Your writing assignment comes from the last case study on the ethics of hiring a friend when the friend is not the best candidate–pp. 183-184

ANSWER QUESTION #4–What should Elizabeth do according to the ethics of care and why?

You need to demonstrate that you understand the requirements of an Ethics of Care and explain why the theory is relevant to issue at hand.

Through many instincts are held more or less in common by both sexes, to fight has always been the man’s habit, not the woman’s. Law and practice have developed that difference, whether innate or accidental. Scarcely a human being in the course of history has fallen to a woman’s rifle; the vast majority of birds and beasts have been killed by you, not by us…”

The history of war and combat is overwhelmingly male, but even before the combat prohibition was lifted, women were already fighting in war. Tens of thousands of women helped fight in Iraq and Afghanistan as medics, military police, and intelligence officers. While these women were technically banned from combat on the ground, they would often find themselves on the front lines.²

Questions

1. Fighting in combat is a traditionally masculine enterprise.
   What are some other traditionally masculine roles in which women’s opportunities have been limited?

2. Would feminist ethics endorse the military policy to allow women to fight in combat? Why or why not?

3. Would an ethics of care endorse the military policy to allow women to fight in combat? Why or why not?

Favoring Friends

Consider the following thought experiment: Elizabeth is the hiring manager at a start-up technology company, which is seeking a new software developer. Her good friend, Janice, just completed a degree in computer science and is seeking her first job out of college. When Janice’s résumé crosses Elizabeth’s desk, she immediately adds Janice to the shortlist for the job. Elizabeth thinks to herself that it would be a very good thing to help Janice break into the industry, and she imagines it would be fun working with her good friend. However, when comparing Janice’s résumé to the other shortlisted candidates, Elizabeth begins to realize that there are better candidates for the job. Janice is inexperienced and would require more training than the other potential hires. Still, Elizabeth feels that she has a special duty to help her friend.

Footnotes:

1. https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/01/the-feminist-objection-to-women-in-combat/272505/
2. https://jezebel.com/5978607/women-have-been-in-combat-all-along