What is feminism?

Natalia Motyl

Bachelor of Economics (UBA). Economic Analyst of Libertad y Progreso.

INFOBAE – Equality before the law and respect for women’s rights are crucial for the construction of a democratic society.

“Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.” With this phrase, Hillary Clinton reminds us that, as we celebrate on International Women’s Day, equality before the law and respect for women’s rights are crucial to building a democratic society.

Ultimately, feminism is nothing more than the radical idea that women are human beings. In fact, the first Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens, drawn up in 1791 by the French revolutionary Olympe de Gougesm, was largely inspired by the declaration of the Universal Rights of Man, declaring that “the objective of all political association is conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of Women and Men; these rights are freedom, property, security and, above all, resistance to oppression ”and that“ the principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation that is nothing more than the meeting of Women and Men: body, no individual, can exercise authority that does not emanate from them. ”The well-being of women is not independent of the well-being of society as a whole. On the contrary, it is affected by economic prosperity and the proper functioning of institutions

However, the moral victories vindicated by the identity politics that characterize third wave feminism are often not reflected in real improvements in women’s lives. After all, what good is abortion legal if you live miles from the nearest hospital and have no transportation or no budget for misoprosol? What good are media campaigns when 20.2% of women work in vulnerable jobs and, according to a CIPPEC study, 19.3% of young women in Argentina are unemployed? It can be considered that educating about gender is necessary or considered an ideological imposition, but how many people are going to deconstruct their attitude towards women because they have to take a gender course to get the record?

As the graphs show, the well-being of women is not independent of the well-being of society as a whole. On the contrary, it is affected by economic prosperity and the proper functioning of institutions. This does not mean that there are no inequities, that femicide should not be treated as the aberrant crime that it is, or that representation does not matter. It means that, as long as our individual rights are respected, women have more opportunities to develop in a country with a stable economy and a state that provides good quality safety, health and education. As long as our individual rights are respected, women have more opportunities to develop in a country with a stable economy and a state that provides good quality safety, health and education

If we want to build a society where women can prosper and become empowered, we have to focus on solving the structural problems that our country suffers and fight against corruption and institutional decay that affects us all. Obviously, a Ministry of Women and Gender Equity will not improve the lives of Argentine women if Úrsula Bahillo is murdered despite having repeatedly denounced her ex-partner, who had other accusations of violence and three summaries in Internal Affairs of police. A state that does not protect the rights of its citizens is a state that cannot protect the rights of women.