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原文再次
Passage 42
Two modes of argumentation have been used on
behalf of women’s emancipation in Western societies.
Arguments in what could be called the “relational”
feminist tradition maintain the doctrine of “equality in
(5) difference,” or equity as distinct for equality. They
posit that biological distinctions between the sexes
result in a necessary sexual division of labor in the
family and throughout society and that women’s procreative
labor is currently undervalued by society, to
(10) the disadvantage of women. By contrast, the individualist
feminist tradition emphasizes individual human rights
and celebrates women’s quest for personal autonomy,
while downplaying the importance of gender roles and
minimizing discussion of childbearing and its attendant
(15) responsibilities.
Before the late nineteenth century, these views
coexisted within the feminist movement, often within
the writings of the same individual. Between 1890 nd
1920, however, relational feminism, which had been the
(20) dominant strain in feminist thought, and which still predominates
among European and non-Western feminists,
lost ground in England and the United States. Because
the concept of individual rights was already well established
in the Anglo-Saxon legal and political tradition,
(25) individualist feminism came to predominate in Englishspeaking
countries. At the same time, the goals of the
two approaches began to seem increasingly irreconcilable.
Individualist feminists began to advocate a totally
gender-blind system with equal rights for all. Relational
(30) feminists, while agreeing that equal educational and
economic opportunities outside the home should be available
for all women, continued to emphasize women’s
special contributions to society as homemakers and
mothers; they demanded special treatment
(35) including protective legislation for women workers,
state-sponsored maternity benefits, and paid compensa256
tion for housework.
Relational arguments have a major pitfall: because
they underline women’s physiological and psychological
(40) distinctiveness, they are often appropriated by political
adversaries and used to endorse male privilege. But the
individualist approach, by attacking gender roles, denying
the significance of physiological difference, and
condemning existing familial institutions as hopelessly
(45) patriarchal, has often simply treated as irrelevant the
family roles important to many women. If the individualist
framework, with its claim for women’s autonomy,
could be harmonized with the family-oriented concerns
of relational feminists, a more fruitful model for con-
(50) temporary feminist politics could emerge. |
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