The Concept of a Feminist Bioethics

Abstract

Feminist bioethics poses a challenge to bioethics by exposing the masculine marking of its supposedly generic human subject, as well as the fact that the tradition does not view women's rights as human rights. This essay traces the way in which this invisible gendering of the universal renders the other gender invisible and silent. It shows how this attenuation of the human in 'man' is a source of sickness, both cultural and individual. Finally, it suggests several ways in which images drawn from women's experience and women's bodies might contribute to a constructive rethinking of basic ethical concepts.