Law Commons^™

Idealism And The Individual Woman: Reading Bessie Head's A Question Of Power, Paul J. Heald

Scholarly Works

In A Question of Power, South African exile Bessie Head graphically illustrates the relevance of gender difference to religion, political philosophy, and human rights. At first glance, the novel is a startling interior view of the psychosis that can result from constant alienation. The madness so painfully described, however, is portrayed as specific to women. And the road from madness -- the rejection of idealism, the rejection of universalism, and the rejection of power -- carries an important message to those seeking to understand the various feminist perspectives on human rights and spirituality. In Head's view, the recognition of …

Section 2: Moot Court: Romer V. Evans, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Love Speech: The Social Utility Of Pornography, Jeffrey G. Sherman

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The "Straight Mind" In Russ’S The Female Man, Susan Ayres

Faculty Scholarship

In The Female Man Russ contrasts our present-day heterosexual society with two revolutionary alternatives: a utopian world of women and a dystopian world of women warring with men. The novel functions as what Monique Wittig calls a "literary war machine" because it tries "to pulverize the old forms and formal conventions." Specifically, Russ critiques the "straight mind"—heterosexual institutions that regulate gender—by showing how two representatives from "our world" respond to those institutions. She also shows two alternative worlds that further undermine, but do not solve, the way heterosexual institutions regulate gender.

In responding to the straight mind and to the …

The Countermajoritarian Paradox, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

On Not "Getting It", Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

Although there has been increasing awareness regarding equity and access issues in the legal profession, that awareness has tended to miss the multi-faceted nature of the problem. The author discusses how the recognition of one kind of barrier may not assist in the recognition of others. Understanding race or gender does not necessarily imply understanding disability or sexual orientation. Students, faculty and practitioners need to challenge and question their assumptions, to guard against barriers to entry and to really belonging.

Bien qu 'ii y ail une prise de conscience grandissante en ce qui touche /es questions d'egalite et d'acces dans …

Report On The Consultation With The Maritime School Of Social Work Community, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

In my assessment there is a genuine and strong commitment to affirmative action and anti-racism at the MSSW. But that in itself is only the beginning. Real cross cultural understanding is a major challenge, and needs to be constantly worked at. In the process, mistakes will be made on all sides. Allowances need to be made for that. The School looks at itself compared to other institutions; critics look at the School compared to an ideal world. Neither perspective holds the complete truth. The MSSW needs to continue to work at the effectiveness of its affirmative action program, defining that …

Overcoming "Stigmas": Lesbian And Gay Districts And Black Electoral Empowerment, Darren Rosenblum

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the renewed disenfranchisement of blacks from districting remedies may be curbed through the use of community-based evidence similar to that used by lesbian and gay activists. Section One will explore the current position of blacks in the districting system, scrutinizing recent changes in the law that deprive blacks of their previously “protected” status under the Voting Rights Act. In 1995, the Miller v. Johnson decision notably held that race cannot be the predominant factor in the drawing of district lines. Blacks wishing to ensure that their interests are represented in the political process will therefore need …

Sexual Orientation: A Plea For Inclusion, Sharon E. Rush

UF Law Faculty Publications

White women and people of color have made significant scholarly contribution toward a better understanding of patriarchy and racial hegemony. Other outsider scholars, such as lesbians, gay men, and bisexuals, also have spoken out about how hegemony subordinates them to the dominant culture. That subordination creates a common pain of exclusion. All subordinated people should explore the sources of common pain that come from exclusion from the power and privilege generally enjoyed by members of the dominant culture.

Marriage And The Liberal Imagination, Gerard V. Bradley, Robert P. George

Journal Articles

In an article marked by the intelligence and fairmindedness for which his work is widely-and rightly-admired, Stephen Macedo has argued against our view that sodomy, including homosexual sodomy, is intrinsically nonmarital and immoral. His goal is to show that "new natural law" theorists, such as Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and the two of us, have no sound argument for drawing moral distinctions-which would, in turn, provide a basis for legal distinctions (particularly in the area of marriage)­ between the sodomitical acts of "devoted, loving, committed homosexual partners" and the acts of genital union of men and women in marriage. We …

The Unrealized Power Of Mother, Dorothy E. Roberts

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Proposed Equal Protection Fix For Abortion Law: Reflections On Citizenship, Gender, And The Constitution, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Introduction To The Symposium, William G. Eckhardt

Faculty Works

Professor William Eckhardt introduces the ideas which initiated planning for and later emanated from UMKC School of Law Symposium “Don't Ask, Don't Tell-Implementation and Litigation.” As the title suggests, the Symposium examined the complex and important issues surrounding the policy of the United States toward gays and lesbians in the Armed Forces. This community­wide event was centered in the UMKC Law School Courtroom on the evening of April 11, 1995.

The idea for this Symposium was conceived by Professor Samuel A. Marcosson, a senior attorney in the Office of General Counsel of the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It was …

Equal Protection And Sexual Orientation, Jack Tsen-Ta Lee

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Equality is the thread running through the fundamental liberties enshrined in our Constitution. ... Equality, expressed in Art 12 of the [Singapore] Constitution, is also a specific right enforceable by the court. The difficulty comes in applying this deceptively simple concept to real-life situations. ... In considering the validity of legislation, Singapore and Malaysian courts have generally favored rational review, a modest conception of equal protection, unlike their American counterparts which have adopted a more expansive reading in the form of strict and intermediate review. This article examines how these three levels of equal protection review operate, and argues that …

Domestic Partnership: Recognition And Responsibility, Raymond C. O'Brien

Scholarly Articles

A domestic partnership is a business or political recognition of two adults seeking to share benefits normally conferred upon married couples. To date, partnerships have conferred benefits only; the most logical progression is for partnerships to include responsibilities of support, commitment and obligation within the economic partnership construct of emerging family law. When this occurs, heterosexual couples may lack incentive, but homosexual couples will achieve surer due process recognition regardless of same-sex marriage litigation.

First And Last Chance: Looking For Lesbians In California's Fifties Bar Cases, Joan W. Howarth

Scholarly Works

Do all of us who choose members of our own sex as objects of desire and as sexual partners share some meaningful common identity, such as “homosexual,” “gay” or perhaps “queer”? The classifications “homosexual” and “gay” claim for themselves just that kind of inclusiveness; that is, that the gay world includes people of all races, all classes and any possible gender identity. You, me, James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, J. Edgar Hoover: we are all gay together. In this way “homosexual” or “gay” is a generic term, like, for example, “human being.” But we know that the alleged inclusiveness masks just …

Reclaiming Sex From The Pornographers: Cybersexual Possibilities, Carlin Meyer

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Central Mistake Of Sex Discrimination Law: The Disaggregation Of Sex From Gender, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

Contemporary sex discrimination jurisprudence accepts as one of its foundational premises the notion that sex and gender are two distinct aspects of human identity. That is, it assumes that the identities male and female are different from the characteristics masculine and feminine. Sex is regarded as a product of nature, while gender is understood as a function of culture. This disaggregation of sex from gender represents a central mistake of equality jurisprudence.

Antidiscrimination law is founded upon the idea that sex, conceived as biological difference, is prior to, less normative than, and more real than gender. Yet in every way …