FEMINIST or CARE-BASED APPROACHES

LEARNING PLAN 5March 24, 2009

Eva Clark, Joyce Fischer, Becky Frank, Dave Sabel

•Defined as a world view that values women and confronts injustices based on gender

FEMINISM

• Liberal•Marxist• Socialist•Radical

FOUR MAIN ORIENTATIONS OF FEMINIST THEORY

Liberal Feminists•Claim that women can

have equality within the present economic structure by employing reforms and education

• Believe that sexism will disappear when there is a revolution to redistribute the property, and its means of production, to society as a whole

Marxist Feminist

Social Feminist• Assesses cultural institutions

such as the patriarchal family, motherhood, housework, and consumerism, using a system of class analysis

• Derives its principales from a woman centered world view, challenging patriarchal systems, instead conceiving its principals from the perspective of women

Radical Feminist

Sterotypes• Men are rational• Women are emotional

Do Women and Men Think Differently About Ethics?

RECENT TENDENCY• ACKNOWLEDGE THERE ARE

DIFFERENCES• WOMEN ARE BY NO MEANS

INFERIOR • WOMEN TAKE PART IN PUBLIC

AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT

Carol Gilligan• Influenced feminism and ethics of care

• Emphasize and explore differences• Not against males, they are only

half the puzzle•Men and women think in a caring

way

• Preconventional Goal is individual survival • Conventional Self sacrifice is

goodness • Postconventional Principle of

nonviolence

Gilligan's Stages of the Ethic of Care

Criticisms of The Theory

•ARISTOTLE• Can obey• Followers•Not suited to be leaders

Criticisms of The Theory

•KANT• Women lack civil

personality•Women’s place is in the

home•Mentally unsuited to take

part in public life

Criticisms of The Theory

•ROUSSEAU• Women suited for domestic concerns• Men suited for public affairs

Octo-Mom

• What were they thinking?????????????????• Was it the Dr.’s fault?• Was it for money?• Was it because of maternal needs?• Should we, the people, help pay for this?• Was this her right as a woman?• Do we need laws to prevent this?(ethical treatment of embryo’s

act)

QUESTIONS• What problems did Gilligan face with theories of

Kohlberg, Aristotle, Kant and Rousseau?• How have the four main orientations of feminist

theory help develope the women’s movements of today?

• How would you handle this issue of eight embryos?