Feminist ethics

Abstract

Critics greet feminist ethics with suspicion, alleging that it is biased towards the interests of women. Feminist ethicists reply that it is traditional ethics which is biased. As they see it, for centuries traditional ethicists claimed to speak for all of humanity, when they were speaking only or primarily for men, and the most privileged of men at that. In contrast, although feminist ethicists openly admit that they proceed from the perspective of women’s experience, their paramount goal is simply to reconstruct traditional ethics so that it becomes more universal and objective by including women’s as well as men’s moral voices. Far from being monolithic, feminist ethics encompasses a wide variety of woman-centred approaches to the moral life. Feminine approaches to ethics, with their stress on personal relationships and an ethics of care, put a premium on the value of human connection. Maternal approaches focus on one relationship in particular, that between mothers and children, as the paradigm for moral interaction. Lesbian approaches stress choice rather than duty, aiming to define the conditions in which lesbian women can flourish. Finally, specifically feminist approaches to ethics emphasize the political task of eliminating systems and structures of male domination and female subordination in both the public and the private domains.

Women principals and the concept of burnout: an alternative voice?

“…Interestingly, the calls for 214 IZHAR O PLATKA understanding the emotional aspects of educational leadership were consistent with some feminist views (e.g. Tong 1994, Hall 1996, Blackmore 1999, which emphasized the significance of emotions in the world of women. Thus, the women principals' alternative voices of burnout could be related, partially, to the centrality of emotions in their lives.…”

“…According to this ethos, women stress caring and love for other people, and their main function is 'stroking', which means responsiveness for others' needs, altruism, self-sacrifice and unassertive attitudes (Tong 1994, Josselson 1995. Furthermore, women tend to have non-polar perspectives and are not inclined to divide the world into polarities, as opposed to men who segment reality by coupling concepts and terms in pairs of polar opposites (Cixous 1981).…”

“…Harding 1987, Tong 1994 have called for re-exploring and challenging the epistemology and methodology of existing theories and concepts, thereby re-creating an innovative knowledge in which women educational leaders are the focus of the study instead of being merely another variable for consideration. The distinct world of women, it has been assumed, engenders a diverse reality, which exists not by comparison with the men educational leaders' reality, but stands as an independent and equal one.…”

Imposed school change and women teachers’ self-renewal: a new insight on successful implementation of changes in schools

“…Consistent with feminist observations (e.g., Tong, 1994;Delamont & Coffey, 1997;Blackmore, 1999), it is likely that theories on educational change have been based upon studies of men, and women teachers have been expected to interpret the world and respond according to male-based versions. In this sense, as women tend to highlight care, flexibility, conformity, and conflict-avoidance, and to refrain from the expression of negative emotions, the women teachers' life stories are embedded with words such as love, enthusiasm, commitment, support, and challenge, that represent positive emotions towards their environments.…”

`I Don't Want to Be a School Head'

“…Under this assumption, feminist inquirers (Harding, 1987;Shakeshaft, 1995;Tong, 1994) have called for re-exploring and challenging the epistemology and methodology of existing theories and concepts, thereby recreating an innovative knowledge in which women are the focus of the study instead of being merely another variable for consideration. The distinct world of women, it has been assumed, engenders a diverse reality, which exists not by comparison to the male educational leaders' reality, but stands as an independent and equal one (Ramazanoglu and Holland, 2002).…”