Good morning everyone.

I am Francine Galicia and today, I will be discussing the concept behind ‘Female
Care Ethics.’

To begin, let us first take a look at the difference in the societal views between men and women. The
example provided in our reference simply mentions of the boy toy-girl toy psychological difference but to
give us a better grasp of the claimed moral and societal difference, I will be presenting a different scenario.

Have any of you heard of Bank of America? Yes? No? Well, Bank of America is a multinational investment
bank and financial services company. And how this company relates to our topic is through the controversy
that sparked interest way back in the year 2008.

That year, Sallie Krawcheck was the president of the company’s Global Wealth and Investment
Management division and certainly, we all know that 2008 was also the time of the worldwide financial
crisis. What happened was clients bought investments from the company, thinking they were of low risk.
However, due to the financial market downturn, these investments actually suffered significant risks. Thus,
Sallie Krawcheck, feeling responsible, believed that it is but right that the company offers a partial refund
to the affected clients. This idea, nonetheless, was opposed by the men in her management team which
ultimately led to her dismissal.

What we can derive from this situation with regard to how women act in society is more on the
compassionate side of the feeling spectrum whereas men are more rule-governed. Where Sallie was
concerned with the clients’ situation and therefore, wanting to address their problem, the men who opposed
her, on the other hand, focused solely on the rules that govern the business—to minimize their expenses
and earn profit as much as possible, despite the setbacks that their clients experienced.

Proceeding, let’s talk now about Female Care Ethics and what it is all about. This ethical concept was
proposed by Carol Gilligan back in 1982 which was her form of response to the Theory of Moral
Development by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg.

What triggered Gilligan to come up with her ethical concept was the study that Kohlberg carried out on the
male population concerning the Heinz dilemma (the one where Heinz is torn between stealing a drug to
save his wife or not). Gilligan states, based on her own study that women tend to think differently. Whereas
the men answered that Heinz should steal the drug, women think otherwise.

Thus, with regard to ethics, the former gives importance to justice, the individual rights and rules governing
the situation and the moral principles while the former focuses more on the process of providing care and
compassion and the preservation of good relations among the people involved. For Gilligan, men apply
ethics autonomously while women do so with interdependence.

Simply stating, Care Ethics believes that justice can sometimes be overruled depending on the context and
connections involved.
This led Gilligan to propose the three stages in women’s moral development where in:

First stage: A woman still focuses on personal interest

Second stage: The situation is flipped and a woman now becomes selfless, tending to the needs of others
more than her own.

Third stage: A woman tends to balance caring for her own needs and that of others.

For Gilligan, moral development of girls lean toward compassion instead of what Kohlberg suggested as a
moral process of confirming to justice.

Also, what sets Gilligan’s idea apart from utilitarianism is that the focus is not so much on the benefit or
pleasure derived from doing things but rather on the care that is provided when a woman does things.

Then, we have the relationship between Care and Particularism. When we actually refer to ‘care’ in terms
of Female Care Ethics, we actually

Another distinguishing factor in Care Ethics is also the fact that it actually opposes to the idea of
universalism that suggests moral principle are applicable to all anytime. Care Ethics deals with what we
call ‘Moral Particularism.’ This states that morality should be seen not as an abstract concept that applies
universally despite being deprived of the emotional aspect of things. Rather, it views morality as a means
of flourishing distinct connections within a community.

Take for example, the example I shared about Sallie Krawcheck. When we apply Care Ethics, we can see
that Sallie did what she did not out of the mere fact that it is universally right to answer for the wrong one
to the clients who transacted with the company in good faith. Rather, Sallie believed that making partial
refunds is what applies best to the situation, knowing that the relationship between the customers should be
of priority in business as compared to earning more.

Another figure who focused a study on Care Ethics is Nel Noddings, an American Philosopher. In her
works, she highlights the difference between ‘natural caring’ and ‘ethical caring’ to support her idea that
despite valuing care for others, it is impossible to actually care for all. For example, when we see our sister
down after losing her job, we come up to her to give her a hug out of affection but when we see a co-worker
down because her dog died, we would give her a hug because it’s the best response. Thus, care, for
Noddings prevails more in terms of family or those closest to us rather than to distant others.

Noddings also believes that Care Ethics could be related to Virtue Theory wherein in order to apply such,
one has to practice the virtues that women acquire by doing established women practices such as cooking,
caring for children, etc.

However, Sarah Clarke Miller opposed Nodding’s idea, stating that general moral principles do not go far
from the concept of Care Ethics. For her, general moral principles is not just about applying universal
principles in whatever circumstances. Rather, it also needs to be applied based on a thorough understanding
of context. We don’t just apply all principles in one go. Instead, we evaluate and apply only those that are
needed for certain situations. Thus, she believes that Care Ethics should be coupled with the general moral
principles to serve as a guide for us in being moral. Caring, for her, is not a virtue to be acquired but is a
duty that one should practice.

The opposing views do not mean though that care should only be either a virtue or a duty. It can be both.
Like for example, the Climate Strike that took place last Friday. When we show care for the planet or for
our environment, it is seen as our obligation as inhabitants of such planet. And when we actually take to
heart such obligation, our care eventually prospers into virtuous habits wherein we eventually become
caring for our planet/environment instinctively and consistently.