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The Case for Maternal Sacrifice, Examined
Gilman takes on the era's central justification for women's subordination — that specializing women entirely to motherhood benefits the race — and argues the claim cannot be proven, because what women are actually specialized to is sex-attraction, not the practical uses of maternity.
The standard justification for women's subordinationDistinguishing specialization for sex from specialization for motherhoodTesting claims against outcomes, not sentimentPhysical processes of reproduction under scrutinySetting up the education-and-care argument of Chapter X