1.Key concepts:

Marriage, Family, Freedom, Women’s Rights, The tragedy of marriage.

2. Important relations:

Marriage and women’s freedom

Children and women’s freedom

Traditional marriage

Non-traditional marriage

Feminism and Family

23. Philosophers against the Family
Christina Hoff Sommers

1. Family morality

1.1. Moral measures: how well we behave within family relationships.

1.2. Literature of recent moral philosophy: little discussion on what it means to be a good son or daughter, a good mother or father, a good husband or wife, etc.

1.3. Mainstream moral doctrines (Kantianism or Utilitarianism): what we should do as persons in general but not much personal morality in daily life.

1.4. The work of this paper: to expose the philosophical roots of the current hostility to family morality.

　

2. The moral vantage:

2.1. Aristotelian approaches:

anti-radical;

liberal;

the traditional arrangements have great moral weight

common opinion is a primary source of moral truth.

2.2. John Rawls: the possibility of abolishing the family (no liberal):

2.3. Plato: the cave was social reality.

Marxist variety: radical;

Contemporary feminist Philosophy: radical:

　

3. Feminism and the family:

3.1. Feminist moral philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir:

3.1.1. Family is unacceptable arrangement.

3.1.2. Marriage and childbearing are essentially incompatible with women’s subjectivity and freedom.

3.1.3. The ideal of a society: sexual differences are minimal or nonexistent

3.2. Contemporary feminist philosophers:

3.2.1. R. Wasserstrom: the ideal society is non-sexist and assimilationist.

Question: Is there a distance between the ideal society and social reality?

3.2.2. Ann Ferguson: radical reorganization of child rearing:

Question: Is it good for children?

3.2.3. Carol Gould: abolishing legal marriage.

　

4. Assimilation:

The above feminists in Common: a common social ideal is broadly assimilationist in character and inimical to traditional family.

4.1. Sexism:

4.1.1. Literal sense: unfair discrimination;

4.1.2. Philosophical sense: discrimination;

4.2. Radical critique of the family: assimilationist and androgynous;

Sommers: the androgynous ideal is incompatible with the survival of the family.

　

5. Radical criticism of the family—comparing mother/wives to slaves:

Sommers: Difference between mothers/wives and slaves:

5.1. Most women want to be mother/wife, but none wants to be slaves.

5.2. Most mother/wife do not think there are slaves, but a slave does.

　

6. Prostitution:

Sommers: what is the true nature of a woman?

The true nature of a woman:

6.1. woman and baby: most women prefer to have children.

6.2. woman and enjoyment: most women enjoy her femininity.

1. Is there such a thing as “plain sex?” What is the purpose of sex? Is it like or unlike other human activities?

2. Can love between two people be immoral? Could it be the case that sex without love, or love without sex, is immoral?

3. Do we need sexual (physical) intimacy?

Women: Caste, Class or Oppressed Sex
Evelyn Reed

1. The feminist movement and Marxism position

1.1 The Marxist analysis: The origin of women’s oppression is the capitalist system.

1.1.1. Family:

1.1.1 Private property:

1.1.2. Class society:

1.2. Question: whether women constitute a special class or caste?

1.2.1. Some misunderstanding in feminist movements:

　

2. Historical review on the above issue, according to the Marxist approach:

2.1. The study of prehistory shows: throughout primitive society, women were the equals of men.

2.1.1. Women’s positions in a system of “primitive communism:” Sisterhood;

2.1.2. Men’s positions in a system of “primitive communism:” Brotherhood;

2.1.3. Women, men and childbearing: Motherhood & fatherhood;

2.2. Pairing family:

2.3. Nuclear family:

2.4. One of the key factors which caused the changes: economy:

2.4.1.Class-divided society, the patriarchal family and private property:

3. Family, marriage and the relationship between women and men:

3.1. Women and Childbearing:

3.2. Women and Economic self-dependence:

3.2.1. Women wage workers:

3.2.2. Wealthy women:

3.2.3. Middle-class housewives:

4. The most instructive lesson:

The inferior status of the female sex is not the result of their biological makeup or the fact that they are the child bearers. It is the capitalist system, which is the fundamental source of the degradation and oppression of women.

　

5. Criticizing some feminists who take women as a caste, class and “oppressed sex”:

5.1. The caste hierarchical system and women’s position in this system:

Example: The caste system in India:

Four Castes: The priests;

The soldiers;

The farmers and merchants;

The laborers;

5.2. The class society and women’s position in this society

Example: The classes in the USA:

Upper class;

Middle class;

Lower class;

“To oppose women as a class against men as a class can only result in a diversion of the real class struggle.”

　

Conclusion:

The underlying source of women’s oppression, which is capitalism, cannot be abolished by women alone. It will require a world-wide struggle for socialism by the working masses, female and male alike, together with every other section of the oppresses to overthrow the power of capitalism.

　

The weakness of men is the faced of strength; the strength of women is the facade of weakness.

1. A different experience of power:

1.1. Women’s experience:

1.2. Men’s experience:

2. Duty and power

2.1. The duty of women:

2.2. The duty of men:

Example: the duty of serving the country:

　

3. The Power of life:

3.1. Life expectancy as a way of seeing who has the power

4. Suicide as powerlessness:

4.1. The rate of suicide as a way of seeing who are powerlessness:

5. Myth and fact:

5.1. Myth: Women are more likely than men to be victims of violence.

Fact: Men are almost twice as likely as women to be victims of violence.

6. Income:

6.1. Men’s income and spending: the man earning more but paying out more;

6.2. Women’s income and spending: the women earning less but paying less;