Review article
https://doi.org/10.47960/2831-0322.2023.2.27.189
FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN B&H WITH A SHORT REFERENCE TO THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS MOVEMENTS
Damirka Mihaljević
orcid.org/0000-0001-5099-8284
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mostar
*
Martina Planinić
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mostar
Ružica Ljubičić
orcid.org/0000-0001-6970-3888
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Mostar, doctoral student
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
The articulation of the feminine interests in Bosnia and Herzegovina started during the Austro-Hungarian rule when the first women’s societies were established. It continued to exist during the first Yugoslavia. The key aspect of the feminist movement in Socialist Federal Republic Yugoslavia was to be seen in feminist marxism and theoretical works mostly done by Blaženka Despot and Žarana Papić. They contributed largely to the feminist narration during the socialist self-management. Under the influence of the ongoing feminist movements active engagement of women was present also in Bosnia and Herzegovina Despite rigid patriarchal norms and despite the society that hardly bore the presence of women in the public space women appeared at the positions of school principals and newspaper editors. That is how women in B&H gained formal and legal equality during socialist Yugoslavia. Some fifty years later in the independent Bosnia and Herzegovina a few laws and institutional mechanisms were passed but through them the equality of women was not achieved in the practice as it had been expected. Namely a gap between the application and effect of the positive laws points to the fundamental influence of the patriarchal heritage which conditions female subordination. This confirms the fact that the social and political position of a woman is unseparable from the private sphere. The position and the role of a women in Bosnia and Herzegovina are largely conditioned by the religious and ethical habits and norms. It is difficulty to change such norms. These norms make it harder for women to influence the changes that would help them achieve the real equality.
After more than a decade of women’s rights movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina (although it is claimed by some people that there is no feminist movement in B&H) and despite its weaknesses and divisions some positive moves have been noticed.
Keywords
partiarchy; socialism; retraditionalisation; women; Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Hrčak ID:
312073
URI
Publication date:
22.12.2023.
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