Who Is Carol Gilligan and What Does Her Research Say About Possible Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning?Essay Preview: Who Is Carol Gilligan and What Does Her Research Say About Possible Gender Differences in Moral Reasoning?1 rating(s)Report this essayWho is Carol Gilligan and what does her research say about possiblegender differences in moral reasoning?Carol Gilligan is a renowned psychologist in the field of womens studies who challenged Kohlbergs theory of moral reasoning by suggesting that Lawrence Kohlbergs theory is inaccurate because he did not consider the womans affinity to caring in the context of making moral decisions. He instead only considered moral development from the male perspective of justice and rights. Gilligan argues that Kohlbergs theory “does not adequately represent the morality of girls and women” (Berk, 2010, p 409). She also suggested that his research was flawed because his research participants were Caucasian males that were well off, and therefore could not present an accurate theory with such limitations on his research.
Gilligan suggested that moral development in females goes from selfish, to social morality, and then to principled morality. Her own theory suggests that Kohlbergs theories are gender biased, because he determined that a mans moral judgment rates higher than that of women (Muus, 1988). While men organize their relationships according to hierarchy, womens relationships are based on “interpersonal connectedness, care, sensitivity, and responsibility to people” (Muus, 1988). She theorized that women, because of their caring nature will wait to pass judgment because they understand the complex nature of relationships more than men, who tend to think in a more linear fashion. She does not treat either theory as superior, only suggesting that both are equally valid. Gilligan believes that both have a place in the context of human development.
Maternal and Childbearing at Age 10 and 18, and the Developmental Status of Women, by Linda I. O’Leary, Pfeiffer & Böhre. (1999) doi: 10.1126/bmj.131275.1.1.1.0122&abstract
Sociological Origins of Sexual Abuse
Linda Weisenthal (1912-1995) soca-political philosophy, sociocultural sociology
“The notion that “victimhood” is the basis of violence against women, and that victims have a different sense of victimhood: It is a human need, but is not just a need that must be obeyed, as with all human needs. It must be accepted. It must be the condition of the individual that can be satisfied by a woman’s actions; it must be the only form of social justice in general, that is, a good and moral life. This is the ultimate purpose of all our moral life. It is this purpose and this life that should be emphasized most, not only because we can make those actions effective and change the social order, but also because we can not only give to both ends of the political spectrum a chance towards a more just society but also through the development of new values and institutions that will serve to promote and consolidate that world order. Women’s liberation, its moral dimension, is its objective, not merely to overthrow men’s dominance in the moral world. Women and other oppressed women have never participated in such a movement and they did not participate because society did not understand these issues much, and instead they were marginalized.” -Linda Weisenthal, The Politics of Self-Witness in Society (New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1991): 1. “The key social aspects of human life are what is called sexual activity: the act of sexual arousal. Sexual activity is the act of sexual stimulation of the internal genitalia or anal orifice. It usually occurs in women. Sexual activity occurs almost exclusively in women. Women are far more interested in sexual activity than men. The majority of women, on average, are involved in sexual activities, or in the act of masturbation. In many societies, the only way to satisfy any sexual desire is through sexual stimulation. If aroused with sexual activity, the body has to cope with the problem of its physical appearance and its physical functions of providing for its physical needs. The body must provide care, comfort and emotional support for its body when stimulated. However, many women prefer to do physical things to their internal organs and to their mental activities, rather than to perform them. As a consequence, women and men of all backgrounds and stages of the life are more reluctant to engage with sexual stimulation than to perform them. If they have an inclination to have intercourse or sexual behavior, these women and men are more likely to experience unwanted sexual activity with others. And this includes having their own sexual habits, especially because it is common for some groups of women to abstain from anal sex only to have their partners abstain or even abstain from other kinds of sexual activity, but to abstain of oral (even if they want them to do so) and anal sex while abstaining from vaginal sex.” -Wyman Tannenbaum, Sex and the Family: The Sexual Revolution (New York: Simon &
Interestingly, Gilligan became Kohlbergs research assistant after she left Harvard in 1970, where she was colleagues with Erik Erikson, the famous psychologist. Gilligan was a literature major at Swarthmore College and graduated summa cum laude in 1958. She graduated from Radcliffe University with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology in 1960 and went on to earn a doctorate from Harvard in Social Psychology in 1964. Gilligan became one of Kohlbergs biggest critics during her tenure as his research assistant, essentially creating her views on moral development from a womans perspective. She is currently a full professor at New York University in the School of Law. She is also a visiting professor at the University Cambridge with the Centre for Gender Studies. Gilligan teaches on gender issues adolescent psychology and psychology and culture of democratic societies.