About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

9 J. Contemp. Legal Issues 75 (1998)
The Only Ticket to Equality: Total Androgyny, Male Style

handle is hein.journals/contli9 and id is 81 raw text is: The Only Ticket to Equality: Total Androgyny, Male Style Barbara R. Bergmann* ABSTRACT We can point to three types of regime that might possibly produce equality between men and women: 1) Both sexes participating equally in the world of money exchange and the world of domestic tasks; 2) A high degree of commodification of the tasks that the present gender system assigns as unpaid duties to women, with equal female participation in the male world of exchange; 3) Continued separate spheres, but with greater equality in reward and status. High commodification, with women well integrated into the world of exchange, is offered as the most likely to produce equality. This is not a position that many feminists take, and the reasons for this are explored, with analogies to the aspirations of African-Americans and the disabled. As Plato pointed out in The Republic, male and female dogs lead very similar lives and fulfill identical functions; he suggested that the canine similarity of function would be a worthy example for humans.' We can imagine a world in which human females and males would lead very similar lives, both economically and socially. I argue that a world of similar lives for women and men is likely to be the only kind of world in which gender equality could be attained. Further, I will argue that such a world will have to operate, at least initially, very much like the male world of the present. This is not a position that has had much expression among those calling themselves feminists. The paper will close with what I believe to be an explanation of the lack of advocates for the position that to achieve equality women must join the male world. * Professor of Economics Emerita, American University and University of Maryland. <bberg@american.edu> This paper was prepared for the conference on What Kind of Equality Should Feminists Want?, December 12-13, 1997, San Diego University, San Diego, CA. 1. PLATO, THE DIALOGUES OF PLATO 331 (Benjamin Jowett trans., Clarendon Press 1975).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most