Political Science Response 1

Please notice there are three separate assignments: each one needs approximately 2 pages in length. Each assignment will consist of a response to the prompt and two responses to two classmates. Your response to the prompt should be about 1 page and each response to classmates should be about a half-page.

Assignment 1: LESSON 1 DISCUSSION FORUM: THEORETICAL APPROACHES
You are required to provide an original post to the prompt and two subsequent responses to your classmates’ interventions to facilitate discussion and engagement.

Prompt:
View the documentary, “Knock Down the House,” via Netflix. After doing so, engage the following questions:
– What is Intersectionality Theory;
– In what, if any, ways does Intersectionality Theory provide a lens through which to understand the events depicted in this film; and
– Is Intersectionality Theory important to ensuring women’s movements for equality today? Why or why not?

[In the event you do not have a subscription to Netflix, consider a temporary trial membership. Alternatively, read about the critically acclaimed film online before engaging the prompts.]

Classmate1 Post:
Many try to distinguish the difference between women rights and politics because I have had conversations with people who base their ideologies on religious beliefs. However, I believe that the system makes it political due to the fact that it believes it has a say in what women can do to their own bodies. A “right” has to be given in order for women to decide if they can have the option of getting an abortion. I can go to the extent that being a women constitutes being at a disadvantage because they are constantly waiting for something to be given or taken from them.

Classmate2 Post:
View the documentary, “Knock Down the House,” via Netflix. After doing so, engage the following questions:
What is Intersectionality Theory;
Intersectionality theory is the idea that the combination of people’s social and political identities can translate into specific forms of discrimination.
In what, if any, ways does Intersectionality Theory provide a lens through which to understand the events depicted in this film; and
Intersectionality theory provides a lens to the different methods that women of color need to use to appeal to the public simply to break through the congressional ballot. It’s also reflected in the people that these congresswomen need to represent. In the example of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she aims to represent a large demographic, an amalgamation of people with different needs and political ambitions. Because of her desire to properly embody the people of the Bronx, Queens, and Rikers Island, she encounters more hoops to jump through simply by being a new candidate in this hectic race.
Is Intersectionality Theory important to ensuring women’s movements for equality today? Why or why not?
I believe that the intersectionality theory is important for ensuring women’s movements for equality, because women come from all different walks of life, and being a woman is not the only challenge that they face. Other factors that influence the “level of equality” that they have include sexuality, religion, and race. In order for all women to come together, we need to acknowledge and work toward the inclusivity of all women so we can obtain the ultimate goal of equality in today’s society.

Assignment 2: LESSON TWO DISCUSSION FORUM: CEDAW (Part I)
Remember, you are required to provide an original post to the prompt as well as two responses to your classmates’ interventions to facilitate discussion and further engagement.

Prompt:
Today’s assigned readings introduced you to the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW). The human rights treaty encompasses both formal (explicitly stated) and substantive (prejudicial in effect) discrimination. It aims to achieve transformation of society and gender relations by requiring nation-states to eliminate discrimination in a spectrum of areas, from health care to political and public life to participation in athletics. In the 21st century, the UN Commission on the Status of Women, which drafted CEDAW, identified four areas of persistent concern: women’s political rights and legal rights, women’s access to education, and working life.

On Monday, you viewed a documentary centered on a domestic movement to empower women in political and public life. Today, I’d like you to identify and describe a parallel women’s movement (involving political and public life) outside of our borders. Are women facing formal, substantive or both types of discrimination? How are their challenges similar and/or distinct from those arising here (e.g. consider, for instance, “Knock Down the House”)? What, if any, role does CEDAW play in the context of the movement?

Classmate1 Post:
A women’s political movement outside of the US’s border is the fight for more women in political positions in Afghanistan. Due to its tumultuous history, it has been difficult for women to get access to a formal education which has seriously hindered the trajectory of women in multiple areas including mortality rates. Women in this region face both substantive and formal forms of discrimination as previously laws banned women from being involved in politics or public life in general. Today, despite the laws created to mandate a quota for women to be able to join the political sphere, the discrimination is much more substantive due to decades of legal oppression and marginalization. CEDAW is a very important international treaty in the scope of women’s rights. However, many countries do not comply with what they signed. In the case of Afghanistan, it has not been very impactful due to the continuous government changes.

Classmate2 Post:
A women’s movement arising outside of our borders that parallels the movement documented in “Knock Down the House” is that of female representation in Nigerian government. In Nigeria, about 51% of women are involved in voting during elections, yet, women are still underrepresented in both elective and appointive positions. Overall, female political representation in the government of Nigeria is less than 7%. Though surely women face both types of discrimination, substantive discrimination seems to permeate this issue: it may arise from cultural stereotypes, abuse of religion, traditional practices and patriarchal societal structures. In this way, women are facing substantive discrimination, because the systems in place are prejudicial in effect. Nowhere is it explicitly stated that women can’t be elected/appointed into positions of political power, instead, they just aren’t — due, in part, to the aforementioned reasons. The challenge differs for women in Nigeria than women in the US in that, though more representation is needed in both governments, there is little to no representation whatsoever in Nigeria (for context, 23% of US Congress is female, versus Nigeria’s 7% total female representation in a position of political authority).

In the reading, it was stated that the main goal of CEDAW was to set out the steps that the “states are obliged to take to eliminate discrimination against women and ensure their equality with men in the civil, cultural, economic, political, and social spheres.” In fact, Nigeria has a CEDAW Committee Membership. The role that which CEDAW plays, however, is questionable, because clearly, the Nigerian government has yet to achieve – or even to come close to achieving – equality with men in its political sphere.

Assignment 3: LESSON 2 DISCUSSION FORUM: CEDAW (PART II)
Remember to provide an original post to the prompt as well as two responses to your classmates’ interventions.

Prompt:
Drawing upon the assigned readings, provide an example of each the following phenomena:
Formal Equality
Substantive Equality
Transformative Equality
Equality of Opportunity
Equality of Outcome
Indirect Discrimination

Kindly note that your examples can be grounded in a domestic or international context involving the rights of women and girls.

Classmate1 Post:
Drawing upon the assigned readings, provide an example of each the following phenomena:
Formal Equality: equality of men and women in a formal setting where all are subject to the same rules and regulations in social, political, and economic areas of life. An example of this could be the Title IX Act, which ensures that both boys and girls have the same opportunities to participate in public school sports.
Substantive Equality: offers opportunities to women, who have been dealing with a disproportionate exclusion, specifically aimed to disadvantage women over men. An example of this would be abortion laws that limit the woman’s ability to take control of a situation that usually has no consequences for men.
Transformative Equality: in reference to dismantling the systemic inequalities, and ensuring an “equality of capabilities” as a way of enabling women to participate in decision making. For example, if a woman is unable to obtain divorce papers without her husband’s consent, then she would be unable to control the situation she is in.
Equality of Opportunity: the idea that women should not be limited by the availability of a job because of their gender. Every woman is entitled to the same opportunity for a position as a man and is not required to prove that she is able to exceed the job qualifications to be considered eligible for the position.
Equality of Outcome: given the same opportunity and privileges two people should end up in the same position or at least equal position. For example, if a man and a woman graduate from the same school, have the same internship, and the same job, then they should have the same type of salary and position because they come from identical backgrounds and opportunities.
Indirect Discrimination: when there’s a practice, policy or rule which applies to everyone in the same way, but it has a worse effect on some people than others. For example, if a girl at school is penalized for a dress code, while the boy’s version of the dress code is seemingly lenient, then that would be an example of indirect discrimination against women.

Classmate2 Post:

Formal Equality: looks at the basics, where there should be no impartial treatment against any group or individual. Every person is being held to the same set of expectations and regulations in all aspects of their life at all times. Examples of this exist when privilege and special accommodations of different people are not acknowledged and this allows judgement to be placed accordingly. However, this often times goes to favor the majority as the minority groups are ultimately still discriminated against.

Substantive Equality: is specifically acknowledging the existence of bias against minority group and the necessity of legal action to protect the outcomes, opportunity, and the basic human rights of those marginalized. A specific example in the employment sector is when women are fired from or denied a job due to their maternity status even though they have the proper qualifications. Where merit should be the only thing considered, it is placed aside and to prevent this bias from occurring the US government passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978. Though this did not completely eradicate pregnancy discriminations, it provided some protection for these individuals based on their human rights.

Transformative Equality: is an internal analysis that requires societies to eradicate cultural, gender, and racial biases from the bottom up in order to provide equal opportunity to develop the necessary skills to succeed in the future to every individual. An example stated in the Freeman reading was analyzing the hierarchy that exists within a family when women are required to be more submissive to focus on providing for her family which is not expected from the men. Therefore, women require workplace protections to ensure job security, however this does not ensure the best working conditions as this becomes a necessary means for women to provide for their families. Transformative equality would require men to be held responsible for their family and be regarded in an equal moral stance for the job if it were held by a woman, thus prompting for better working conditions and ethics.

Equality of Opportunity: is the requirement that people should be able to compete with one another on equal terms. This specifically targets the discrimination and disadvantage the lower classes faces when trying to compete against the connections some upper class individuals possess. Equal opportunity provides sufficient and equivalent opportunities for every single group and individual while maintaining the class system however they are not ensuring an outcome. An example is when women were allowed to protest against the regimes and exercise their basic human rights and freedom of speech to speak up for what they believe in. This opportunity does not always guarantee a positive or negative outcome.

Equality of Outcome: is in opposition of equality of opportunity as it primarily focuses on the results that no matter from where an individual originates given the same opportunities shall result in equal outcomes. The importance of outcomes was illustrated by the reading on women’s movements that discusses the consequences associated with them. That women’s rights movements are challengers to the regimes who have no judicial power, however, when they succeed and are given the opportunity to be involved in decision making they shall receive equal outcomes.

Indirect Discrimination: can occur when laws or policy put certain individuals at a disadvantage or negatively affects them when they were intended to apply to all equally. An example given in the Freeman reading was what happens when laws criminalize prostitution; it states that it perpetuates a negative stigma against the working women rather than the men who are their pimps. This sex based bias then inhibits women from any protection against abuse they receive in their workplace.