Researcher offers fresh view to contemporize traditional feminism

Ilham Adam is from Tanzania, a place where she said feminism is more “individualistic.”

“There’s a focus on keeping your role as a woman,” Adam, an undeclared freshman with an interest in global studies, said. “If I’m just playing soccer with the guys, it seems like it’s unnatural. I’m expected to wash dishes instead.”

Adam has become interested in exploring feminism at a global and local level and was one of about 90 attendees — half of whom were men — who came to hear Sylvia Walby speak at Pitt on Friday. Walby, a professor of sociology at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom, spoke about feminism as counter-hegemonic at Pitt’s 38th Conference of the Political Economy of the World-System. This year’s conference focused on “Social Movements and Global Transformation: Prospects and Challenges.”

In this case, counter-hegemonic refers to the attempt to confront the existing status quo in gender roles.

Walby has been the founding chairholder of gender research for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization since 2008. 

Walby began by challenging the contemporary feminist theories of two American scholars, Nancy Fraser and Hester Eisenstein, both of which, she said, lack empirical evidence. Fraser is a critical theorist and professor of sociopolitical sciences and philosophy at The New School in New York City. Eisenstein is a professor of sociology at Queens College.

“I’m a social scientist. I look for hard evidence,” Walby said.

Eisenstein focuses on the sociology of gender and globalization in relation to the international women’s movement. Fraser’s theory focuses on conceptions of justice and how individual groups can make stronger contributions to society.

The first wave of feminism is grounded in the 1920s, when women became more active in the suffrage movement. 

“For me, 1920 was a key moment when suffrage actualization went all around the world. Nowadays, people are saying that feminism has been ‘invisibilized,’” Walby said. “I want to change that.”

A few historical feminist victories that Walby mentioned include the establishment of a minimum wage, which levels the economic playing field for both sexes, and public education, which offers the same type of education for both sexes.

Walby called herself a “feminist,” although she doesn’t like the restrictions of the title. She also opposes the concept of a singular feminist identity, which was useful in the initial fight for suffrage but has since become “too restrictive, too narrowing and too cultural.”

“I don’t want to be asked, ‘Are you a feminist?’ I want to be asked, ‘Are you involved in a feminist project?’” Walby said. 

Jackie Smith, a professor of sociology and director of graduate studies at Pitt, said she selected Walby to speak because feminism has been somewhat neglected in recent years.

“I want to lift up the voices of women and make scholars at Pitt think more about global feminism,” she said. “There are also many lessons to be learned from integrated feminist research.”

Lisa Parker, a professor of human genetics at Pitt who teaches a class on feminist theory, helped to publicize the lecture to students in the Women’s Studies Program and included Walby’s published works in her curriculum. Parker opts to focus on biological ethics and health-related feminism in class.

“For instance, the policies of health care don’t focus on women as much as men,” Parker said. “Women also tend to be the ones who give up their careers in order to raise families, and I disagree with that.”

For Adam, listening to Walby speak was “eye-opening.” 

“Learning about feminism in this country opens up my mind to the other possibilities,” she said.