Women are simply people: A Study of the gendered hierarchy of UN organs

Abstract: Abstract In this study the intent is to integrate the two factors of gender dichotomy and women’s positions in a large organization such as the United Nations (UN), and therefor analyze the difference of gender and the relation to women with the intake of feminist theories. The study will also consider why an international organization that advocates gender equality across the World - in different ways and on different levels - is shaped as it is today. The UN is a famous peacekeeping organization that has been active for several decades and consists of over 200 membered countries, but it is still a large organization that needs to be maintained. I will attempt to reveal the gender perspective within the organization and explaining its outlines with the help of feminist theories of stereotyping, organizational hierarchy, aspects of enforcing masculinity etc. In this effort I will foremost glance at the UN as a whole organization and thereafter at the gendered separation in its organs; divisions such as UN-Women, as it is a “women related” UN branch that explicitly deals with feminist questions such as women’s rights, equality etc.