Gender and Society

- Gender and Society

The idea of lifeboat ethics is one that goes back a number of years and it deals with how human beings rationalize our help for others . If we are in a lifeboat of 50 people and it can hold 10 more , what are we to do with the 100 people around us ? How are we to decide which 10 people to let in , or do we let in 10 additional people at all ? These are considerations when talking about lifeboat ethics that people have keep in mind

In the

article by Nancy Scheper Hughes , there are some interesting themes brought up about helping people in conjunction with the relationship between mother and child . In the Alto society that she is observing , there is not that natural bonding between mother and child that is to be expected . Instead , women are more emotionally removed from their children and they are less likely to take any action that would undermine the role of nature . The idea of care and love at an early age is foreign . In the article , Hughes writes , Allowing nature to take its course is not seen as sinful by these often very devout Catholic women Rather , it is understood as cooperating with God 's plan

It is interesting to see how Hughes wanted to reach out and lend a helping hand . In one instance , she tries to offer some advice to a woman who is clearly allowing her baby to die . It was in that...