Nussbaum argues that the best way to tackle the issue of women's equality in developing countries is to begin with a conception of the human being and human functioning. By seeing certain capabilities and functions as more central to human life than others, Nussbaum anticipates feminist and cultural relativistic challenges and defends her particular brand of universalism and essentialism. This paper provides a self‐consciously normative conception of what it is to be human and to live a good life, as well as a proposal for a culturally sensitive development ethic.