Egalitarian liberal feminism

Egalitarian liberal feminism conceives of freedom as personal autonomy — living a life of one's own choosing — and political autonomy — being co-author of the conditions under which one lives. 


Egalitarian liberal feminists hold that the exercise of personal autonomy depends on certain enabling conditions that are insufficiently present in women's lives, or that social arrangements often fail to respect women's personal autonomy and other elements of women's flourishing. They hold also that women's needs and interests are insufficiently reflected in the basic conditions under which they live, and that those conditions lack legitimacy because women are inadequately represented in the processes of democratic self-determination. Egalitarian liberal feminists hold that autonomy deficits like these are due to the “gender system” (Okin 1989, 89), or the patriarchal nature of inherited traditions and institutions, and that the women's movement should work to identify and remedy them. 


As the protection and promotion of citizens' autonomy is the appropriate role of the state on the egalitarian liberal view, egalitarian liberal feminists hold that the state can and should be the women's movement's ally in protecting and promoting women's autonomy. There is disagreement among egalitarian liberal feminists, however, about the role of personal autonomy in the good life, the appropriate role of the state, and how egalitarian liberal feminism is to be justified. 


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