Contemporary feminists almost by definition seek to put an end to male domination and to secure women's liberation. To achieve these goals, many feminists support the political ideal of a gender-free or androgynous society. According to these feminists, all assignments of rights and duties are ultimately to accord with the ideal of a genderfree or androgynous society. Since a conception of justice is usually thought to provide the ultimate grounds for the assignment of rights and duties, I refer to this ideal of a gender-free or androgynous society as “feminist justice.” As we shall see, this ideal of feminist justice can be grounded in a right to equal opportunity that is endorsed by welfare liberals and, given the argument of the previous chapter, by libertarians as well. Also, this ideal can be grounded in a right to equal self-development endorsed by socialists. Unfortunately, most political philosophers who are committed to welfare liberal, libertarian, or socialist ideals have not explored the feminist implications of their ideals, despite the fact that doing so is just what is required by a peacemaking way of doing philosophy.

THE IDEAL OF A GENDER-FREE OR ANDROGYNOUS SOCIETY

But how is this ideal of a gender-free or androgynous society to be interpreted? It is a society where basic rights and duties are not assigned on the basis of a person's biological sex. Being male or female is not the grounds for determining what basic rights and duties a person has in a gender-free society.