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Violence Against Women: Philosophical Perspectives, and: Daring to be Good: Essays in Feminist Ethico-Politics (review)
- NWSA Journal
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 12, Number 1, Spring 2000
- pp. 187-190
- 10.1353/nwsa.2000.0006
- Review
- Additional Information
NWSA Journal 12.1 (2000) 187-190
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Book Review
Violence Against Women: Philosophical Perspectives
Daring to be Good: Essays in Feminist Ethico-Politics
Violence Against Women: Philosophical Perspectives edited by Stanley G. French, Wanda Teays, and Laura M. Purdy. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1998, 304 pp., $16.95 paper.
Daring to be Good: Essays in Feminist Ethico-Politics edited by Bat-Ami Bar On and Ann Ferguson. New York and London: Routledge, 1998, 252 pp., $21.99 paper.
As a new millennium approaches, many feminist theorists are reflecting on the relationship of contemporary feminist scholarship to disciplinary methods and traditions as well as to the work of feminist predecessors. These discussions address long-standing feminist ethical and political issues surrounding the production of feminist theories in the academy, the responsibilities of feminist theorists to women outside the academy, and the connections between creating feminist theory and living a feminist life. The editors of two recent books in feminist philosophy, Violence Against Women and Daring to be Good, are concerned about the gap between theory and practice that, despite good intentions, persists in much of feminist theorizing. They assert, along with their contributors, the need for feminist theory to be informed by the experiences of culturally diverse women if it is to be successful in its goal of social transformation. Both books also criticize a Western philosophical tradition that has tended to ignore violence against women and separate ethics and politics.
Violence Against Women is a much-needed addition to feminist and philosophical discussions of the myriad forms of violence that women experience around the world. As many of the book's contributors note, philosophical theories of violence against women will remain inadequate as long as they ignore the impact of cultural norms on violence against women globally, women's experiences of interpersonal violence, and the impact of public policy on women's lives. The thirteen essays offer new and culturally diverse perspectives on some frequently discussed issues such as female genital mutilation, sexual harassment, pornography, prostitution, domestic violence, rape, and public policy. For example, Semra Asefa's essay provides information about the practices and health implications of female genital mutilation, an analysis of taboos surrounding the practice, and a discussion of societal responsibility for its continuation. Arnold R. Eiser discusses female genital mutilation from the point of view of his experience as a health care provider in an internationally diverse clinic in New York City and argues for health and well-being as transcultural values that could ground arguments against female genital [End Page 187] mutilation. Both essays take the discussion of female genital mutilation beyond the arguments for and against cultural relativism that have informed much of the philosophical discussion of the issue.
Many of the essays in Violence Against Women argue for the importance of considering women's experiences of violence and the implications of feminist and non-feminist conceptualization of violence for women. As such, the book reveals the limitations of traditional philosophical approaches to violence that take the genderless, cultureless individual as a point of departure and helps to move philosophical discussions of violence toward a better understanding of the myriad ways that women are harmed by interpersonal and institutional violence. Susan J. Brison's essay is an excellent example of how beginning with women's experiences can contribute to a reconceptualization of philosophical problems. In her essay, Brison provides an account of her own rape in order to highlight how women's experiences of sexual assault further philosophical understanding of personal identity and harm. Catharine MacKinnon shows how conceptions of human rights in international law have prevented the rapes of Muslim and Croatian women and girls from being recognized as violations of human rights. In addition, Roksana Nazneen mentions her experience of immigrating to Canada in order to escape her in-laws as a point of departure for her discussion of how cultural norms promote and justify intra-familial violence against women in Bangladesh. And in her discussion of the conceptualization and treatment of raped battered...