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Gender as a Category of Analysis - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Connection to feminist cover story
  - - - Connection to manly protector story
    - - Connection between immigration and outsourcing domestic labor
    - - Second economies
        In socialist economies, many men and women had thriving second economies as they needed the income to pay for their needs. This factor was used as evidence for the ineffectiveness of state socialism in comparison to capitalism, but “the necessity of multiple jobs, however, has survived the collapse of communism, as has, for some, the need to have at least one that provides official status,” (Gal and Kligman 113). Modern day mompreneurs constitute second economies by engaging in wage labor and domestic labor, the latter of which is rendered invisible by society while the social status of motherhood remains highly valuable.
        Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. The Politics of Gender after Socialism: A Comparative-Historical Essay. Princeton University Press, 2012.
      - Outsourcing domestic labor
        Due to the lack of social services provided by the state, women bear the brunt of domestic labor along with the expectation of participation in wage work. This leads to “First world women, unable to convince their male peers to share domestic labor, [having to outsource] much of this labor to Third World migrant women, exacerbating inequalities along the vectors of race, gender, and citizenship status. In this context of privatized mothering, individualized caregiving, and the links of gendered inequality between nation-states, enterprising migrant-sending states have recognized a labor niche and moved to fill it,” (Radhakrishnan and Solari 101).
        Radhakrishnan, Smitha, and Cinzia D. Solari. The Gender Order of Neoliberalism. Polity Press, 2023.
    - - Connection to abortion and immigration
- - - - Manly protector story
        In response to the feminist cover story, the "manly protector cover story emerged out of the acceptance of women's empowerment within a neoliberal framework while simultaneously drawing on misogyny and homophobia to create a category of "other" amongst men who are protecting the nation through superiority and dominance over others. (Radhakrishnan and Solari 126)
        Radhakrishnan, Smitha, and Cinzia D. Solari. The Gender Order of Neoliberalism. Polity Press, 2023.
        
        Neoliberalism
        Neoliberalism is based in capitalism and the idea of individual governance. It offers the idea that maximizing the reach, frequency, and participation in market transactions will produce social good (Solari 29). In order for neoliberalism to work, as many people as possible need to be a part of the labor fueling the economy. Thus, narratives of "investing" in women's empowerment were integrated to produce a neoliberal framework. For example, "High levels of literacy and education for women were able to confer status on previously colonized countries and allow them to appear "modern" in a hierarchical geopolitical order structured by competition and shared norms," (Solari 43). The empowerment of women is constituted by neoliberalism to produce both state power and national identity on the international stage.
        
        Homonationalism
        Homonationalism is a strategy deployed by Western powers to perpetuate violence against colonized populations under the justification of promoting Western liberal values in places that are deemed inferior to Western liberal norms.
        
        Breadwinners
        Under the neoliberal structure, men operate under the expectation of being the breadwinner of the nuclear family. This expectation is connected to men's understanding of their worth as a man, making the neoliberal gendered order structured by providing gendered expectations for both men and women in the workforce. Additionally, this reproduces the concept of individual empowerment, as an individualized understanding of empowerment, perpetuated by neoliberalism, shields the underlying social and structural inequalities by placing the responsibility of security, well-being, and safety in the hands of individuals rather than the state.
      - Feminist cover story
        The neoliberal feminist cover story creates the illusion of choice for women to obscure inequalities contributing to women's subordination where reproductive labor and motherhood remain compulsory under a neoliberal framework. The cover story feeds into ideas about women’s empowerment which is often focused on an investment in women's education to mobilize women's participation in the workforce to invest in women's humanity to grow the economy. The empowered women were expected to provide free domestic labor alongside entrepreneurial labor in free markets, creating the gendered neoliberal order.
        Radhakrishnan, Smitha, and Cinzia D. Solari. The Gender Order of Neoliberalism. Polity Press, 2023.
        
        Human Capital Theory
        Human capital theory is the idea that investment in education could improve the individual productivity of workers and therefore grow the economy. Human capital captures the idea of the potential value within each person that can contribute to economic goals. By investing in women's empowerment through women's education, countries are able to harness the potential value and place it towards economic growth. Additionally, countries are able to advance their image as a "modern" nation committed to gender equality, while their interests are focused on capitalist economic growth.
        
        Radhakrishnan, Smitha, and Cinzia D. Solari. The Gender Order of Neoliberalism. Polity Press, 2023.
        
        East Central Europe
        The feminist cover story of women’s empowerment is evident in East Central Europe’s depictions of the ideal woman: “They presented unattainable images of women who could effortlessly be ‘engineer, pretty wife, fashion plate, and political activist. These were ‘superwomen,’ filling the expectations of socialist womanhood without exhaustion,” (Gal and Kligman 53). The trope of the superwomen is idealized to promote the idea that women can do it all—motherhood, wage work, and domestic work—by themselves within a socialist structure.
        Gal, Susan, and Gail Kligman. The Politics of Gender after Socialism: A Comparative-Historical Essay. Princeton University Press, 2012.
      - Gender deals
        Focused on femininity, "gender deals" are compromises and gains that women make with the state. These deals allow counties to create an illusion of choice for women to appear modern in the geopolitical sphere.
        Radhakrishnan, Smitha, and Cinzia D. Solari. The Gender Order of Neoliberalism. Polity Press, 2023.
        
        Soviet Union
        The Soviet Union's gender deal involved bringing women into the labor force to relieve them of domestic work by offering state-sponsored support through child-care, healthcare, and education. (Radhakrishnan and Solari 13)
        
        United States
        The United States gender deal represented women as liberated within a modern, capitalist system but remained focused on the duties of motherhood and family.
        
        India
        India's gender deal focused on portraying their post-colonial nation state as liberated through the status of Indian women by focusing on education and equal civil rights.
        
        Connection to public and private