In the depths of the lockdown in 2020, I was burnt out and looking at graduate studies. I was particularly interested in feminist studies, and somehow my partner failed to mention, until that moment, “hey, my cousin does that I think”. 

This is an academic text, and without any relevant post-secondary education, it took me a while to get the jargon. But once I’d orientated myself, the book validated and educated me. Like most philosophy, moral responsibility and the question of what is a good or bad action has been determined by a lot of white men. And frequently, those theories make assumptions that everybody is logical, everybody has equal power, and everybody is equally believed when making an accusation.

What I found validating is I have struggled to buy into conventional moral responsibility. Intellectually, Kant, and Utilitarianism felt like shirts that didn’t fit right-- I was always trying to tuft them to get them to fit. I noticed this particularly strongly when I was taking an ethics class for my engineering licenses. Some of the examples came to moral conclusions that weren’t *wrong* but also not the approach I’d take. When I took my exam, I joked with myself to “Think like an old white man” XD. She points out that conventional approaches are rooted in principles and justice, but in intersectional feminist spaces, justice is very often unlikely and principles are impossible when one must account for the infinite spectrum of intersectionality. Instead, it is argued that instead, a theory rooted in care that recognizes the impact of power in relationships will lead to better outcomes. 

The book also validated the actions and norms of feminist spaces. It gave credence to the importance of speaking blame to a sympathetic ear without attempting legal justice, the value of providing care to somebody harmed without requiring a report, of whisper networks and #MeToo statements. This book will inform my activism and my reading for a long time.