Analysis Of Okin's 'Forty Acres And A Mule For Women'

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By building upon Rawls's Theory of Justice to address gender injustices, Okin’s liberal-feminist work has retained an enduring relevance in political philosophy, as many of the gender inequalities she addresses, such as women undertaking the majority of unpaid domestic labour, still exist today. Her work has had a major significance in political theory due to her illuminating the tendency for liberal philosophers to be gender-blind. This essay intends to firstly summarise the Rawlsian feminist theory in Okin’s ‘Forty acres and a mule’ for women: Rawls and feminism and secondly critically assess whether, due to her Western perspective and narrow definition of the ‘family’, her work is too limited to evoke a change within a patriarchal society …show more content…

Okin’s suggested policy entitling both the earner and non-earner in a household to the same wage exemplifies how her argument is solely based around Western culture, which stresses rationality, individuality and secularity. Societies and cultures that place greater emphasis on values such as community and group duty, particularly many Asiatic states, may conflict with this idea of an individual wage and the prospect of families being ran like a democracy, potentially putting a limit to Okin’s argument. Despite its practicality by providing specific policies which can be implemented to provide a more gender equal society, Okin’s argument works as more of a groundwork for further feminist liberal political theories rather than a practical working solution to gender injustices. Overall, having a heteronormative Western focus does not mean that her work is too limited to evoke change. Okin still provides an in-depth example of how exactly feminist writers may explore and remedy further gender inequalities in a modern Western society through Rawls’ justice

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