This paper will focus on gender equality among men and women since it’s a useful social aspect that affects the entire community. Three ethical theories which are utilitarianism, feminine and virtue ethics will be used in these paper to explain more about gender equality. The feminine theory explains the ethical insights concerning gender equality since it highlights the requirements to advocate for female rights and providing strategies for morality plus ethical reliability. This theory offers the appropriate moral answers to gender equality issues compared to virtue ethics and utilitarianism theories. This paper will conclude by revealing the proper approach to use among the mentioned in addressing gender equality issues.
Gender inequality is a state or a condition or a perception that women and men are not equal in their different capabilities.[1]This is an essential ethical problem that needs proper investigations to resolve problems associated with this issue. Gender inequality issue has affected women a lot. Gender inequality exists in various ways. Women get discriminated in some occupations since they are viewed to be less intelligent compared to their counterparts. They also receive less recognition in sports, culture, religion and the country political affairs. It’s wrong to discriminate individuals according to their genders since they were created the same despite their physical differences, hence no sex is superior to the other.
The following ethical theories can be used to explain about gender equality. Utilitarianism, feminine ethics and virtue ethics. The principles of these theories prove that gender equality issue is an ethical subject which needs inclusive moral feedbacks. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on the importance of something or people actions other than moral obligation and duty.[2] It emphasizes on results of gender relation in regards to gender equality. The theory argues that outcome assessment determines human righteousness and wrongful actions.[3] Gender inequality has adverse effects on women since their rights and independence are limited. This theory is advantageous since it’s a single principle with possible answers to different situations and also it gets to the substance of usefulness of actions of morality. The weakness of this theory is that it emphasizes on specific rights, obligations and fair sharing of resources.
Virtue ethics theory focuses on the importance of character traits since moral thinking requires character behavior analysis. It's also concentrated on behaviors of both good and bad agents.[4]This moral theory applies to gender equality issue since it gives an explanation to gender inequality and stereotyping as a result of evil traits of character. This theory is essential in explaining about gender equality since it provides individuals with opportunities to make decisions and gets associated with practical ethics. This theory has a weakness where it might result in specific social problems.
The last ethical theory is feminine ethics that focus on the approach to ethics by the feminist. The primary principle of the feminine theory is to criticize any discrimination by men to women. This theory is focused on the improvement of philosophical aspects of the moral nature that is involved in treating females’ moral experience with respect.[5]This theory is important since it promotes values and traits related to women and it the major priority is to advocate for women agendas of liberation, independence, and equality. The major weakness of this theory is that it’s focused on women related issues such as oppression and discrimination.[6]
In addressing gender equality issues feminine ethical theory is the appropriate theory to use. It enables one to clarify the importance of the struggle for equality in different places such as public places, home and in the workplace. It also advocates for improvement in the role of diversity in the human society. It also advocates for change for interests of women in human society and also states that the rights of women should be equal to men in different sectors.[7]The other ethical theories provide the least satisfactory answer on gender equality considering their weaknesses. Virtue ethics praise specific virtues that are considered to be immoral, and it fails to include important concepts such as rights, obligation, and duty. It also does not specify what makes a behavior to be wrong or right. Hence it's less applicable in addressing this issue since the focused problem requires promotion of moral principles about women. Utilitarianism, on the other hand, is less considered since it emphasizes on specific rights, obligations and fair sharing of resources and fails to advocate some useful aspects of this issue. Gender equality consists of different factors which are not addressed by utilitarianism ethical theory making it less applicable because it covers only specific elements.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it's evident that ethical theories can be used to explain about various public issues concern such as gender equality. The feminine approach is based on moral insights concerning the gender equality since it stipulates the importance of handling women discrimination through the provision of guidelines of morality and ethical consistency. The feminine theory is regarded as the most satisfactory moral theory among the three mentioned because it gives answers to issues related to gender equality.
Works Cited
French, Peter A, et al. Ethical Theory: Character and Virtue. U of Notre Dame P, 2016.
Gregory, Raymond F. Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality. 2nd ed., Rutgers UP, 2016.
Hanen, Marsha P, and Kai Nielsen. Science, Morality " Feminist Theory. U of Calgary P, 2017.
Riley, Jonathan. Liberal Utilitarianism: Social Choice Theory and J.s. Mill's Philosophy. 2nd ed., Cambridge UP, 2017.
[1] Raymond F Gregory, Women and Workplace Discrimination: Overcoming Barriers to Gender Equality (Rutgers UP, 2016), 23-30
[2] Jonathan Riley, Liberal Utilitarianism: Social Choice Theory and J.s. Mill's Philosophy (Cambridge UP, 2017), 29-38
[3] Ibid., 45
[4] Peter A French, Theodore E. Uehling, and Howard K. Wettstein, Ethical Theory: Character and Virtue (U of Notre Dame P, 2016), 88-94
[5] Marsha P Hanen and Kai Nielsen, Science, Morality " Feminist Theory (U of Calgary P, 2017), 33
[6] Ibid., 48
[7] Ibid., 86-99
