Laurence Moss wrote:  
"Is any one on this list seriously implying that this is not really social  
science but ideology or normative banter or worse?  That seems to me to be a  
different problem from what is being described by feminine or masculine sounding  
words (concepts).    
Becker was one of my teachers in graduate school and I never got the impression that his
economics was especially designed for men rather than women.  Our names (and genders) were
disguised on all the exams and the grade distribution was not something that raised our
concerns during the turbulent 1960s!  We had more pressing concerns.  Hopefully, members
of this list still do."
  
          
Having started this thorny thread, I would like to send one last post on the subject:  
Becker did not design his economics for men or women. The criticism is not that it is
ideological banter. He rigorously developed it based on the concept of the neoclassical
economic agent, who is devoid of any socio-cultural characteristics. Hence his work misses
the important dimensions that must be examined to come up with a meaningful theory of an
institution such as the family. And he is an important economist, so the consequences of
his work do matter. For feminist economists, the economic status of women is always a
pressing concern; I am simply awed by their commitment.
           
He obviously was a scrupulously fair teacher; but Becker's teaching also produced some
students, including women, who scrupulously follow his research agenda, pay some lip
service to gender roles, traditional or changing, and then conclude confidently in favor
of non-intervention in the market/society. One example: June O'Neill who has held many
important positions in the government. It is for every person to decide if the stark
differences between economists' conclusions are a matter of inherited ideology or good and
bad theorizing. I don't believe we can ever resolve that issue satisfactorily. That does
tell us something about the stark differences in natural sciences and a social science
such as economics, no matter how physics-like it wants to become.
           
Sumitra Shah