Women's subordination and their right to resist

Abstract

This essay seeks to combine Frèdéric Gros’ concept of subordination, presented in Disobey: The philosophy of Resistance, with the theory of women’s subordination proposed by feminist philosophers aligned with the Speech Acts Theory framework. It purports to show that the paternalism identified by Gros as a trademark of subordinative arrangements is present as such in sexist societies, playing a justificatory role in what concerns the morality of the subordination of women to men. I discuss uses of sexist derogatory words to show that such words reflect a patriarchal worldview, evoking paternalistic stereotypes. Additionally, I argue that counter-speech and slur appropriation can work as efficacious forms of resistance and disobedience to the patriarchy.