Response To Gilligan's Moral Development

What drove me to Madden’s writing was the new perspective she had on females and their leadership styles relating to the way they speak up in group environments. The article claimed “one stereotypic dimension women have is that the individual cannot be both competent and friendly” (Madden). The more competent female would be the more comfortable and confident with her argument, therefore willing to speak up in a discussion environment, whereas the friendlier female would be more likely to keep to herself or amongst her friends and peers that

After reading “Young Goodman Brown” I believe the theme of the story is the weakness of public morality. I came up with this theme, because we see in this story that Brown seeks out to the devil, because he finds out that his father and grandfather both follow the devil. By Brown copying his father and grandfathers beliefs we see his faith become weak. This story shows us how one cannot judge others if they are good or bad, by looking at their religious beliefs.

Therefore, division of moral labor creates a different structure of moral thought in males and females and the cultural expectation of men and women to “exhibit moral dichotomy” (p.96) gives rise to different primary moral commitments in both genders. Due to this, Friedman argues that men are more inclined towards the moral commitment of rules and principles and females are inclined towards moral commitments of responsiveness and care. Friedman’s views about the origin of moral dichotomy resonate with Weeks.

The mind is shaped by those with which one surrounds him or herself. This is a result of the human desire to see oneself in others as a tactic to relate and discover commonalities. The inclination to build relationships and connect to other humans is so strong that people become dependent on external gratification, even in environments where acquaintances do not necessarily reflect a person on the most basic level: sex. Due to overpowering masculinity, women oftentimes submit to the ideals of their male counterparts and the societal expectations pushed onto them as women in a patriarchal society. Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones displays that the feminine inferiority complex is not innate, but rather is informed by external forces.

The commonly held theories that women are inferior to men, because they lack the strength of character, mind, and body that men are attributed to having, are misleading for many reasons. To assume that men are superior in these three aspects is to assume that all men and women equally share the same strengths and weaknesses of their entire sex. To do this one must accept the fact that all

of the expectations of women and how each woman has to fit a certain role as a

We’ve all heard of the popular children’s television show “Spongebob Squarepants”, but what you might not know is that each of the characters represent the seven deadly sins. At first glance, it may seem like Spongebob Squarepants offers nothing more valuable than a few laughs here and there. People have failed to notice, however, that maybe their favorite show as a kid is trying to send a message to our impressionable youth. Unless people change their views about Spongebob Squarepants, they will never understand the larger question of “how can I apply this show to my life?” This is not the most controversial conspiracy, but if we can find the true meaning of Spongebob, we can go on with our lives without worrying about what really goes on

While ethics theories often focus on justice, care, an "equally valid moral perspective," is usually disregarded because of male bias. The two perspectives are often pleasant-sounding, but a need for care point of view precedence exists. While truth is evident in both these statements, the problem of distinguishing between them becomes apparent soon after. Many feminist look to psychologist Carol Gilligan's research for evidence to confirm the difference between characteristically male and female approaches to moral decision making. Her research illustrated how men almost unfailingly focus on justice when making moral decisions and women use justice and care in equal proportions in their moral judgments. While men and women take different

Lastly, I want to touch on Nola’s moral development. Gilligan expresses this with females in a three step process. Stage 1 is where Nola has gradually achieved this stage by understanding she is no longer a child and has to see what is not only best for her but the others around her. For example, Nola knows she is a everyday example for her little sister. She knows Lola looks up to her and wants make good decisions.

In Things fall apart, women are featured as the main teachers of children. They tell them stories, teach them how to behave with other people and especially the girls are taught a higher level of manners rather than the boys, " children sat around their mother's cooking fire telling stories," (Achebe 25). The children are taught good morals and traditional values by their parents and in this case, their mothers, who teach them social values and good interpersonal skills. Women have been regarded as inferior objects in societies but this does not turn them down from performing their societal roles especially that of being the educator of the children at home.

Carol Gilligan believes that there are vast differences between genders. Males are individuals who want to see justice be converted into instant gratification. They can be described by the following terms: logical, right and wrong, rule-based, less caring, present focused, strict rules, black and white, independent, rigid or commanding. Females are individuals who see caring for other people as important. They can be depicted by the following terms: reasonable, emotional, compassionate, more caring, rationalizing, future focused, shades of gray, dependent, people oriented, or having difficulty in decision-making. These terms, of course, do not express the characteristics of every man or woman.

Today, women have more rights than ever before, but the belief of male has resulted in a never ending convention toward women. This leads to predetermined thought from younger girls that they must become inferior. Clifford states in her article, “Children look first to their own parents for examples and inspiration, therefore when a child see their mother living a life of inequality, the cycle often continues as girls feel there is no alternative for themselves.” When younger girls see their mother or any woman submitting to the standard, they feel they must do the same. An effect on men is that they have to live up to the

Women tend to be more emotional and rational then men, whereas men are far less emotional and react on impulse. The different understanding of the ways that each sex communicates is still to be studied. Women tend to react more emotionally than men, resulting in submerging themselves, mind body and soul into making decisions. Meanwhile men, impulsively react to situations for the sake of having a reason to do so. Men see women as less competent to making decisions that involve a lot of thought, and this is due to women’s

Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to gain that equality, but gender roles are very important in our society. They have become important in life from birth, and society continues to push these gender roles. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the female, and this issue has become very important to me, as a woman. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is a lot of discrimination against the female gender. Carol Gilligan argued that

Annette Bair and Marilyn Friedman have opposing views on whether women have distinct moral perspectives. Like Friedman, I believe that women have no different moral perspectives than men. Some people, like Bair, think that women base their moral perspectives on merely trust and love and men base theirs on justice. Friedman points out that care and justice coincide . People use justice to decide what is appropriate in caring relationships and care is brought into account when determining what is just. Since these two moral perspectives correspond, gender does not distinguish different moral perspectives.