Kantian Moral Education and Gendered Socialization

Movements like #metoo, #timesup, and #ibelieveher have succeeded in shedding light on the ongoing societal issue of misogyny. Against this backdrop, Kate Manne's attempt to analyze the concept of misogyny philosophically in her book Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny has rightfully received much acclaim. In this article, Katy Dineen takes Manne's ameliorative treatment of misogyny as the starting point for interrogating how Manne's theory might relate to the coercion of male identity and agency toward the ideal of hegemonic masculinity. Dineen notes that her motivation in questioning Manne's account on this point is pragmatic: she aims to provide a groundwork for moral education that will address the coercion of boys' and girls' agency and identity formation within patriarchy. Dineen concludes by describing a Kantian framework for moral education based on an idea of the freedom necessary to render oneself efficacious, autonomous, and creative. She also offers Manne's thoughts on empathy as a reason in support of adopting a Kantian framework.