The Feminist Challenge

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The Feminist Challenge

Feminists call our attention to the gender-based inequalities that continue to be unaddressed by the major traditions of political philosophy. The insistence that the political norms and institutions of contemporary politics are exclusively male, and systematically deny women freedom and equality, and therefore that political theory itself has been far more a part of the problem that needs to be addressed than the solution unites two different kinds of feminists: liberal feminists (a.k.a. equality feminists) and difference feminists.

Liberal feminists reaffirm the liberal commitment to equality and support a universalist approach to political theory because they see men and women as fundamentally the same. Yet, they see the need to rethink gender roles and the role of the family to better meet those universal standards. This type of feminist challenge is not a challenge to universalist ideals of equality and equal opportunity, but only a challenge to our claims to have yet lived up to those ideals. On the other hand, difference feminists do not think we should aim for a genderless society or accept women’s sameness. They stress the idea that there are essential differences between the moral and psychological outlooks of men and women and that our theories should reflect these differences.

What do you think about the feminist challenge to traditional political theory? Do you agree with the liberal feminist’s view that political theory needs to rethink the role of the family and other gendered roles in its analysis in order to better live up to universal standards of freedom and equality for all people? Or do you agree with difference feminists that the universalizing approach should be abandoned for a more particularistic account that emphasizes the fundamental differences between the two sexes and enables different treatment for different kinds? When political theorists ask, “what should be done?”, do you think we should focus our attention on what makes men and women the same, or focus on what makes them essentially different?

You are not required to choose one side over the other in your thesis. You should use the issue of feminism to reflect on the traditions of political theory covered in the course. Your thesis may compare different theoretical accounts of your choosing and contrast their implications, or you may focus on the role of gender more broadly, either by discussing the degree to which you think political theory has been gendered, or by discussing whether you think that gender differences are necessarily tied to biological differences and what implications, if any, you think that should have on political theory.