Law Commons^™

Legal Impediments To Service: Women In The Military And The Rule Of Law, Linda Strite Murnane

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Some of those who served did so by disguising themselves as men.6 A number of women had served as spies, as was the case of Rose O'Neal Greenhow, who was arrested and imprisoned for supplying the Confederate Army with information, and Pauline Cushman, who was sentenced to be executed as a Union spy during the War Between the States.7 The first woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, Dr. Mary Walker, provided her services as a doctor free of charge to Union forces in Virginia and Tennessee.8 She had asked the Union Army to hire her as a doctor, …

Women In The Sphere Of Masculinity: The Double-Edged Sword Of Women’S Integration In The Military, Noya Rimalt

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Too many women together are not a good thing anywhere, especially not in the military.2 Noa is one of numerous women who have managed to cross traditional gender lines in the Israeli military in the last decade, assigned to positions that typically had been reserved for men.3 The inclusion of those women in traditional masculine spheres was the result of legal changes initiated by women and feminist groups in the 1990s.4 Those changes were designed to promote greater gender equality in the military by opening prestigious combat units to women soldiers.5 Hence, Noa and all other women whose military experiences …

A Right To Choose?: Sex Selection In The International Context, Ashley Bumgarner

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

While there is some debate among doctors, ethicists, and the general public about the level of medical necessity that should justify a sex-selection procedure, most accept that sex selection for medical reasons is beyond ethical reproach, and in some situations, should even be encouraged.9 However, elective, non-medical sex-selection, which is often performed for social or financial reasons, is the subject greater scrutiny and impassioned ethical debate.10 Currently, doctors and geneticists are able to diagnose more than five hundred separate medical conditions in a developing fetus.11 Among these conditions are devastating genetic diseases such as hemophilia, Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, Huntington's …

Women’S Rights And Shari’A Law: A Workable Reality? An Examination Of Possible International Human Rights Approaches Through The Continuing Reform Of The Pakistani Hudood Ordinance, Katherine M. Weaver

Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law

No abstract provided.

From Arachne To Charlotte: An Imaginative Revisiting Of Gilligan's "In A Different Voice", Erika Rackley

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Finding The Fastest Way To Her Heart: Linking Clinical And Policy Pathways, Paula Johnson, Brian R. Schuetz, Shelley M. Stark, Dora Tovar

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, integrates research, clinical practice, and policy analysis with practical application to emerging women’s health issues. Recently, an interdisciplinary team of practitioners examined pathways to improving women’s heart health. Beginning with the evidence that a heart-healthy diet leads to improved health outcomes for women with cardiovascular disease, the Connors Center team charted a course of intellectual exploration that culminated in a broader community dialogue on how to improve access to healthy and affordable food. Through clinical experiences, research activities, and an ongoing interchange …

Custody, Maintenance, And Succession: The Internalization Of Women's And Children's Rights Under Customary Law In Africa, Allison D. Kent

Michigan Journal of International Law

In this Note, the author examines the process of international human rights norm internalization into areas traditionally governed exclusively by customary law, and the resulting evolution of customary law. Assuming, arguendo, that customary law is to be modified, I argue that a societal norm internalization approach is the most effective means to bring customary law into conformity with international human rights law. After a brief discussion of the fieldwork on which I rely, this Note describes the historical influence of colonialism on the development of customary law in Africa, with a particular focus on the repugnancy clauses of the …

Refusal To Dispense Emergency Contraception In Washington State: An Act Of Conscience Or Unlawful Sex Discrimination?, Dana E. Blackman

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article will demonstrate that a pharmacist's refusal to fill a valid prescription for emergency contraception constitutes sex discrimination and violates the WLAD. Part I explains the nature and function of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) as well as their role in basic health care for women and the importance of their accessibility. Part II addresses federal civil rights protections and the failure of these protections to provide relief for women facing refusals. Focusing on the WLAD, Part II also explains how state public accommodation statutes protect women from discrimination in places of public accommodation. It further sets forth the prima …

Sex-Separation In Public Restrooms: Law, Architecture, And Gender, Terry S. Kogan

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This Article challenges the common assumption that legally mandated sex-separation of public restrooms is a benign recognition of natural anatomical differences between men and women. Relying on legal history, gender history, and architectural theory, my central thesis is that, contrary to common intuitions, there was nothing benign or gender neutral about the social and historical origins of the first laws adopted at the end of the nineteenth century that mandated such separation.

Toward A Third-Wave Feminist Legal Theory: Young Women, Pornography And The Praxis Of Pleasure, Bridget J. Crawford

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Part I of this Article explores the general themes of third-wave feminist writings. The Article begins with an overview of third-wave feminist literature and its predominant concerns. These concerns are (1) dissatisfaction with earlier feminists; (2) the multiple nature of personal identity; (3) the joy of embracing traditional feminine appearance and attributes; (4) the centrality of sexual pleasure and sexual self-awareness; (5) the obstacles to economic empowerment; and (6) the social and cultural impact of media and technology. Textual analysis reveals third-wave feminists' reliance on non-legal tools for remedying gender inequality. Although third-wave feminists acknowledge the law's role in women's …

Gender Nonconformity And The Unfulfilled Promise Of Price Waterhouse V. Hopkins, Joel Wm. Friedman

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

The Supreme Court has articulated a doctrinal framework that, if construed and applied properly, provides the lower federal courts with the analytical tools necessary to identify and proscribe workplace rules that compel individuals to adhere to appearance, attire, and behavioral norms that operate to reinforce gendered expectations.1 Since the Supreme Court has ruled that penalizing an individual for failing to conform to gendered norms of behavior constitutes a form of sex-based discrimination,2 one would expect that employees would have achieved some measure of success in challenging such policies.

Babes And Beefcake: Exclusive Hiring Arrangements And Sexy Dress Codes, Ann C. Mcginley

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Concluding that being a woman should not be a BFOQ for the job, this article addresses whether casino owners may require that women and men cocktail servers wear sexy provocative uniforms to serve cocktails in Las Vegas casinos.

Sexy Dressing Revisited: Does Target Dress Play A Part In Sexual Harassment Cases?, Theresa M. Beiner

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Feminists have been debating what constitutes appropriate female attire since the beginning of the feminist movement in the United States. Since the early 1990s, when Naomi Wolf's book The Beauty Myth was released, feminists, law professors, and popular culture critics have tried to understand women's dress in the present day. In spite of years of criticism of these beliefs, the bias this injects into rape trials, and even with the enactment of rape shield laws, this evidence still sneaks into rape cases. With this in mind, one would expect a similar phenomenon to occur in sexual harassment cases. As the …

The Ugly Truth About Appearance Discrimination And The Beauty Of Our Employment Discrimination Law, William R. Corbett

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

The keynote speaker for the conference begins by reminding the audience that a mere quarter of a century earlier there was no federal law that expressly prohibited discrimination in employment based on physical appearance. Considering the difficulty of crafting and enacting an appearance-based employment discrimination law should lead to a fuller appreciation of not only our employment discrimination laws generally, but also the Americans with Disabilities Act specifically.

The Hair Dilemma: Conform To Mainstream Expectations Or Emphasize Racial Identity, Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, Tracy L. Dumas

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Throughout American history, skin color, eye color, and hair texture have had the power to shape the quality of Black people's lives, and that trend continues today for Black women in the workplace.

The Many Faces Of Darlene Jespersen, Michael Selmi

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

Since this symposium and this case are about appearances, it is worth noting that Lambda Legal posted pictures of Darlene Jespersen in her uniform on its website, and those pictures could be seen as presenting a stereotypical image of a middle-aged gay woman.5 There are obviously many reasons the pictures may have been presented-to humanize her, to show the effect of the makeup policy since the pictures appeared to be taken in the context of the personal best policy-but they also convey an image, and were likely intended to do so. An objection to this line of reasoning is likely …

Exploring Universal Rights: A Symposium, Jamie Mayerfeld, Brooke Ackerly, Henry Shue, Jack Donnelly, Kok-Chor Tan, Charles Beitz

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Which Rights Should Be Universal? by William J. Talbott. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005. 232pp.

Casa Of Maryland And The Battle Regarding Human Trafficking And Domestic Workers’ Rights, Elizabeth Keyes

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Women's Place: Urban Planning, Housing Design, And Work-Family Balance, Katharine B. Silbaugh

Fordham Law Review

In the past decade a substantial literature has emerged analyzing the role of work-family conflict in hampering women's economic, social, and civil equality. Many of the issues we routinely discuss as work-family balance problems have distinct spatial dimensions. “Place” is by no means the main factor in work-family balance difficulties, but amongst work-family policy makers it is perhaps the least appreciated. This Article examines the role of urban planning and housing design in frustrating the effective balance of work and family responsibilities. Nothing in the literature on work-family balance reform addresses this aspect of the problem. That literature focuses instead …

Technological Advancement And International Human Rights: Is Science Improving Human Life Or Perpetuating Human Rights Violations?, Christine A. Khalili-Borna

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Note assesses the practices of pre-implantation and prenatal genetic screening and sex-determination through an international human rights framework founded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Universal Declaration), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Margaret Brent—Maryland’S First Female Lawyer, Pamela J. White

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Falling Through The Cracks: The Impact Of Vawa 2005’S Unfinished Business On Immigrant Victims Of Domestic Violence, Mary B. Clark

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Breaking Barriers And Ending The Gauntlet, Lauren Stiller Rikleen

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

From The Frying Pan Into The Fire: How Poor Women Of Color And Children Are Affected By Sentencing Guidelines And Mandatory Minimums, Nekima Levy-Pounds

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

Title Ix - Two For One: A Starter Kit Of The Law And A Snapshot Of Title Ix's Impact, Linda Jean Carpenter, R. Vivian Acosta

Cleveland State Law Review

This article first examines the creation of Title IX legislation. Then the article argues that " Title IX has had a massive impact on America's sport programs. But the debate continues, and perhaps will always continue, as long as there is inadequate funding to make the achievement of equity easy; as long as powerful members of one sex view exclusive access to sport as their chromosomal birth right; as long as administrators favor one sport over providing the benefits of athletics participation to a broader proportion of the student body; as long as the cake is not cut evenly."

Sanctioned Abuses: The Case Of Migrant Domestic Workers, Nisha Varia

Human Rights Brief

No abstract provided.