Law Commons^™

From Hillary Clinton To Lady Macbeth: Or, Historicizing Gender, Law, And Power Through Shakespeare's Scottish Play, Carla Spivack

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

Female rule was anomalous in the sixteenth century, therefore, Elizabeth I developed a complex set of symbols, rooted in claims traditionally made by male rulers, to legitimate her claim to rule. Nonetheless, her reign was anxiety-provoking, and this article argues that the years after her death saw a backlash against female power. Part of this backlash consisted of the reworking of the symbols Elizabeth had used. This article examines this process of revision in Shakespeare's play Macbeth and, later, in the responses of King James I to claims of demonic possession.

This article draws together three historical moments - Queen …

Michelle Obama: The "Darker Side" Of Presidential Spousal Involvement And Activism, Gregory S. Parks, Quinetta M. Roberson, Phd

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

Pundits and commentators have attempted to make sense of the role that race and gender have played in the 2008 presidential campaign. Whereas researchers are drawing on varying bodies of scholarship (legal, cognitive and social psychology, and political science) to illuminate the role that Senator Obama’s race and Senator Clinton’s gender has/had on their campaign, Michelle Obama has been left out of the discussion. As Senator Clinton once noted, elections are like hiring decisions. As such, new frontiers in employment discrimination law place Michelle Obama in context within the current presidential campaign. First, racism and sexism are both alive and …

Women And The Law: Touro Law Center Symposium

Journal of Race, Gender, and Ethnicity

No abstract provided.

“We Are At War And You Should Not Bother The President”: The Suffrage Pickets And Freedom Of Speech During World War I, Catherine J. Lanctot

Working Paper Series

The story of Alice Paul’s National Woman’s Party and its 1917 picketing campaign onbehalf of woman suffrage is almost unknown in legal circles. Yet the suffrage pickets were among the earliest victims of the suppression of dissent that accompanied the entry of the United States into World War I. Nearly forty years before the modern civil rights movement brought the concept of nonviolent civil disobedience to the forefront of American political discourse, the NWP conducted a direct action campaign at the very doorstep of the President of the United States, and they did so during a time of war.

In …

A Comparison Of Men’S And Women’S Access To And Use Of Fwas, Anna Danziger, Shelley Waters Boots

Memos and Fact Sheets

This fact sheet contains information about men's and women's access to and use of certain types of flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The data also includes information about men's and women's attitudes and preferences concerning flexibility. The data suggests far more similarities than differences in men's and women's access to and use of these FWAs.

The Third Wave: Young Feminists Find Common Ground With Those Who Came Before Them, Jane C. Murphy

All Faculty Scholarship

Reporting on recent research at Chicago-Kent Law School and supported by studies at other schools, a group of student panelists noted sharp differences in participation rates in class discussions and lower feelings of self-confidence among female students compared with their male counterparts.

Militarization And Terrorism And Counter- Terrorism Measures In Thailand: Feminists And Women Human Rights Defenders, Virada Somswasdi

Cornell Law School Berger International Speaker Papers

Women human rights defenders need to work closely with feminist human rights defenders; both groups must empower each other and promote gender-sensitization of other members of the rights movements against militarization.

Despite the fact that women’s human rights defenders in the women’s movements have brought about some positive legal changes for women’s human rights, there are political, economic and social patriarchal contexts, especially through militarization, that obstruct ideal legislation and enforcement to cover all areas which have been identified in international instruments, especially the Convention on the Elimination of All Discrimination against Women and the Declaration on the Elimination of …

The "Fetal Protection" Wars: Why America Has Made The Wrong Choice In Addressing Maternal Substance Abuse - A Comparative Legal Analysis, Linda C. Fentiman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Women, Re-Entry And Everyday Life: Time To Work?, Dina R. Rose, Venezia Michalsen, Dawn Wiest, Anupa Fabian

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study focuses on women at various stages of re-entry into the community after involvement with the criminal justice system. In particular, it takes a close look at how the participants in the study manage their time in the face of the types of competing demands that are all too common to most people.

The Interaction Of Customary Law And Microfinance: Women's Entry Into The World Economy, Shana Hofstetter

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

This note examines the complicated relationship between microfinance and customary law. Microfinance, the practice of giving small, collateral-free loans to the poorest members of society, has gained great popularity in the last thirty years. These loan programs specifically target women and use women's traditional emphasis on groups to ensure success. Customary law can hinder microfinance ventures because of the restrictions these laws place on women's roles and responsibilities. Case studies on the Dominican Republic, Morocco, and Bangladesh explore how individual customary laws can hinder microfinance programs and women's micro-businesses. This note also discusses how microfinance programs act as catalysts of …

The First (Black) Lady, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

Part I examines the role of First Lady, which has been undertheorized in legal scholarship, and how it promotes privileged white femininity, and in so doing, upholds patriarchy. Part II builds upon that discussion, explaining that the gender and racial norms that contribute to the traditional First Lady trope exemplify the intertwined nature of racism and sexism, which have been used to justify Black subordination. This section also examines how African Americans have embraced gender conformance as a way of attaining acceptance and status within the existing social order, specifically through the "Black lady" construct, which the campaign invoked to …

Rape At Rome: Feminist Interventions In The Criminalization Of Sex-Related Violence In Positive International Criminal Law, Janet Halley

Michigan Journal of International Law

This Article examines the work of organized feminism in the formation of new international criminal tribunals over the course of the 1990s. It focuses on the statutes establishing the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Criminal Court (ICC). It offers a description of the evolving organizational style of feminists involved in the legislative processes leading to the establishment of these courts, and a description of their reform agenda read against the outcomes in each court-establishing statute. At each stage, the Article counts up the feminist victories and defeats, …

The Ladies' Health Protective Association: Lay Lawyers And Urban Cause Lawyering, Felice J. Batlan

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Lactating Angel Or Activist? Public Breatsfeeding As Symbolic Speech, Elizabeth Hildebrand Matherne

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The only way to combat this stigma against public breastfeeding is through the act of breastfeeding in public. The author proposes that breastfeeding is a powerful act of symbolic speech vital for discarding one of the lingering shackles of women's inequality that triggers first amendment protection. Breastfeeding in public addresses this stigma by treating two ills at once: 1) greater public exposure to the practice decreases the severity of society's reactions, and 2) the less stares and confrontation that publicly nursing mothers receive, the more likely they will be to breastfeed, whenever or wherever their baby is hungry. This will …

Unusual Suspects: Recognizing And Responding To Female Staff Perpetrators Of Sexual Misconduct In U.S. Prisons, Lauren A. Teichner

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

Despite the general public's ignorance of this issue of sexual misconduct perpetrated by female prison staff against male inmates, such stories are remarkably familiar to those who study or work in the world of prisons. The Prison Rape Elimination Act ("PREA") of 2003 mandated that the Bureau of Justice Statistics ("the Bureau") undertake new studies of sexual violence in prisons. Accordingly, the Bureau released a report in July 2006 revealing some groundbreaking data. Of the 344 substantiated allegations of staff-on-inmate sexual violence made in federal, state, and private prisons in 2005, 67% of the overall victims were male inmates and …

Gender Equity In College Athletics: Women Coaches As A Case Study, Deborah L. Rhode, Christopher J. Walker

Christopher J. Walker

As Title IX celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary, many have noted its enormous positive effect on women's sports. But an unintended and too-often neglected byproduct is that as opportunities for female students have increased, opportunities for female professionals have declined. This Article focuses on the barriers that still confront women in college athletics, particularly those who seek professional positions in coaching and administration. Part I presents a brief overview of Title IX, which makes clear its limitations in securing gender equity. Part II.A discusses the declining representation and lower success rate of women coaches, while Part II.B explores the areas of …

Reforming, Reclaiming Or Reframing Womanhood: Reflections On Advocacy For Women In Custody, Brenda V. Smith

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

I was asked to present one of the keynote addresses for this important symposium, Behind Bars: The Impact of Incarceration on Women and Their Families, sponsored by the Women's Rights Law Reporter at Rutgers University School of Law in Newark. I am happy to write the introductory essay for this meaningful publication which arose from that symposium. This is a particularly hospitable and appropriate environment for this publication given Rutgers University's important place in feminist scholarship and discourse - both in its graduate and undergraduate programs and in its publication arm - Rutgers University Press. Historically,the Women's Rights Law Reporter …

(Mis)Appropriated Liberty: Identity, Gender Justice And Muslim Personal Law Reform In India, Cyra Akila Choudhury

Faculty Publications

This article argues that in order to emancipate Indian-Muslim women from an outdated family legal code, their position at the intersection of gender and a minority religion must be taken seriously. Proposals for reform that have been suggested by Western liberal, secular feminists that ignore the importance of women's religious affiliation fail to do this. Moreover, by making assumptions about the strength of secularism in India, the willingness of the state to enact legal reforms driven by gender concerns, and by failing to acknowledge the limits of formal rights alone in changing norms, these scholars do not account for the …

Consenting Adults? Why Women Who Submit To Supervisory Sexual Harassment Are Faring Better In Court Than Those Who Say No…And Why They Shouldn’T, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

Today, as a sexual harassment plaintiff who failed to report harassment before bringing suit, you likely will fare better under the law if you submitted to your harasser and engaged in relations with him, than you would if you had passively resisted until you were driven out of your employment. This Article examines the law’s illogical preference for plaintiffs who acquiesced to the propositions of their supervisors over those who resisted harassment but nonetheless failed to report it. It explores the roots of such a preference in society, as well as its consequences. Ultimately, this Article asks critical questions that …

Not All Lawyers Are Equal: Difficulties That Plague Women And Women Of Color, Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women By Christine B. Whelan Comforting Insights Into What Should Be Obvious (But May Not Necessarily Be So), Theresa M. Beiner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Family Model And Mystical Body: Witnessing Gender Through Political Metaphor In The Early Modern Nation-State, Allison Anna Tait

Law Faculty Publications

The preferred political metaphor in the constitutionalist context was the mystical political body, a concept that defined a system in which power was shared and the well-being of the community was linked to the well-being of the individual. Within the mystical political body, the theoretical possibility exists for women not only to occupy a civic space through organic (and organological) association but also to articulate their perspective and its consequences for the political community in a civically approved way. In the mystical body, women approach a citizenship status impossible within the traditional family framework and their witnessing is closely associated …

The Invisible Pregnant Athlete And The Promise Of Title Ix, Deborah Brake

Articles

The question of how law should respond to women who become pregnant, and whether to specially accommodate pregnancy or analogize it to other conditions, features prominently in virtually every area of sex equality law. In debates over women's equality in the workplace, for example, it has been the defining issue for the development of and debate over various models of equality in feminist legal theory. Until recently, however, the issue has been all but absent in debates and discussion about Title IX and its promise of sex equality in sports. This changed suddenly in 2007, when ESPN televised a program …

Lifting The Veil: Women And Islamic Law, Christie S. Warren

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Mothers, Babies And Jail, Rebecca Johnson

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

No abstract provided.

Tribal Customary Law In Jordan, Ann Furr, Muwafaq Al-Serhan

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

Rabenmutter And The Glass Ceiling: An Analysis Of Role Conflict Experienced By Women Lawyers In Germany As Compared With Women Lawyers In The United States, Jacquelyn H. Slotkin

Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this article is to analyze and compare women lawyers in Germany with women lawyers in the United States: their legal education, gender proportion in the legal profession, work opportunities, satisfaction with professional choices, and role conflicts. 22 Part I of this article will describe Germany's legal education and compare it with U.S. legal education. Part II will review the literature and issues relevant to German women lawyers as compared with U.S. women lawyers and will summarize and analyze how societal attitudes have affected women's choices in Germany and in the United States. Part III will compare demographic …

Fighting Women: The Military, Sex, And Extrajudicial Constitutional Change, Jill Elaine Hasday

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The Supreme Court in Rostker v. Goldberg (1981) upheld male-only military registration, and endorsed male-only conscription and combat positions. Few cases have challenged restrictions on women's military service since Rostker, and none have reached the Supreme Court. Federal statutes continue to exclude women from military registration and draft eligibility, and military regulations still ban women from some combat positions. Yet many aspects of women's legal status in the military have changed in striking respects over the past quarter century while academic attention has focused elsewhere. Congress has eliminated statutory combat exclusions, the military has opened many combat positions to women, …

The Ladies' Health Protective Association: Lay Lawyers And Urban Cause Lawyering, Felice J. Batlan

Felice J Batlan