The Feminine and Masculine

Intro

“As one learns to look at the world through gender-curious feminist eyes, one learns to ask whether anything that passes for natural, inevitable, inherent, traditional, or biological has been made” (12). Cynthia Enole in her book Bananas, Beaches, and Bases takes just such a feminist lens to history and politics. Throughout her book she examines various case studies with the role of women in mind. Pointing out as she goes along how in each case there is a gendered aspect. For example, she highlights the role of women in the abolitionist movement arguing that if it were not for women, slavery might have gone on for longer. Additionally she points out how anything deemed feminine is assumed subordinate to the masculine. Demonstrating that even when women like Margaret Thatcher were in positions of power, men could only conceive of her position through the masculine, dubbing her “the toughest man in the room”. This begs the question of, where are the women? Even when there is a woman in the room as was the case with Mrs. Thatcher, where is the representation of feminine power and how is feminine power made invisible by ignoring gender? Following will be a discussion which first fleshes out the focus of the book before tying Enoles question of “where are the women” with Tsing’s concept of Salvage accumulation.

“Where are the women”

Male, female, feminine, masculine, gender, and sex. The words at the start of identity. Before one is white they are gendered before someone is black they are gendered. The ideas of sexuality at the base of all human relationships. As Enoles points out, in our patriarchal configuration the female is always made subordinate to the male. Yet, the lack of women in politics is no indicator of their lack of their influence on it. Rather the absence of women pronounces the gendered nature of politics. Enole expertly shows that “while political contests over masculinity marginalize all but a very few women, such contests always put femininity into play” (31). That is, using feminine connotations to discredit political opponents as weak and/or irrational. In this way we see that politics is extremely gendered and informed by the feminine even without women having to be in the room. So where are the women? The concept of gender is then smack dab in the middle of the power dynamics within politics and yet the weaponization/politicization of the feminine is not considered when thinking about how gender informs politics.

Turning to tourism Enole points out how men and women play different roles in the tourist industry (maids, clerks, receptionists, entertainers) while being different as tourists as well. She shows that masculinity has been historically defined by leaving one’s home and blazing a path, while women were limited in their mobility to ensure their “protection”. Men then had the “duty” to go out into the world to bring back a life for his wife/family. In a paradoxical way the masculine in this sense needs the feminine to define its purpose to travel and freedom. Traveling (tourism) then becoming extremely gendered as men and women have different opportunities to go out into the world for their own leisure. Traveling being gendered and the male adventure mythology needing the prerequisite of a female at home to justify his endeavors and travel.

Once again the question of “where are the women” revealing the gendered nature of travel. The feminine justifying the masculine. Creating a gendered motivation. Women are at the very core of human history and power dynamics. We have created a political world based on gendered assumptions but, ignored the role of women and gender in the creation of it. In this way we make the feminine invisible when studying power. Power as something created from a non-gendered meritocracy which makes visible masculine wills to power while ignoring the gendered structures that motivate them.

Enole in chapter 3 explains how nationalism and masculinity ignore women in their nation building activities. This oversight results in nationalism and the feminine being in tension with each other. This is because, the gendered aspect of nationalism requires the plights of women to be ignored in order to achieve the initial plan of independence. Revolution and the creation of a nation being at first put in motion by gender. Women were/are used extensively to create the nation but once it is created the nation is stripped of gender making women’s role invisible. The nation gains independence through gender relations and celebrates the masculine in its victory (giving men independence and triumph) while simultaneously making invisible the role of the feminine in the nation’s birth. Women in the end give independence to nations but do not receive independence from the nations themselves.

Look no further than the American revolution and the correspondence between John Adams and Abigail Adams. She famously asked in one such correspondence for her husband to, “Remember The Ladies” reminding him to not “put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could”... Not heeding her advice the new nation excluded women from voting and formal participation. Once again making women’s role in the development of the nation invisible in order to not complicate the masculine contest to power.

Salvage accumulation

Reading this book made me immediately think of another book by Anna Tsing. More specifically her idea of salvage accumulation. Tsing being heavily influenced by feminist scholarship takes a similar approach to her research in that she questions what is natural vs civilized (cooperation vs progress). Like Enole, she tries to deconstruct the ideas of progress and growth in relation to our environment. What strikes me, is that the question of “where are the women” and the concept of “salvage accumulation” come from the same inquiry. Both author’s are asking, what are we missing in our current view of what makes the world go round and where is value/power really stemming from. For Tsing “Salvage Accumulation” is value that was produced without capitalist control. It is the process of salvaging life encounters in making productive labor possible. Language skills, geographic knowledge, Sewing learned at home, the ability to reproduce, a woman’s strength, a man’s love, the currents of the ocean, and the winds in the sky. All the above being invisible to capitalism while simultaneously the backbone of all capitalist accumulation. Capitalism salvaging value from the inherent processes to then justify and create its own hierarchy of value that excludes them.

Asking “where are the women” forces us to literally identify women's role in historical events but also ideologically identify the role of the feminine in defining power. “Where are the women” is another way of inquiring into what society salvages from the feminine. More broadly, feminist perspectives give us a launch pad to start analyzing what we take for granted in our economic political systems. By ignoring gender and salvage accumulation we ignore the undercurrents of capitalist accumulation making the feminine and natural invisible in terms of political power.

Conclusion

People are gendered. Policies are gendered. Profit-seeking companies and the ever-increasing numbers of people who work for them are gendered. The question "where are the women?" Is a simple question that exposes the gendered past/present of politics. The powerful and political cannot be gender-less or masculine without women and the feminine. Further, the act of a non-gendered definition of power is also the act of ignoring and making invisible the feminine in defining power. It is the act of depoliticizing all that is natural or inherent for the benefit of politicizing an artifical masculine will to power. Women although not often written into the pages of history have certainly defined them. Whether it be through building nationalism, working in factories, being wives, or scrubbing toilets, women have always been active in defining power and propping up those in power. If we can not identify the paths to power and politics as being part of a gendered process we will always ignore at least half of our reality. By realizing the immense influence and power that women/the feminine have we can identify the massive potential for change. By this logic the current political system is more fragile and reliant on gendered concepts than anyone could have ever imagined. It is not a man’s world. By understanding the world as gendered and inequitable men and women can identify the capacity for change in the world by realizing how much gender contributes in allowing for the political.

Works Cited

Abigail Adams, 1776. Remember the Ladies.

Enloe, Cynthia H. 1938. Bananas, Beaches and Bases : Making Feminist Sense of International Politics.

Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt. 2017. The Mushroom at the End of the World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.