Feminist Philosophy and Cultural Representation in the Asian Context

Abstract

The article theorizes on and offers an alternative explanation for the manifestation of feminist philosophy in the Asian context. Its focus is on the cultural representations of women and the values of feminity in the popular media. Feminist philosophy has its origin in the West. In Asia feminism is rooted in human rights and gender equality, its development has taken different forms, with outcomes very different from those of the West. The author argues that Asian women's movements face many dilemmas and contradictions, and that the processes are less smooth and more indirect. The separation of the economic sphere from deep-seated indigenous systems in Asia may have retarded the development of feminism and gender equality, and in particular, its equal representation in media that rely heavily on market responses. Whereas Asian markets have developed and expanded, social and cultural values have remained more or less unchanged in the course of social development. Such traditional values are also translated into the dominant market forces that account for the continued stereotypical and unequal representation of females in the media. Given the paramount importance of media economics in developing capitalist-like communities, feminist struggles have come to rely on the initiatives of a few elite producers within the media corporations.