WOMANHOOD IN PRUDENCE ALLEN GENDER PHILOSOPHY: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE METAPHYSICS

Abstract

There is a growing interest in gender philosophy. It could be said to be a consequence of gender equalitycampaign that has become a contemporary socio-political topical issue. Interestingly, philosopherssince the early years till this contemporary era have contended with the issues of gender; all in theattempt to justify or repudiate the polarity tussle between the male and the female. Hence, there arephilosophical foundations for the dominant notion that man is superior to woman; and this is thebackground to the denigration of womanhood in many cultures and societies. There are historicalperspectives and attempts at ethical analysis of the man and woman dichotomy. However, PrudenceAllen, a contemporary philosopher in her own perspective has attempted to reconcile the age longdisparity not just from a historical perspective but rather, on a metaphysical standpoint. According toher, the ontological understanding of woman in relation to man within the framework of IntegralGender Complementarity is the answer to the gender questions which have engaged philosophers fromages. To what extent does this metaphysical solution resolve the issues? Does it mean that theAristotelian idea and the medieval thoughts on women are standing on a faulty foundation? If theargument is metaphysically resolved as Allen taught, what is its correlation to socio political genderissues? For Allen, a woman is a whole being, ontologically equal to the man.