d to mention considerations of rights. Hence, the difference in moral perspective is evident. This has been proven by Gilligan and her associates in numerous studies. Now we face the harder task of trying to understand what implications these results have and why there is a difference. Is the difference based on sex or gender? Does the separation in moral perspective happen in a person's childhood or adult life? Various speculations and observations of human biological nature, social role, organization of family, childhood psychology and other aspects have led to different theories about the basis of the discussed difference. Virginia Held outlines the possible roots of a feminine moral perspective -- "The place of women in the family is shaped by social, economic, legal, and political forces, along with the psychological and biological forces that contribute to forming families. Women are routinely subordinate within the family, and then subordinate in the 'public' sphere, partly because of their confinement to roles associated with being wives and mothers... When women work for wages outside their households, the jobs open to them are largely in roles that match their traditional roles in the family: nursing the sick, teaching children, waiting on tables, and typing and filing for men." (Rights and Goods-Justifying Social Action; By Virginia Held; Pub. The University of Chicago Press, 1984) This view contains the elements that satisfy the socio-cultural theory on gender-based ethics. It holds that the feminine moral perspective is focused on care due to women's gender role in society. Men's justice- oriented moral perspective then arises from their practice in the public domain where universal standards apply. Women appear to be more attached to, and caring for their offspring, and are less likely to abandon their child. Their maternal practice requires them to respond to the needs of the helpless one. This relationship is strongly la...
