Western Feminists

As a geography major I have learned to look at the world objectively and through the lens of cultural relativism. What is right in one society is not necessarily right in another. I feel that feminism is a luxury of the developed post-industrialized world. And even more specifically the educated elite of these westernized countries. The west loves to give aide to developing countries but sadly this aid never reaches the ones who need it and sometimes cause more harm than good. For instance the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund gives loans to countries but these loans are conditional. The conditions under which these loans are given are from a western perspective. They force countries to lift subsidies, devalue their money, and privatize businesses and other measures. These measures basically kick all the support out from underneath developing countries in order to force them to act like an industrialized capitalist nation. It is not economically feasible for them to privatize food programs, health care and education as well as take away subsidies from farmers and other producers of goods. They need these supports because their economy is not like ours. As westerners the IMF believes that capitalism is the cure for poverty so they force them to adapt to their beliefs in order to get the loans. It doesn’t work though; these countries are poorer than they were before.
Western feminists act in a similar way. Their beliefs and values are not the same as women in Ghana or India. In the U.S. we value equality and liberty. Women should be able to choose any profession, lifestyle, religion, sexual orientation, and gender, whatever. In the Middle East these are not even concerns because they value other things like dignity and brotherhood. How can we take what we think is right and make them believe when our beliefs stem from different values.
The role of feminists around the globe should be to promote the health and welfare of women from the point of view of those women. What aid can we give these women that would benefit them most? We could not even begin to say without talking to them first. We can’t give them aid on our terms and conditions; wanting them to believe that they should get jobs and educations and speak out against their husbands. We need to create dialogue before we even begin to prescribe them with aid.