Justice, Gender, And the Family
Much of what needs to be done to end the inequalities of gender, and to work in the direction of ending gender itself, will also help equalize opportunity from one family to another" (Okin, 17). Therein lies the central message that Okin attempts to convey within her book, Justice, Gender, and the Family. Through her analysis of contemporary theories of justice, and a discussion of the inequalities that are inherent to gender-based marriage and family, Okin claims that socially constructed, and maintained, injustice within the private sphere results in American women being equally repressed within the public sphere. However laudable these intentions and claims may be, Okin ultimately fails to provide the necessary empirical evidence to support and validate her claims. Justice, Gender, and the Family, therefore, emerges as a valuable commentary on present social institutions and a work of commendable moral sentiment, but contributes little to the existing body of academic knowledge on either gender or the family.
Although Okin addresses the wide range of existing theories of justice, such as those promoted by Rawls, Walzer, MacIntyre, and Nozick, and is generally critical of their failure to address gender inequalities, much of the criticism is extremely subjective and lacking in supportive evidence. The major omission from Okin's discussion is the philosophical question of whether the concept of justice has any role...
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