Topics Feminism

Question It is generally acknowledged, especially by feminists, that men in general have behaviors and traits that are not good. Could a feminist name any general behaviors and traits that women have that are not good and that are also not the fault of men?

Accepted:
April 19, 2012

Comments

First a disclaimer--I don't speak for feminists in this response.

But something in the question piqued me a bit, but then there is also something I wanted to pursue a bit. I think that talk about "men in general" and "women in general" is already likely to deal in the sorts of stereotypes that philosophers should try to avoid. I don't disagree that there are "behaviors and traits" worthy of criticism or blame, but the generality that these may be associated with "men in general" strikes me as prejudice--or at least a likely source of such. It is simply too easy to go from "men in general" to the presumption that the next man I might meet may be assumed to be guilty before I have any evidence of such guilt. This is how prejudice works.

To pursue another line, however, I would recommend the work of feminist philosopher Claudia Card to the questioner. Much of Card's work has been focused on the nature and effects of victimization. It is to her (in modern times) that we owe the notion of the "moral damage" that can be done to victims of oppression and injustice, by which she means that it can be an effect of oppression that the victim is subsequently unable to achieve or sustain virtue or other morally desirable qualities or actions. Indeed, one of the most powerful (and devastating) consequences of Card's work is that it highlights the extent to which we can actually expect "moral damage" to be done to victims, in which case, we might expect certain kinds of the relevant deficits from those who have had to deal with systematic injustices done to them. Would these, in the case of oppressed women, not be the "fault of men"? The answer, plainly, would depend on whether it was men who had been the oppressors.

If Card is right--and I think she is--the target of blame for some bad behavior may not always be the direct agent who behaves in that way. I see no reason to think that this is restricted to issues of gender only, nor did Card ever suggest that it was.

Finally, I would also point out that the idea that the effect of injustice might be "moral damage" to the victim is one that can also be found in the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. In several places in his dialogues, Plato has his main character, Socrates, talk about how injustice is not only damaging to the agent of the injustice, but also to the victim (for example, see Plato's Republic Book I., 335b-c).

Question It is generally acknowledged, especially by feminists, that men in general have behaviors and traits that are not good. Could a feminist name any general behaviors and traits that women have that are not good and that are also not the fault of men? Accepted:April 19, 2012

Question It is generally acknowledged, especially by feminists, that men in general have behaviors and traits that are not good. Could a feminist name any general behaviors and traits that women have that are not good and that are also not the fault of men?

Accepted:
April 19, 2012