movement used music as a resource for fighting racism in the United States.
Resources such as the Internet, computers, mobile phones, and social media have a significant influence on movements because they were driving forces of the Egyptian Revolution.7 Muslim feminists in diaspora use the Internet in communicating with women in the Middle East, who are in religious and cultural bondages with a view of empowering and liberating them.8 In this view, it means that technology and social media are important resources that rational actors in diverse movements mobilize.
Methodology
The study will use the literature review as a research design to collect and analyze articles with a view of establishing frameworks that the Feminist Movement apply in sustaining and perpetuating its existence in modern society. The literature review is an appropriate research design because it enables researchers to search for diverse articles using specific criteria.
To select relevant articles, the study will use the purposive method of sampling. Given that the study proposes to examine frameworks that the Feminist Movement employ in furthering its activities, the study will search for articles that explain different frameworks of the movement. In this case, the search criteria for the articles is that they must explain how the Feminist Movement applies cultural frames and resource mobilization frameworks in its activities. Moreover, the articles must be recent in that they should be not more than 10 years old, and must cover recent events and activities of the Feminist Movement.
The study will employ hybrid framework in describing and elucidating activities of the Feminist Movement. In the analysis of data, the study will employ qualitative analysis by examining and analyzing themes that relate to feminism. The study will undertake thematic analysis of events and activities of diverse movements, which support or are linked to the movement. Since the Feminist Movement is an established and powerful movement, which has liberated and empowered women across the world, a hybrid framework of cultural frames and resource mobilization will describe its operations substantively.
In the qualitative analysis of the Feminist Movement using cultural frames, the study will look for collective cultural identities, which the movement has created and propagated across the world. Given that cultural identities vary from one country to another, the study will examine dominant identities, which have significant value to the movement. Since the emergence of information technology and the social media has led to the fourth wave of the Feminist Movement, the study will evaluate how feminists have used these platforms in creating social identities, which define and shape feminism in the modern world.
The study will also use resource mobilization framework in the analysis of feminist events and activities. Resource mobilization is a dominant framework that the Feminist Movement employs in virtually every aspect of its operations. In this case, the study will analyze financial resources that the Feminist Movement uses in running its operations.
Moreover, the study will assess social resources such as groups, organizations, political parties, human rights, and related movements. Given that the fourth wave of the Feminist Movement employs information technology and social media, the study will also evaluate how feminists use these resources in revolutionizing feminism in the modern world.
Reference List
Acar, Taylan. “Linking theories of framing and collective identity formation: Women’s organizations’ involvement with the Supramed strike.” European Journal of Turkish Studies 11, no. 1 (2010): 1-18.
Eltantawy, Nahed, and Julie Wiest. “Social media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering resource mobilization theory.” International Journal of Communication 5, no. 1 (2011): 1207-1224.
Fischer, Michael. “The Rhythmic Beat of the Revolution in Iran.” Cultural Anthropology 25, no. 3 (2010): 497-543.
Greenhouse, Carol. “Life Stories, Law’s Stories: Subjectivity and Responsibility in the Politicization of the Discourse of ‘Identity’.” Political and Legal Anthropology Review 31, no. 1, (2008): 79-95.
Merry, Engle. “Transnational Human Rights and Local Activism: Mapping the Middle.” American Anthropologist 108, no. 1 (2006): 38-51.
Roberts, Mike, and Ryan Moore. “Peace Punks and Punks against racism: Resource mobilization and frame construction in the Punk Movement.” Music & Arts in Action 2, no. 1 (2009): 21-36.
Susser, Ida. “Organic intellectuals, crossing scales, and the emergence of social movements with respect to AIDS in South Africa.” American Ethnologist 38, no. 4 (2011): 733-742.
Footnotes
- Engle Merry. “Transnational Human Rights and Local Activism: Mapping the Middle.” American Anthropologist 108, no. 1 (2006): 41.
- Taylan Acar. “Linking theories of framing and collective identity formation: Women’s organizations’ involvement with the Supramed strike.” European Journal of Turkish Studies 11, no. 1 (2010): 6.
- Carol Greenhouse. “Life Stories, Law’s Stories: Subjectivity and Responsibility in the Politicization of the Discourse of ‘Identity’” Political and Legal Anthropology Review 31, no. 1, (2008): 89.
- Susser, Ida. “Organic intellectuals, crossing scales, and the emergence of social movements with respect to AIDS in South Africa.” American Ethnologist 38, no. 4 (2011): 736.
- Mike Roberts, and Ryan Moore. “Peace Punks and Punks against racism: Resource mobilization and frame construction in the Punk Movement.” Music & Arts in Action 2, no. 1 (2009): 28.
- Mike Roberts, and Ryan Moore. “Peace Punks and Punks against racism: Resource mobilization and frame construction in the Punk Movement.” Music & Arts in Action 2, no. 1 (2009): 28.
- Nahed Eltantawy, and Julie Wiest. “Social media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering resource mobilization theory.” International Journal of Communication 5, no. 1 (2011): 1208.
- Michael Fischer. “The Rhythmic Beat of the Revolution in Iran.” Cultural Anthropology 25, no. 3 (2010): 531.