Feminism and Crime Essay

Concerning crime and deviant behavior, I consider myself a feminist because the society is taking women for granted despite the positive impacts that they have made on society. Crime has revolutionized, and women are becoming more involved in offenses. Initially, women took part in crimes of passion only. However, as time passed, women have been accused of more serious crimes such as robbery which was primarily a male domain.

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Several theoretical studies related to the subject of gender raise some questions on whether women are more ethical than men, or otherwise. These questions seek to determine whether women have different ethical standards when compared to men concerning criminal activities. The existing gender differences, as well as the inequality existing between men and women, have led to a gendered society. For this reason, it seems plausible to argue that the ethical reasoning between the two genders is presumably different (Mohanty, 2010). The author supports this argument by stating that the different ethical perspectives concerning the issue of gender follow different but comparable paths towards moral development. These paths lead people to make some of their ethical choices based on different ethical criteria. This paper looks at the feminist philosophical view in the determination of some discriminative concepts about criminal activities.

Feminism is an ethical tradition that examines some of the gender relations of power, which are related to societal moral codes (Morrison, 2008). The moral laws exist in the global feminist ethics, which occurs through the division of feminist thoughts into normative traditional that include care feminism, enlightenment feminism, and post-colonial feminism. Despite the categorizations, it is possible to determine that feminists might differ in their understanding and interpretations of the manner in which women oppression happens in the society. However, the foundation of their arguments depends on women's experience. For this reason, most of the feminists might argue that historically, not so many people consider a woman's point of view. That argument means that men formulate the different communities, philosophies, religion, moral theory constructs and sciences for fellow men, as well as for the fulfillment of the male interests.

For one to evaluate the nature of sexist ethics, the basic requirement would be to develop an understanding of the same regarding crime. The basic knowledge of the sexist ethics is that it is a moral theory that exhibits fundamental biases towards interests of a single gender. Most of the feminists believe that it is possible to consider the essential ethical approaches as sexist since they show preferences towards the point of view of the male gender and their development seeks to fulfill male interests. However, an individual might argue that utilitarian and deontological theories are not sexist, because of their positions on the moral obligations of human beings.

According to the book, utilitarianism, which is also known as the principle of utility, is a proper examination of the righteousness of some of the human actions, which depend on the amount of pleasure or pain that they produce. It is a "consequentialist" ethical theory that judges the righteousness or wrongful acts by the results that the action might produce. In this case, the utilitarian approach suggests that the moral questioning of an action depends on the consequence of the action on others (Morrison, 2008). Therefore, people should only act in ways that are likely to increase social or the personal well-being of other people, which means that people should do some of the things that they would wish for other people.

Utilitarianism as a theory has received a lot of praise from women, because of the fundamentals that stand by it. Many women believe that they cannot perform as well as men in many fields. However, this theory has led many women to change this notion because it shows women from another perspective. According to the method, ethics is the most crucial factor in any subject. The theory seeks to reveal that every action taken ought to have appropriate and standing ethics. Referring to this theory, many women have had to ask themselves why it is that they treat men with as much superiority as they do without any standing ethics. The groups that women have formed for development purposes have their rubrics standing by various Unitarianism factors. Noting that men are not as powerful as they initially thought have had these women engaging in discussions that seek to show their power in society.

Even though the moral theory of utilitarianism might seem to be the foundation of living a good and honorable life, feminist concerns indicate that the universal ethical arguments are not a reflection of the diverse nature of human beings as well as the varied interests that they possess. Particularly, feminists do not appreciate the fact that there are deep-seated differences between understanding as well as the evaluation of moral issues. Ethically, feminists believe that men tend to order, control and organize things to achieve moral superiority over women. They think that the natural law that men are naturally the dominant gender, and cannot determine particular situations that a woman may find herself in, which might essentially be oppressive.

On the other hand, deontological ethics do not consider the consequences of an action, thereby arguing that people must act morally after a careful evaluation of the available choices. Consequently, there is a possibility of determining that proponents of deontological ethics consider human autonomy as well as human rights as essential concerns. Human beings are morally obligated to protect human rights, which are inclusive of ensuring women equality in society, despite the possibility of obtaining greater happiness by neglecting the rights. Consequently, it is vital for individuals to respect human autonomy, which is a significant contributing factor to some of the principles of informed consent (Daly & Maher, 2018). With this determination, feminists must determine whether moral theories are sexist or not. Such actions include the determination of whether gender is an important consideration when discussing ethical issues. If it is not significant, there is a chance that some of the unique interests and perspectives of women might not be glossy. This provision accounts for the considerable feminist assumption that the male gender shapes the society under patriarchal needs and for the fulfillment of patriarchal interests.

Deontology, as discussed, is a theory whose focus is on the actions rather than the consequences. This theory, rather than focusing on the ethical values of a particular case, it focuses on the law or rules. Rather than engaging in activities that revolve around the development of women, it is more traditional and goes about the regulations that were set by the society. In earlier years, women did not have any power at all as opposed to contemporary days (Schiebinger, 2000). Women underwent oppression, as evidenced by the manner in which men treated them. The women had the responsibility of taking care of the households and caring for the children while men went out in search of food that would last them. This factor saw many women respect the men and saw them as their superiors. These women got suppressed to the point that they did not have the opportunity to make important decisions in their lives. An example is a way that these women were not allowed to vote.

Concerning deontology and gender equality, there is the fact that this theory does not support the concept of women independence and their struggle to receive fair treatment from men. The notion that women are supposed to be submissive to the men had existed for such a long time that it became a rule (Morrison, 2008). The fact that it became a rule is a factor that led to it incorporated into deontology. Deontology has it that women ought to follow the rules and work for their men in their households and take care of the family as the man hustles. Many homes and especially in third world countries follow this theory of deontology (Marchand, 2010). The women have continued running under the influence of men and doing everything that these men tell them. They act that way because they believe that these men are powerful than them which is a concept that is very traditional. However, first world countries have somehow shunned this notion, and the vast number of women leaders that is evidence of progress made (Daly & Chesney-Lind, 2017).

Virtue ethics is independent of criticism because it focuses on a person from a private point of view as opposed to the other theories that are more societal. According to this theory, a person's character is the most critical factor to consider when understanding the ethical point of view. Concerning women and equality, many women could stand on their own and retaliate in the case of men mistreating them (Schiebinger, 2000). There are times, in the job environment, which men are offered more credit as compared to women for carrying out various tasks. Some women have a motivated kind of character that does not let their bosses discriminate them out of gender (Britton, 2015). These women stand up to their superiors and demand equal treatment and go further to show the reasons why they are as suitable for the jobs as the men and move on to prove their bosses wrong. However, some women do not have such a motivated attitude (Kandiyoti, 1996). Some women believe that there is a reason why the employers chose men for the job over them. These women rarely succeed, and many times, they remain in the particular job level for a long time which hinders any form of personal development (Comack & Renzetti, 2013). The difference in outcome and personal development between the motivated character and the subtle nature is very evident. It is thus vital for women to bear a motivated attitude if they aim at acquiring equality with men.

Conclusion

Many women in the modern environment have taken part in crimes, and more so the crimes of passion and the reason for this is that they are deemed emotionally vulnerable. Some of the women accused do not carry out the crimes, but due to this stereotype, they eventually get punished for the crimes. Even though the modern environment has seen a change regarding the perception of women and crime, there are some communities and more so in the developing nations that have proceeded with the stated notion. A comprehension of how this stereotype affects women in the modern world and their ability to carry out duties is essential as outlined.

References

Britton, D. M. (2015). Feminism in criminology: Engendering the outlaw. The Annals of the American Academy of political and social science, 571(1), 57-76.

Comack, E. (2015). New Possibilities for a Feminism in Criminology-From Dualism to Diversity. Canadian J. Criminology, 41, 161.

Curran, D. J., & Renzetti, C. M. (2013). Theories of crime. Pearson College Division.

Daly, K., & Chesney-Lind, M. (2017). Feminism and criminology. Justice Quarterly, 5(4), 497-538.

Daly, K., & Maher, L. (Eds.). (2018). Criminology at the crossroads: Feminist readings in crimeand justice (p. 1). New York: Oxford University Press.

Kandiyoti, D. (1996) "Contemporary feminist scholarship and Middle East studies." (1996): 1-27.

Marchand, M. (2010). Feminism/postmodernism/development. New York: Routledge.

Mohanty, Chandra (2010). Third world women and the politics of feminism. Vol. 632. Indiana University Press.

Morrison, T. (2008). Song of Solomon. Chicago: Chicago University Press.

Schiebinger, L. (2000)"Has feminism changed science?" Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 25.4. 1171-1175.