![]() ![]() ![]() This paper will also reflect the numerous insightful discussions that I had with my mentor and friend, Professor Cynthia Enloe, on deconstructing patriarchy. As a result, I have decided to make my own contribution to the process of deconstructing patriarchy from a feminist perspective by challenging a few myths that perpetuate stereotypes and keep gender advisers in denial.ĥ I will draw on my personal experience, working as a feminist in international institutions. There are several possible reasons for this oversight: first of all, the few feminists under cover do not want to attract attention to themselves and testify against a dysfunctional system it could be that they believe their testimonies are not interesting or relevant to mainstream research, or they simply think that sharing their experiences will not make a difference. There, what is left for us to rely on are the first-hand experiences and insights provided by feminists working in patriarchal institutions, but they are few. Access was granted, but her intervention was put as the last point of the agenda, under what is commonly referred to as “Any Other Business” (AOB), thus sending the not so subliminal message that gender-related work was too trivial to be an actual agenda item that warrants more time for discussion, such as security, military deployment, police work and rule of law.Ģ I think that “AOB” adequately summarises the work we are doing on gender-related issues at the UN.ģ What does it mean to be a feminist working on gender-related issues in a patriarchal organisation? Is it even possible? Why do the majority of gender advisers refuse to define themselves as feminists? Are we deceiving ourselves in pretending that we can challenge the system from within? What is the price to pay? What are our coping strategies and mechanisms? These are a few questions that I will try to answer in this paper.Ĥ The breadth of gender-related knowledge in international organisations is difficult to determine because the literature has still much room to grow. 1 In 2014, a Senior Gender Adviser working for a hyper-masculine department at the United Nations (UN), made a request to her supervisor to be invited to the weekly Senior Management Meeting she wanted to present an important development in the work of gender mainstreaming. ![]()
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