Introduction to Philosophy

Achieve Test Prep: Philosophy

Susan Moller Okin was a twentieth-century political philosopher who wrote her book Justice, Gender, and the Family , in which she critiques the fundamental unjust nature of our society. Okin believed the society is unjust to women because of the deeply entrenched institutionalization of sexual difference that permeates our society at entry level, an inequality she designates with the term gender. According to Okin, our society is founded on a profound hypocrisy. On the surface, lip service is paid to the equality of sexes and the concept that every individual has an equal opportunity to success, no matter what her or his gender. On a deeper level, this concept of gender equality is a sham. Woven into the culture and the psyches of society’s members is the presumption that women will have the primary responsibility for child care and maintaining home, and in fact this turns out to be the fact in the overwhelming number of cases. The effects of unequal reality are devastating women are prevented from competing on equal footing in career arena and they are discriminated against when they try to do so. In the majority of marriages, it is assumed that they will be the primary child caring parent, inhibiting their development of a professional career. If the marriage ends in divorce, women find themselves with custody of the children in ninety percent of the cases and lacking a professional career scarified during the years of raising children and maintaining the home. The standard of living declines in most cases for divorced and separated women and their children, while the standard of living for divorced and separated men is manipulated or increases.

Okin believed that nothing short of radically restructuring the gender roles of women and men will create meaningful justice for women. Okin’s philosophy focuses on the traditional disparity between the sexes when it comes to social duties and obligations. Okin calls for a reconsideration of traditional gender roles to a more fully and equitably distribute justice and equality to all members of society.

Making Connections: An Ideal Society We started this chapter reflecting on the social and political ingredients that constitute the particular recipe of our culture. As citizens of a particular society, we each have a solemn responsibility to reflect and thin clearly about the critical issues reflected in this chapter and to assume our share of the responsibility to help our society become more enlightened, more like the ideal society in which we would each like to live. Think about the experiences you have had in society and where you have felt a sense of injustice. Consider your experiences with other societies and what struck you as better or worse in terms of citizens’ right and responsibilities and the way that the government provides for and controls its citizens. Reflect on how your beliefs evolved in response to current events and what your ideal society consists of.

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