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property to Wilt Chamberlain, then the resulting distributional structure
will be just (conjunction, C2, C3).
P7. If C4 is true, then D 2 is just.
C5. D 2 is just ( modus ponens , C4, P7).
P8. If P1 is true, then D 2 is not just.
C6. D 2 is not just ( modus ponens , P1, P8).
C7. D 2 is just and D 2 is not just (conjunction, C5, C6).
C8. P1 (the Equality Principle) is false ( reductio , P1 – C7).
68
Liberal Feminism
Julinna C. Oxley
Okin , Susan Moller. Justice, Gender, and the Family . New York : Basic Books ,
1989 .
Mill , John Stuart. The Subjection of Women , edited by Susan M . Okin,
Indianapolis : Hackett , 1869/1988 .
Wollstonecraft , Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman . London :
Joseph Johnson , 1792 / London : Penguin , 2004 .
First articulated in the late eighteenth century, liberal feminism is a political
philosophy whose express aim is to free women from oppressive gender
roles and achieve sexual equality (also called gender justice). Although
women ’ s social situation changes from one generation to the next – due in
large part to the infl uence of liberal feminists – the message of liberal feminism
remains the same: women, as rational human beings, are deserving of
the same social and political rights as men, and gender justice is best
achieved by modifying existing social institutions and political systems. The
political agenda of liberal feminism addresses present - day inequalities: early
liberal feminists sought to gain the right to vote and equal access to education,
while contemporary liberal feminists aim to secure equal social, political,
and economic opportunities, equal civil liberties, and sexual freedoms.
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of feminism is its claim that
women are socially oppressed, especially since Western women in the
twenty - fi rst century do not appear to be oppressed. Yet contemporary
liberal feminists contend that society is structured in ways that favor men.
Just the Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Arguments in Western Philosophy,
First Edition. Edited by Michael Bruce and Steven Barbone.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2011 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Liberal Feminism 259
Many liberal feminists (such as Mill in the nineteenth century and Okin in
the twentieth) argue that the primary source of woman ’ s subordination is
her social role in the family, not just her biological role in reproduction or
the male tendency to sexual violence (other oft - cited explanations for why
women are the “ weaker ” sex). Since liberal feminism is the oldest version
of feminism, it is the target of much criticism, especially by other feminists
who argue that liberal feminists overlook differences of race, socioeconomic
status, and sexual orientation relevant to an accurate assessment of women ’ s
situation.
While liberal feminism is an active political movement with a variety of
participants, all feminists agree that the aims of liberal feminism remain
unfulfi lled worldwide. For this reason, liberal feminism will continue to
attract zealous adherents as well as vocal detractors.
Marriage continues the cycle of inequality set in motion by the anticipation
of marriage and the related sex segregation of the workplace. Partly because
of society ’ s assumptions about gender, but also because women, on entering
marriage, tend already to be disadvantaged members of the work force,
married women are likely to start out with less leverage in the relationship
than their husbands [ . . . ] In many marriages, partly because of discrimination
at work and the wage gap between the sexes, wives (despite initial personal
ambitions and even when they are full - time wage workers) come to perceive
themselves as benefi ting from giving priority to their husbands ’ careers. Hence
they have little incentive to question the traditional division of labor in the
household. This in turn limits their own commitment to wage work and their
incentive and leverage to challenge the gender structure of the workplace.
Experiencing frustration and lack of control at work, those who thus turn
toward domesticity, while often resenting the lack of respect our society gives
to full - time mothers, may see the benefi ts of domestic life as greater than the
costs.
Thus, the inequalities between the sexes in the workplace and at home
reinforce and exacerbate each other. It is not necessary to choose between
two alternative, competing explanations of the inequalities between men and
women in the workplace [ . . . ]. When the pivotal importance of gender -
structured marriage and the expectation of it are acknowledged, these explanations
can be seen, rather, as complementary reasons for women ’ s inequality.
A cycle of power relations and decisions pervades both family and workplace,
and the inequalities of each reinforce those that already exist in the other.
Only with the recognition of this truth will we be able to begin to confront
the changes that need to occur if women are to have a real opportunity to be
equal participants in either sphere [ . . . ].
The family is the linchpin of gender, reproducing it from one generation
to the next [ . . . ] family life as typically practiced in our society is not just,
either to women or to children. Moreover, it is not conducive to the rearing
of citizens with a strong sense of justice. In spite of all the rhetoric about
260 Julinna C. Oxley
equality between the sexes, the traditional or quasi - traditional division of
family labor still prevails [ . . . ]. Any just and fair solution to the urgent
problem of women ’ s and children ’ s vulnerability must encourage and facilitate
the equal sharing by men and women of paid and unpaid work, of productive
and reproductive labor [ . . . ]. A just future would be one without gender.
(Okin, 146 – 71)
P1. If a society is just and fair to women, then men and women will have
equal social, political, and economic rights, liberties, and
opportunities.
P2. But in many Western societies, men and women do not have equal
social, political, and economic rights, liberties, and opportunities.
C1. Many Western societies are not just and fair to women ( modus
tollens , P1, P2).
P3. If a society is to be just and fair to women, then it ought not promote
or engage in practices that contribute to women ’ s oppression.
P4. If a society does not promote or engage in practices that contribute to
women ’ s oppression, then its social, political, and legal institutions
should be modifi ed so as to eradicate features that contribute to women ’ s