Perfectionism and Contemporary Feminist Values

Although formal barriers to womens social and political participation have crumbled, society remains, to a significant degree, gendered in the roles that women and men play. Womens and mens choices regarding work and family are largely responsible for maintaining and reinforcing the differences. While feminists recognize the need to criticize womens choices, too often they focus on restrictive conditions rather than the choices themselves. Kimberly A. Yuracko argues instead that encouraging women to make choices in accordance with a grounded and well-defined conception of perfectionism a philosophy concerned with human flourishing is the most effective way to redress persistent gender inequality. To this end, Yuracko seeks not only to expose the perfectionism underlying current choice critiques, but to articulate a concrete set of feminist perfectionist principles that would improve the quality of individual womens lives and improve the social standing of women as a whole.

Author: Kimberly A. Yuracko

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

Pages: 184

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Publication Date: 2003-02-26