Carol Gilligan - Author
Carol Gilligan is a feminist and psychologist who started off her career in 1967, working at Harvard University as a Harvard Graduate School of Education professor. In the 1970's, during the Women's Movement, Gilligan began writing 'In A Different Voice'. Gilligan writes that in 1973, during Roe V. Wade, "it would be selfish to bring her voice into relationships, that perhaps she did not know what she really wanted (Letter to Readers, 1993). Gilligan was discussing the oppression of the woman's voice. Gilligan decided to study difference in men and women's psychological relationships.
Gilligan's theory of the three stages of female morality is based on selfishness, caring for others, and consequences. Gilligan determined that the woman's voice is often oppressed due to the male dominated social power of the environment she has developed in (p.69). Expressing that masculinity and femininity are the "canons" of difference between men and women. Gilligan's work is dedicated to listening and finding the disconnection in men and women's voices. Gilligan conducts three studies on men and women where she poses the question, "How do women come to speak of themselves as though they were selfless, as if they did not have a voice or did not experience desire?" (Letter to Readers, 1993).
Gilligan's contribution to the field of psychology was substantial due to her findings on moral development and the outlines of how a woman's morality is influenced by the relationships she encounters and how womens actions are based on the consequence and effect on others (Gilligan, p.90).