MORAL ISSUES CONCERNING GENDER II I. The moral critique of gender Issues: A. Is there such a thing as gender in our society? B. If there is, is it as it should be? C. We will specifically consider 1. Is gender inherently unjust? Must any set of different norms of conduct, etc., for males and females be unjust in their very nature? 2. If gender doesn't involve injustice in its nature, is injustice intrinsic to the form it takes in our society? 3. Whether or not gender as we know it is inherently unjust, does it nonetheless have injustice as a consequence? a. Rape b. Domestic violence c. Material inequalities—for women? d. Material inequalities—for men? (Farrell) e. Male life expectancy f. Male suicide 4. It is sometimes argued that gender differentiation is not only not unjust but morally appropriate in itself (on either metaphysical or religious grounds). 5. And it is also argued that gender differentiation is morally desirable because of its consequences. a. Natural b. anomie, alienation vs. members of a community with a sense of place. II. What about gender norms that assign differential tasks in the family, specifically, in childcare? That there are such norms seems still to be the case. According to a 1998 survey of Ohio working families, men’s percentage contributions to various home tasks are: Cooking meals 23% Cleaning up after meals 34% Laundry 21% Grocery shopping 31% Housecleaning 26% Childcare 35% For the study, see http://ucaswww.mcm.uc.edu/sociology/kunzctr/jun398pr.htm III. Is there anything unjust in these differential norms for men and women? Here are four possibilities: A. There should be gender differentiation, with an expectation that women will be more involved in child care, at least in the early years. B. There should be no particular expectations of either parent. C. There should be an expectation that parents will be equally involved in child- raising. D. Whatever gender expectations there are, no questions of justice arise, so long as the individuals involved do not coerce each other. IV. A libertarian argument for IID. 1. Injustice occurs only someone’s right is violated. 2. Individuals only have rights that other individuals not harm them in various ways without their consent. 3. A gender expectation that wives have greater child care responsibilities than men violates no such right, since women can choose whether or not to enter into marriage. 4. Therefore, whatever domestic arrangements partners agree to, against the background of whatever gender norms there might be, no injustice arises. V. However, the line of thought we investigated last time might lead to a libertarian argument for either IIB or IIC along the following lines. 1. Differential child-care norms don’t occur in a vacuum. Historically, they have been connected to norms according to which women are morally dependent beings who are appropriately subordinated to their male partners. 2. Even now, there is good reason to think that where we find the former, we will find some version of the latter. 3. The existence of the latter seems to be tied to various forms of violence against women (“justified” by the subordinating norms). 4. Individuals are justified in defended themselves, and collectively in banding together to defend each other, against such violence. 5. (From 1,2) The most effective way to prevent this violence would be a society in which it is a norm that parents have equal parenting responsibilities (which might, however, be redistributed by mutual agreement). 6. Therefore, justice warrants the institution of such a norm. VI. Susan Okun argues for IIC on contractualist, fair equality of opportunity grounds. Very crudely: 1. Gender norms that give different responsibilities to men and women for child care, lead to substantially unequal opportunities for women. More specifically, when taken together with other features of a gender- differentiated society, they help crate the phenomenon of poor, economically vulnerable, female-headed households. 2. Justice requires fair equality of opportunity. 3. Therefore, justice requires the existence of a norm that parents have equal parenting responsibilities (which might, however, be redistributed by mutual agreement). VII. Consider the following data: A. Roughly 30% of all children in the U.S. live in one parent families and 90% of these are headed by a woman. B. 65% of all single-parent families are the result of divorce. C. The number of "displaced homemakers" (separated, divorced, or widowed women who were homemakers and who did not find full-time, year-round work is increasing: 1980 13.8 million 1990 17.8 million D. The number of single mothers is increasing: 1980 5.8 million 1990 7.7 million E. While 11% of all households were below the poverty line in 1990, 42% of all displaced homemaker-headed households were, and 44% of single woman- headed households were. So households headed by women are roughly four times more likely to be in poverty. F. Even in 1982, roughly 50% of all households headed by women were below the poverty line. In 1990, more than 1/3 of all working single mothers who were working full-time were earning less than poverty level income. G. In 1986, roughly 3/5 of mothers heading households had been awarded child support. 2/5 had no child support from the fathers of their children. Of the 3/5 who had the legal right to child support, only 1/2 (so .3 overall) received what they have been awarded. And 1/4 of the 3/5 (.15) received nothing. So only .45 of mother-headed households received any child support from the fathers of their children. Moreover, less than 50% of child support awards include any provision for health insurance. H. Census bureau statistics show that at entry level, women and men command somewhat similar income. Women between 15 and 24 take home 92.5 cents for every dollar in men's earnings. However, this gap widens at every age up to 65, and, overall, women's median income in 1997 was 74 percent of men's (it had been 59.2 percent in 1982). Responding to these statistics, Howard Hayghe, an economist with the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted, "The gap will continue to close, but given the fact that women do bear the major responsibility for raising children and the impact that has on lifetime earnings, I don't think women can be expected to earn 100 percent of what men earn." VIII. Okin’s major argument for premise 1 is that gender norms concerning child care are implicated in these statistics, since they explain the greater economic vulnerability of wives. In the event of divorce, wives A. Are likelier to have relatively fewer economic opportunities, and B. They are likelier to head the post-divorce household.