Abstract

In addressing the issue of human dignity from a gender perspective the article's point of departure is that dignity of women is no different from the dignity of men. A gender perspective does not need to be antiuniversalist. Indeed men and women share a same humanity. Intuitively the standards of a decent life for men are the same as the standards of a decent life for women. Treating people (men and women) as worthy of concern and respect requires to enable them a situation where to live a truly human life. It means that they may freely develop their capacities and skills within the protective and regulative framework of human rights. Such a universalist perspective however is controversial in the plural world of feminist theory. Gender studies and philosophies are often tempted to insulate gender from humanity in a way that is disruptive of the concept and also of the practice of human rights. The article modestly tries to develop an argument in order to object to the antiuniversalist temptation.