Gender in Ethical Dilemmas

During the second wave of the feminist movement, this question arose: do men and women think through moral dilemmas in different ways? For example, if Paul D had 4 children and schoolteacher was coming for them, would he have handled the situation differently than Sethe did? In Black Womanist Ethics, Katie Cannon argues that what white people have that blacks do not is freedom and a wide range of choices. Neither Paul D nor Sethe was free from fear, haunting memories, and wounds on their spirits, bodies, and mental states. In the situation in which Sethe found herself with her four children and schoolteacher, she had 2 choices: kill the children or allow them to be taken into slavery. Paul D, a male, would have had the same two choices. The second wave of the feminist movement would suggest that Paul D might have made a different decision than the one Sethe made. Paul D’s own words, although hindsight is 20/20, support this suggestion, indirectly calling Sethe a beast for what she did. Perhaps Paul D would have let his own children be taken into a life of brutal, violent slavery instead of having their blood on his hands. We can never really know, but it is important to acknowledge how gender plays a role in ethical dilemmas and decisions.