The masculine ascent up the steps of justice
Gilligan believes that the field of psychology has tried to treat women as if they were men. Psychologists who study moral and intellectual development have assumed that male experience is the typical way childish views of right and wrong grow into adult ethical thinking. When women don’t follow the normative path laid out by men, "the conclusion has generally been that something is wrong with women"(Gilligan, 1982, p. 18).