Feminism, Ethics, and Art

Abstract

Abstract Artworks can be ethically evaluated by reflecting on those who make them, the purposes their creators articulate, and how they impact their audiences. When they are ethically evaluated, this evaluation may be guided by a specific ethical theory or be more informal. While a critical analysis would not be feminist if it did not oppose sexism, feminist analysis includes those that take up harms and forms of oppression caused by sexism in interaction with other forms of inegalitarianism. As a result, feminist approaches to the ethical evaluation of art are heterogeneous. This chapter focuses on ways to think about the moral or political subject matter of artworks. The author explores connections between their ethical and aesthetic value. Cases are emphasized in which the normative content of artwork involves imaginative exploration, in ways that unsettle habitual responses and encourages more complex aesthetic engagement.