| Liberalism has struggled with the question of what is to be done when subgroups within liberal society assert their right to espouse illiberal values. Feminist scholars have drawn attention to the way some illiberal subcultures, often consisting of religious groups exercising their right to practice their religion, openly reject the full equality of women and accept gender hierarchy as part of their way of life. According to Rawlsian political liberalism, gender hierarchy within the family is permitted by justice so long as it "is indeed fully voluntary." What I want to ask, then, is under what circumstances might we feel reasonably secure that such a choice is indeed fully voluntary? What obligations does a just society have to ensure that these circumstances obtain? Which methods of implementation might such a society adopt, consistent with liberal principles, when arranging its basic institutions?; I suggest that the circumstances in which we might feel reasonably assured that adults are making choices that reflect their genuine values and preferences are ones in which every child is guaranteed sufficient future freedom to allow her to evaluate and accept, reject, or modify her values, preferences, and conception of the good. My recommended means of providing this guarantee are twofold. The first prong consists in providing each child with an environment in which a variety of family forms are socially approved, so that her conception of the good does not become prematurely and unreflectively established according to its compatibility with an expected role in a traditional, heterosexual couple form of family. The second prong would require state-mandated autonomy-enabling education for all children. This education would undertake to ensure that children adequately develop their autonomy (including the capacity competently to evaluate and choose among conceptions of the good) and that they are exposed to a significant variety of valuable ways of life.; I reject Rawls's political liberalism as insufficient for grounding a government obligation to promote gender equality and to ensure children's future freedom. Instead, I embrace a Mill-influenced comprehensive liberalism. |
