Feminist Ethics Essay Example

Many scholars have attempted to explore the concept of morality and all it entails. These include feminists who have for long advocated for equal treatment of men and women. Some of the approaches that have attempted to eliminate discrimination by gender include feminist ethics. The propounders of feminist ethics argue that the social conception of what is an ideal gender subject the society to believe that men are automatically superior by nature compared to women. Thus, women are viewed as weak beings that suited subordinate positions. As a general approach to philosophy, feminist ethics sought to champion for gender equality in such a manner that Women would be enabled to express their interests just like men. Thus, women should be treated with the equal respect that includes understanding morality as it applies to the experiences of both genders. Traits like empathy, compassion, caring, sympathy, and altruism that are mostly exhibited by women should also be expressed by men if a peaceful society is to be established. The implications include suppressing the traditional masculine traits like authoritative, violence and competitiveness and promoting an empathetic character in men. The feminist way of moral reason provides insights on the need for cooperation, connectedness, and strict adherence to rules, and impartiality, which would enhance the sustenance of a just society.

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Thus, the belief that women are caring and compassionate and that men are aggressive should not be overrated. Therefore, both men and women should adhere to moral guidelines without considering their gender orientation.

I believe that gender is a socially constructed since both women and men have been subjected to conduct themselves in a manner that aligns with their guidelines set by their societies. For example, women are considered to be feminine and thus are oriented from their childhood no to associate with aggressive tasks. Also, the facts that the society views them as weak elements mean that they are automatically made to be empathetic and caring throughout their lifetime. On the contrary, men are associated with masculine complexions and are expected ever to express themselves in a somewhat authoritative manner as a way to maintain their aggressive and competitive nature. Thus, the cultural definition of masculinity and femininity has been natured by society's influence on what is ideal character role of a specific gender. Feminist theorists provide insights on how gender stereotypes lack basis and only resolves to limited opportunities for both men and women, which hinders them from expressing their real personality.

First, women are believed to innately perceive the world differently from men, which is used to justify their inferiority over men. As children, everyone pursues moral behaviors about the kind of punishment or reward they attract. The moral demands of our society subject us to believing and behaving in a particular manner that is unique to our body structure. Women are thus oriented to expressing subtle characters like empathy including engaging in tasks that do not demand a lot of energy. On the contrary, men are oriented to show their masculine nature by dominating over women and participating in activities that are physically demanding. Both men and women see moral rules in relations to the social demands of their physical appearances and resolve to behave in socially approved ways that do not interfere with the long-held beliefs and conceptions of the ideal social relationships. In most cases, women tend to be empathetic when making decisions and do not perceive justice as necessary as long as they satisfied the desires of those they value. Furthermore, the way women react to moral conflict is extraordinary and as such may overcome sexual, physical and other abuses more readily than men. Also, their feminine character has witnessed them being excluded from some professions like firefighting, which have been exclusively set aside for men. Thus, they are subjected to compromise their personality with humility and not aggression.

Secondly, for long women have been given no opportunity to express or pursue what they want and the male characters in their lives have always made crucial decisions pertaining them. Till recently, women have not been able to make critical decisions that directly affect them like the kind of people to marry, the profession to pursue or where to live. Thus, the focal point of the argument is that women are ever expected to place their needs and desire at the back, something that subjects them to being overly depended on the male characters in their lives. However, depending on others may subject us to rethink our moral decisions, which hinders women from freely expressing their moral concerns and are thus subjected to becoming vulnerable. Furthermore, individual choices depend on their position both at the family and society level. The role played by women is one that subjects them to deliver their duties whether they agree or not. Thus, morality to them is mostly dependent more on what is required of them and not what they feel is right. Not having the ability to control personal life means that more women than men are limited from exploiting their full potentials in an attempt to compromise the needs of those they care for the attribute to the fact that they are ever expected to act compassionately.

The interest and desires of their families are often taken into account before engaging in any activity that fulfills individual interests. Fulfilling the feminine duties amid the various social relationships means seeing personal interests as dependent on the needs of those who are cared for.

Conclusion

The way both men and women are expected to conduct themselves gets morally questionable. Women's interests have for long been sidelined attribute to the belief that they are supposed to behave within the guidelines set by their culture. As such, they are never given equivalent treatment to men, where their desires are put last. In the most aspect of the social world, women's interests are morally downgraded without justifiable reasons. In other words, many of our judgments regard what gender should pursue a specific activity or indulge in a given behavior are accrued from the social construction of ethics regards femininity and masculinity. Thus, impartiality, which is considered crucial in expressing morality should be exhibited by both women and men. Therefore, the perception that women should be trained right from their childhood to be empathetic and learn to conform within their limits is a wrong idea that should be eliminated since just like men, they have their desires. However, not every woman is caring and compassionate nor is every man aggressive and competitive as the society perceives, which proves that traditional masculine and feminine traits are not innate, but instead socially constructed.