MacKinnon's View as a Philosopher Essay

In this essay, I will argue that the dominance approach is the right approach to take to address the issue of useless pockets in women's clothing. The difference approach lays claim that women should be allowed to compete equally with men in the public domain. This view also holds that the social and legal characteristics associated with women such as weakness, passivity and irrationality are not accurate but overboard generalizations. Feminists are against the distinctions basis of gender because they are a reflection of prejudice and not reality. The difference approach also perpetuates the view of women as second-class citizens, and an example of this approach is manifested in exclusionary laws which exclude women from jobs "meant" for males. In the same way, women should participate equally with men in professions; men should also join with them equally domestically. The point in this difference approach is the domestic sphere is not valued but has been used as an area of women subordination. When the difference approach is accepted, it will provide essential changes in the care of children and employment market. The dominance approach, however, offers a different perspective for the difference approach. The dominance approach lays claim that gender inequality is because of the social subordination of women and not irrational or arbitrary differentiation. One group has been utterly dominant over the other. This approach takes into consideration of the different issues which are considered not to involve sex discrimination that raises inequality related questions. These issues include prostitution, sexual harassment, rape, reproductive freedom, and pornography. Feminists view inequality regarding interactions between women and men. In this view, prostitution and rape are instances of subordination of women which happen in different places.

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An example of unjust sex discrimination is that of discrimination of women in the workplace. It can happen directly or indirectly, where the former is a worker being unfavorably treated because of their sex. Indirect discrimination of women is when the manager assumes that a given type of work is suited for a man or a woman. Sex discrimination could include failing to hire a woman given that the boss believes she does not fit into a traditional male workforce. Women can also be discriminated against in the workplace when they are offered different benefits or rates to those of men for the same job. A woman could also not be promoted to a senior position as it is assumed that her authority cannot be respected. These are types of sex and gender discrimination which women face and can be addressed by the difference and dominance approach. When handled by the difference approach, this type of discrimination of women in the workplace is prejudice. Women should be allowed to participate with men equally and not tied with characteristics such as weakness. The difference approach would mean that women are hired and given equal benefits to men. When viewed from the dominance approach, it would be argued that this discrimination is shaped by the interactions between men and women. The dominance approach does not give women the chance of voicing their concerns about the inequalities they receive in the workplace.

MacKinnon proposes the presence of "two paths" from the difference approach, one is the sameness, and the other is the difference path. The central principle is the treatment of like things alike and unlike things like. The sameness path emphasizes granting women access to things which men have ("Reflections on Sex Equality under Law" 1285). The difference path claims that sex is the difference and deals with the compensation of women for what they have. Mackinnon does not agree with the difference approach. She argues that when there is the segregation of women as a group, there would be no man to set standards for the deviation in the treatment of women. This means that there is no sex discrimination but sex difference ("Reflections on Sex Equality under Law" 1281). The rule of sameness fails to recognize the difference between men and women which are equal to that of women from men. There is equality in this instance, but socially, the sexes are not similar. The differences approach does not capture the fact that hierarchy of power does not produce real differences which are also inequalities ("Reflections on Sex Equality under Law" 1281). Apparently, the exclusive benefits of the difference approach do not compensate for the differential of being considered as a second class. According to Mackinnon, the more there is the existence of inequality in the society, the less it is for the difference doctrine to do anything about it. This is because the inequality of power results in the creation of reality and appearance of sex differences in the same lines because it establishes inequalities of sexes.

I agree with Mackinnon. It is time to give women equality of power and give them a voice. Sex equality cannot be increasingly based on differences of sexes. Women should be heard, and sex equality can be equal.

Works Cited

"Reflections on Sex Equality under Law." The Yale Law Journal, vol. 100, no. 5, 1991, p. 1281.