Feminist Ethics In Nursing

The term "feminist ethics" refers to a wide range of moral issues concerning gender inequalities, power, politics and social vulnerability. Feminist ethics emerged in the late 20-th century as the way to challenge the traditional utilitarian and deontological approaches to ethics. As seen in the earlier posts, the deontological and utilitarian approaches to ethics emphasize on rule, rationality and justice, which in feminist world associates with masculinity. Feminist theorists, in turn, argue that ethical decisions should be made based on relations, feelings and empathy intrinsic to women. Despite its novelty and vaguely defined principals, the feminist theory takes an important place in the health care system and particularly in nursing due to a female domination in the profession.
The most significant concept of the feminist ethics is the ethics of care, which defines morality and guides responses and ethical decision making within the caring profession. An ethic of care is a new approach to ethics that recognizes feelings, emotions, empathy and care as important compo¬nents of our ethical responses. Furthermore, it emphasizes on the demands of relationships and the particular circumstances nurses face in their daily practice. The vision of ethics of care highlights the importance of our emotional responses to ethical choices …show more content…
Another limitation is seen in that the feminist theory, by placing too much emphasis on the women’s innate desire to care, is creating a ground for further gender inequalities and endorsing a subordinate status of women in the society. In addition, some theorists have doubt the effectiveness of ethical decisions made under the influence of emotions end circumstances, and suggest balancing the ethics of care with the ethics of