Ferguson ML. 聽Hypatia. 31 (3) (August 2016): 687-703.
Abstract:
The central thesis of Susan Okin鈥檚 Justice, Gender, and the Family鈥攖hat the ideology of the traditional family is the linchpin of contemporary gender inequality in the US鈥攔emains significant more than a quarter-century after the book鈥檚 publication. On a political register, Okin鈥檚 insistence on structural analysis of gender inequality is an important corrective to recent mainstream feminist emphasis on individual women鈥檚 choices. On an academic register, her work reveals the incoherence of scholarly classifications of feminist theories as 鈥渓iberal feminist鈥� or 鈥渞adical feminist鈥� by confounding such distinctions. I argue that her thesis is best understood in relation to the early radical feminism of Juliet Mitchell鈥檚 Woman鈥檚 Estate, a book Okin praised. Placing Okin鈥檚 work in the context of its radical roots clarifies her 鈥渓inchpin thesis,鈥� but also reveals the limitations of her argument: in her emphasis on what Iris Young has termed the 鈥渄istributive paradigm of justice,鈥� Okin unnecessarily adopts a much narrower definition of the family than did Mitchell, and overestimates the influence of economic vulnerability after divorce on women鈥檚 capacity to exit marriage. I suggest modifications to her theory, and conclude by showing the continuing relevance of her argument for analyzing recent legal, policy, and demographic shifts.