ALTERNATIVE ETHICS IN EMPLOYED WOMENS HOUSEHOLD LABOR

This essay posits that employed women are in a quandary between two et hics, equity and care, in relation to the household division of labor. Typically, most women resolve the quandary by placing a higher priori ty on gendered behavior. To explain the moral rationales that women us e to prioritize the ethic of care and to articulate the ethical dilemm as of employed women, the author uses the frameworks of both Benhabib and Gilligan. Benhabib's characterization of each domain is useful in identifying ethical principles, in drawing distinctions, and in sugges ting resolutions. Gilligan's theory of moral reasoning specifies the p rocess by which the ethic of care is initially embraced and then modif ied. To resolve the dilemma, the concrete other (i.e., the ethic of ca re) might be integrated with aspects of the generalized other.