Feminist Perspective of International Law in 21st Century

The concept of feminism is a controversial one and has been misunderstood at many levels. One can assume that such misunderstanding was construed by the patriarchs in the power. It was more out of the fear that feminists were shunned. The feminism waves which started in the 19th century discussed the basic rights like voting rights and educational rights of women. Although the movement started by focusing on the issues related to women and their empowerment but eventually it intersected with other issues and blurred the lines of gender identity. The feminist intellectual inquiry aims to build awareness with practices that will aid in achieving political, social, and economic equality for women to improve women's lives. Feminist theory's most critical aim is to explain women's subordination and find ways to end it. Feminism being one of the approaches of international law assumes a position to critically evaluate the position of laws and how they inadvertently marginalize a particular gender. Globally, women’s participation in National Parliaments is only 24.3% . Policymaking and law-making around gender equality are only useful when such is made by the marginalized group themselves or when their lives and experiences are taken into the account. Thus, it becomes pivotal to see the standing of women in today’s context and the male-centric bias in juxtaposition to gender equality.