ABSTRACT
At first glance demands for gender equality and claims for cultural justice have much in common. In their search for more inclusive conceptions of justice both highlight the importance of difference and diversity. Thus both reject abstract, unitary conceptions of citizenship in favour of a contextual identity that recognises our particular attachments, concerns and perspectives. Furthermore, both are critical of notions of formal equality that define equality exclusively in terms of identical individual rights. Yet, despite these shared concerns and goals, significant tensions remain between the demand for gender equality and respect for cultural diversity. While a regard for pluralism and cultural diversity entails that we respect the desire of communities to uphold their traditional way of life, many established cultural and religious customs discriminate against women and therefore cannot be easily reconciled with the norm of gender equality. Here feminists frequently express concern about the impact upon women of practices such as female circumcision, polygamy, child marriages or forced marriages, and gender differentiated rules regarding divorce. In addition there are worries regarding gender equality in relation to access to education, employment and vulnerability to violence.1
