Feminist ethics

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Feminist ethics is an approach to ethics that builds on the belief that traditionally ethical theorising has under-valued and/or under-appreciated women's moral experience and it therefore chooses to reimagine ethics through a holistic feminist approach to transform it.

Concept

Feminist philosophers critique traditional ethics as pre-eminently focusing on men's perspective with little regard for women's viewpoints. Caring and the moral issues of private life and family responsibilities were traditionally regarded as trivial matters. Generally, women are portrayed as ethically immature and shallow in comparison to men. Traditional ethics prizes masculine cultural traits like “independence, autonomy, intellect, will, wariness, hierarchy, domination, culture, transcendence, product, asceticism, war, and death,” and gives less weight to culturally feminine traits like “interdependence, community, connection, sharing, emotion, body, trust, absence of hierarchy, nature, immanence, process, joy, peace, and life.” Traditional ethics has a “male” orientated convention in which moral reasoning is viewed through a framework of rules, rights, universality, and impartiality. The “female” approaches to moral reasoning emphasise relationships, responsibilities, particularity, and partiality.

Historical background

Feminist ethics developed from Mary Wollstonecraft’s 'Vindication of the Rights of Women' published in 1792. With the new ideas from the Enlightenment, individual feminists being able to travel more than ever before, generating more opportunities for the exchange of ideas and advancement of women’s rights. With new social movements like Romanticism there developed unprecedented optimistic outlook on human capacity and destiny. This optimism was reflected in John Stuart Mill’s essay The Subjection of Women (1869). Feminist approaches to ethics, were further developed around this period by other notable people like Catherine Beecher, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Lucrita Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton with an emphasis on the gendered nature of morality, specifically related to 'women's morality'.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The American writer and sociologist Charlotte Perkins Gilman imagined a fictional "Herland". In this male-free society, women produce their daughters through parthenogenesis and live a superior morality. This women-centered society valued both industriousness and motherhood while discouraged individualistic competitive approaches to life. Gilman thought that in such a scenario women could relate cooperatively as there would be no requirement to dominate each other. Herland cultivates and combines the best “feminine” virtues and the best “masculine” virtues together as co-extensive with human virtue. If a society wants to be virtuous, according to Gilman, it should exemplify the fictional utopia of Herland. However so long as women are dependent on men for economic support, women will continue to be known for their servility and men for their arrogance. Women need to be men's economic equals before they can develop truly human moral virtue, this is a perfect blend of pride and humility that we call self-respect.

Feminist care ethics

Main article: Ethics of care

Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings are exponents of a feminist care ethics which criticise traditional ethics as deficient to the degree they lack, disregard, trivialise or attack women's cultural values and virtues. In the 20th-century feminist ethicists developed a variety of care focused feminist approaches to ethics in comparison to non-feminist care-focused approaches to ethics, feminist ones tend to appreciate the impact of gender issues more fully. Feminist care-focused ethicists note the tendencies of patriarchal societies not to appreciate the value and benefits of women's ways of loving, thinking, working and writing and tend to view females as subordinate.

Third-wave feminism

The first wave of feminism fought for and gained the right for women to vote. The second wave struggled to obtain the right for women to have access and equal opportunity to the workforce, as well as ending of legal sex discrimination. Third-wave feminism's central issues are that of race, social class, and sexuality. Some criticise third-wave feminism as lacking a single cause like getting the vote was for first-wave feminists, although its emphasis on diversity can be seen as the single main issue for third-wave feminism.

Womanism

Main article: Womanism

In the late 20th century, Black feminist ethics challenged mainstream white feminist ethics to become more inclusive of all races and to consider the heritage and the struggle of the diverse ethnic groups to gain equality with men and to safeguard their welfare. Black feminist ethics sought to give a voice to the concerns of black and ethnic minority women as historically the feminist movement has been dominated by Caucasian middle class women who have sometimes prospered at the expense of black and ethnic minority people.

Feminist ethics and the future

Feminist ethicists believe there is an obligation for women's differing points of view to be heard and then to fashion an inclusive consensus view from them. To attempt to achieve this and to push towards gender equality with men together is the goal of feminist ethics.

"The goal of feminist ethics is the transformation of societies and situations where women are harmed through violence, subordination and exclusion. When such injustices are evident now and in the future, radical feminist activists will continue their work of protest and action following careful appraisal and reflection"

See also

• Gender equality
• Gender mainstreaming
• Material feminism
• Feminist political ecology
• Morality
• Feminism in 1950s Britain
• First-wave feminism
• Mary Wollstonecraft
• Girl power
• Jessica Valenti
• Judith Butler
• Naomi Wolf
• Postmodern feminism
• Pro-life feminism
• Rebecca Walker
• Second-wave feminism
• Sex-positive feminism
• The left and feminism

Further reading

• Abel, Emily K. and Margaret K. Nelson, (eds.), (1990). Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women's Lives, Albany: SUNY Press.
• Armbruster, H. Feminist Theories and Anthropology
• Barker, Drucilla K. and Susan F. Feiner. Liberating Economics: Feminist Perspectives on Families, Work, and Globalization.University of Michigan Press, 2004.
• Barker, Drucilla and Edith Kuiper. Toward a feminist philosophy of economics. Routledge, 2003.
• Beasley, Chris. (1999). What is Feminism?: An Introduction to Feminist Theory, London: Sage Publications.
• Beecher, C.E. and Stowe, H.B. (1971). The American Woman's Home: Principle of Domestic Science, New York: Aeno Press and The New York Times.
• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women, Brown University
• Feminist Theory Papers, Brown University
• Brownmiller, S.(1993). Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, New York: Fawcett Columbine.
• Buhle, M.J., Buhle, P. (eds.) (1978). The Concise History of Women's Suffrage, Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
• Bulbeck, Chilla. (1998). Re-Orienting Western Feminisms: Women's Diversity in a Postcolonial World, New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Butler, Judith. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, New Your: Routledge.
• Card, Claudia. (1999). On Feminist Ethics and Politics, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
• Chodorow, N. (1999). The Reproduction of Mothering: Psycholanalysis and the Sociology of Gender, updated edition, Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Confessore, N.and D. Hakim. (2009). “Paterson picks Gillibrand for Senate seat”. NYTimes.com, January 23.
• Copjec, Joan. (2002). Imagine There's No Woman: Ethics and Sublimation, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
• Daly, M. (1984). Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy, Boston: Beacon Press.
• Donovan, Josephine. (2003). Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions, 3rd ed., New York: Continuum..
• Donovan, Josephine and Carol Adams. (2007). Feminist Care Tradition in Animal Ethics: A Reader, New York: Columbia University Press, 1-20.
• The Feminist eZine- 1001 Feminist Links and Other Interesting Topics
• Friedan, B. (1997). Feminist Mystique, New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
• Friedan, B. (1998). The Second Stage, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Frye. M. (1991). “A response to Lesbian Ethics: Why ethics?” In C. Card (ed.), Feminist Ethics, Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of Kansas, 52-59.
• Gilligan, C. and D.A.J. Richards (2008). The Deepening Darkness: Patriarchy, Resistance, and Democracy's Future, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Gilligan's stages of moral development
• Hanigsberg, Julia E. and Sara Ruddick, (eds.), (1999). Mother Troubles: Rethinking Contemporary Maternal Dilemmas, Boston: Beacon Press.
• Held, V. (1993). Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Politics, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Held, V. (ed.), (1995). Justice and Care: Essential Readings in Feminist Ethics, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Held, Virginia (2005). The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/0195180992.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-518099-2. 
• Heywood, Leslie and Jennifer Drake, (eds.), (1997). Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
• Larry Hinman's Ethics Updates Himan,L. Ethics Updates, University of San Diego.
• Hoagland, S.L. (1988). Lesbian Ethics, Palo Alto, Calif.: Institute of Lesbian Studies.
• Howard, Judith A. and Carolyn Allen. (2000). Feminisms at a Millennium, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Hypatia, a Journal of Feminist Philosophy, Simpson center for the humanities, University of washington.
• Jaggar, A.M. (1994). Living with Contradictions: Controversies in Feminist Social Ethics, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• King, Y.(1995). “Engendering a peaceful planet: ecology, economy, and ecofeminism in contemporary context”.Women's Studies Quarterly, 23: 15-25.
• Kittay, E. F. and E.K. Feder (2003). The Subject of Care: Feminist Perspectives on Dependency, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Kolmar, W and Bartowski, F., “Lexicon of Debates”. Feminist Theory: A Reader. 2nd Ed, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005. 42-60.
• Lindemann, Hilde, Marian Verkerk, and Margaret Urban Walker.(2009). Naturalized Bioethics: Toward Responsible Knowing and Practice, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
• Maher, K.(2008). “Campaign '08: Obama puts spotlight on women's pay gap”. The Wall Street Journal, September 25: A15.
• Mero, J. (2008). “The myths or catching-up development”. In M. Mies and V. Shiva(eds.), Ecofeminism, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 125: 55-69.
• Mies, M. and Shiva, N. (1993). “Fortune 500 women CEOs”. In Fortune.
• Mitchell, J. and S.K. Mishra (2000). Psychoanalysis and Feminism: A Radical Reassessment of Freudian Psychoanalysis, New York: Basic Books.
• n.paradoxa: international feminist art journal: feminist theory and contemporary women artists
• Narayan, U. (1997). Decentering the Center: Philosophy for a Multicultural, Postcolonial, and Feminist World, Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
• Narayan, U. and S. Harding(2000). The Subject of Care: Feminist Perspectives on Dependency, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Noddings, N. (2002). Starting at Home: Caring and Social Policy, Berkeley, CA.: University of California Press.
• Nussbaum, Martha. (1999). “The Feminist Critique of Liberalism”. In A. Jeffries (ed.), Women's Voices, Women's Rights: Oxford Amnesty Lectures, The Oxford Amnesty Lecture Series. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• Nussbaum, Martha. (2003). “Capabilities and Functional Entitlements: Sen and Social Justice”. Feminist Economics, 9 (2-3): 33-59.
• The Radical Women Manifesto: Socialist Feminist Theory, Program and Organizational Structure (Seattle: Red Letter Press, 2001)
• Robinson, F. (1999). Globalizing Care: Toward a Politics of Peace, Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
• Slote, Michael A. (2007). The Ethics of Care and Empathy. London ; New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77200-6 (hardback). 
• Sterba, James P., (ed.), (2000). Ethics: Classical Western Texts in Feminist and Multicultural Perspectives, New York: Oxford University Press.
• The Third Wave Foundation
• Tong, R. and Williams N., Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Feminist Ethics, First published Tue May 12, 1998; substantive revision Mon May 4, 2009.
• Tong, R. (2009). Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction, 3rd edition, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
• UN Women, 'Women, Poverty, and Economics- Facts and Figures'
• Virginia Tech, Feminist theory website Center for Digital Discourse and Culture
• Walker, Margaret Urban. (2007). Moral Understandings: A Feminist Study in Ethics, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Warren, K.J. (2000). Ecofemnist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It Is and Why It Matters, Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield.
• Wollstonecraft, M. (1988). A Vindication of the Rights of Women, M. Brody (ed.), London: Penguin.
• Ziarek, Ewa Plonowska. (2001). An Ethics of Dissensus: Postmodernity, Feminism, and the Politics of Radical Democracy, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.