What does "tarnish by association" mean in the context of autonomy?

Question

In the last sentence of the first paragraph of section 3a about Feminist Criticisms of Autonomy in the article Autonomy | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, there is a phrase "tarnished by association":

Feminist philosophers have been critical of concepts and values traditionally seen to be gender neutral, finding that when examined they reveal themselves to be masculine (see Jaggar 1983, Benjamin 1988, Grimshaw 1986, Harding and Hintikka 2003, and Lloyd 1986). Autonomy has long been coded masculine and associated with masculine ideals, despite being something which women have called for in their own right. Jessica Benjamin argues that while we are formally committed to equality, “gender polarity underlies such familiar dualisms as autonomy and dependency” (Benjamin 1988, 7). There has been some debate over whether autonomy is actually a useful value for women, or whether it has been tarnished by association.

What does this mean? What associates with autonomy, and why does it tarnish autonomy?

Answer 1

The issue at hand — as the quote implies — is that many of the moves toward gender-neutrality are actually gender blindness that fail to produce any meaningful change to the male-dominated world. For example:

1. Creating policies that overtly open the workplace to female employees (equal opportunity regardless of gender), without addressing the facts that women earn 3/4ths of what men earn for the same work, and that women are far less likely to rise to top their positions
2. Creating ostensible social equality for women, without addressing the pervasive cultural norms that place the burden or child-care, elder-care, house cleaning, and the like squarely on the shoulders of women.

This causes problems for the notion of autonomy. Autonomy (in this sense) is the ability to act freely within society, which seems like a positive good. But there is not much reason to believe that the term 'autonomy' has the same meaning when applied to different genders. Consider this difference: a man who abandons his children in order to pursue a profitable career might be viewed as heartless, but this behavior is largely socially acceptable, and often resolved by the payment of money; A woman who does the same is generally treated as a bit of a monster by society, and may be subject to criminal penalties for child abandonment that are rarely faced by men. Autonomy (from certain feminist perspectives) is tarnished by its close association with male autonomy, and doesn't really help women find anything like equal presence in society.