Deck 77: Susan Moller Okin: Justice, Gender, and the Family

Question 1

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin asserts that substantial inequalities between the sexes

A) are apparent but not real.
B) have been resolved.
C) still exist in our society.
D) do not exist now.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin agrees that an equal sharing between the sexes of family responsibilities, especially child care, is

A) the great revolution that has not happened.
B) an established fact.
C) the great revolution that has finally happened.
D) a reality.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-According to Okin, the fact that women are doing more paid work does not imply that

A) they are unequal.
B) they are more equal.
C) equality has not been achieved.
D) the political system is maturing.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin says that the typical current practices of family life, structured to a large extent by gender, are

A) not just.
B) fair.
C) workable systems.
D) just.

Question 5

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin avers that a central source of injustice for women these days is that the law, most noticeably in the event of divorce, treats more or less as equals those whom custom, workplace discrimination, and the still-conventional division of labor within the family have made very unequal.

Question 6

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-According to Okin, the old assumption of the workplace, still implicit, is that workers have wives at home.

Question 7

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin declares that, contrary to expectation, gender-structured marriage does not make women vulnerable.

Question 8

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-According to Okin, one-half of poor and three-fifths of chronically poor households with dependent children are maintained by a single female parent.

Question 9

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin says that the often-repeated claim that we are living in a postfeminist era (because women have "made it") is false.

Question 10

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin asserts that serious and committed members of the work force (regardless of class) have primary responsibility, or even shared responsibility, for the rearing of children.

Question 11

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin says that employed wives still do by far the greatest proportion of unpaid family work, such as child care and housework.

Question 12

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin says we live in a society that has over the years regarded the innate characteristic of sex as one of the clearest legitimizers of different rights and restrictions, both formal and informal.

Question 13

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-For Okin, gender is sociologically and ethically unimportant.

Question 14

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin says the core idea of most contemporary feminism is that "the personal is political."

Question 15

Susan Moller Okin (1946-2004) was a feminist political philosopher and author, teaching at several universities including the University of Auckland, Brandeis, Harvard, and Stanford. She contends that traditional theories are based on the assumption that there is a wall of separation between private and public life and that only public life is the proper concern of political theory. But women have largely been relegated to the private sphere, where issues of rights and equality are not supposed to apply. Consequently, women have been left out of traditional theories of justice, an omission that ensured women would not be treated as the moral equals of men.
-Okin asserts that the sphere of family and personal life is so separate and distinct from the rest of social life that theories of justice can justifiably ignore it.