Care Focused Feminism

     This week we were assigned groups to tackle the many chapters from our textbook that were assigned. My group focused on chapter 5 "Care Focused Feminism." I cannot lie I was a bit biased when going into this reading; I do not believe that there are fundamental differences between sexes which is the basis for care focused feminism. I did not agree when the authors discussed concluded that women were more caring and empathetic. Maybe this is because I personally do not have many of the qualities that the authors attribute to women. They claim that men and women view ethics in different ways; men focus on logic and justice, while women focus on empathy and look at whether the actions hurt others. I however, am an extremely logical person but I also worry about the impact of my actions on others. It is safe to assume that many people would consider themselves somewhere in the gray area between logic and empathy.
     This is one area where Gilligan and Noddings' research falls short. They assume that the women are more caring without actually comparing them to men. Had they made this comparison, they might have found that there are people of both sexes that think compassionately. Or perhaps they would have found that most people think in a logical AND empathetic way. Drawing these lines purely based on sex does an injustice to the MANY people in this world who fall somewhere in the gray middle.
     As much as I disagree with many aspects of Care Focused Feminism there were things in the chapter that rang true. For instance, in the conclusion they talked heavily about bringing the ethics of care into the public sphere. This would improve areas such as education, healthcare and the environment. Last semester I took a Politics class that was centered around race and gender. What many political polls have found in the U.S. is that women are much more likely than men to care about and support government spending in areas such as education, healthcare, and protecting the environment. This seems to have some congruity with what Care Focused Feminists are saying. Women are also largely underrepresented in Congress, where laws pertaining to these issues are made. I cannot say for sure but it seems plausible that were there more women in Congress, there would also be more legislation in the areas of education, healthcare and the environment.