Sexism has been a problem since the existence of man and woman. It brings on the controversial issue of men and women, and how they are not considered equal in society. There are many different perspectives on sexism and whether or not it still exists. Feminist writers such as Daly, Frye, and Millett all stress the way in which women have been subject to the power of men and how the female self is ‘invaded’ by patriarchal conditioning. Frye, in particular, has a strong opinion on the issue. As Jean Grimshaw states in her article, Autonomy and Identity in Feminist Thinking, “Frye sees women as simply ‘broken’ and then ‘remade’ in the way that suits their masters.”
Frye argues that if it were ‘left to themselves,’ women would not want to serve men. She goes into depth about how the persons of two sexes are treated differently, or behave differently, but nothing in the real differences between females and males justifies or explains the difference of treatment or behavior. In Frye’s article Sexism, she gives a prime example of how ones sex is relevant in certain situations. “If a company hires a man, in preference to a more experienced and knowledgeable women, can we explain our objection to the decision by saying it involved distinguishing on the basis of sex when sex is irrelevant to the ability to do the job?” The answer is no. This brings us to virtue ethics which focuses on the role of ones character and what his or her virtues entail.
Aristotle, a famous philosopher, studied virtue ethics. He considers the virtuous person to both know what the good thing to do is, and also be emotionally attached to it. He says that the virtuous person shall exhibit the joint excellence of reason and of character. He believes that woman’s rational capacity is not on an equal par with that of man, it lacks full legitimacy or authority. He viewed women as subject to men, but higher than slaves. He most definitely saw men