Law and Gender Commons^™

Gendering Consitutional Design In Post-Conflict Societies, Dina Francesca Haynes, Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Naomi Cahn

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

This article commences with a discussion of transitional constitutional
design and the ways in which the branches of government
relate to one another, focusing on the consequences of these structures
for women. We are convinced that an analysis of the rights-bearing
portions of a constitution alone is insufficient to fully capture the way
in which power is structured and experienced. Consistent with other
scholars, we start from the view that “constitutions are derived from
a social contract between the constituents who will be governed and
the political actors who will govern; they explain how the society
and government will operate …

Protecting Women: Preserving Autonomy In The Commodification Of Motherhood, M. Elliott Neal

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

No abstract provided.

Securing Gender-Based Persecution Claims: A Proposed Amendment To Asylum Law, Lucy Akinyi Orinda

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

No abstract provided.

"Eighteen Million Cracks": Gender's Role In The 2008 Presidential Campaign, Gregory S. Parks, Quinette M. Roberson

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

In light of the 2008 presidential campaign, Gregory S. Parks
and Jeffrey J. Rachlinski wrote an extensive analysis, titled A Better
Metric, likening the campaign to an interview process and hiring
decision for a high-ranking job. Though unpublished, their work
spawned a number of published articles, book chapters, and a book
on the role of unconscious race and gender bias in the evaluations of
President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton. In light of the analogy between voting and
hiring decisions, this article argues that questions about sexism and
gender bias along the campaign …

The United Nations And Women - A Critique, Elizabeth F. Defeis

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

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing Cedaw's Article 14: Naming And Explaining Rural Difference, Lisa R. Pruitt

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

No abstract provided.

Embracing Caregiving And Respecting Choice: An Essay On The Debate Over Changing Gender Norms, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

This Essay is the third piece of my project to resolve what I call the "caregiver conundrum" for working caregivers. I define the "caregiver conundrum" broadly, to include all of the workplace norms, rules and practices that make it difficult for working caregivers to successfully balance work and family.

In conceptualizing my ideas, I realized that one of the critiques of my proposal would be that it does nothing to change the gender norms, or stated another way, it accepts the gendered division of work and family with which most people live. I do nothing to get women to do …

The Collateral Consequences Of Masculinizing Violence, Jamie R. Abrams

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

Before an enraged gunman fired thirty-six deadly shots into an exercise class filled with women, on August 4, 2009, in Pennsylvania, he blogged that his killing spree was the result of his failure to meet society’s expectations of him as a man. This violent act tragically affirms that hegemonic masculinity — a dominant form of masculinity whereby some types of men have power over women and over some other men — can directly cause violence against women and reveals both an underlying connection between masculinities scholarship and feminist scholarship and the value in exploring that linkage further in both theory …

A Permission Slip To Breastfeed: Legislating A Mother's Choice In Pennsylvania, Stephanie Sikora

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

No abstract provided.

Why Care About Caregivers? Using Communitarian Theory To Justify Protection Of "Real" Workers, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

What is the caregiver conundrum? Simply put, it is the difficulty caregivers face when trying to balance their caregiving responsibilities with their work responsibilities. Caregivers face conflicts both at home and at work when work responsibilities clash with responsibilities at home. In many cases, these conflicts create serious hardships on the caregivers and their loved ones.

Finding a solution to this pressing problem is puzzling because courts and scholars disagree on the scope of the problem. Thus far, courts only protect employees who experience caregiver discrimination because the employer incorrectly assumes the employee will not meet the workplace requirements. In …

A Disparate Impact On Female Veterans: The Unintended Consequences Of Veterans Affairs Regulations Governing The Burdens Of Proof For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Due To Combat And Military Sexual Trauma, Jennifer C. Schingle

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

No abstract provided.

Rethinking Women And The Constitution: An Historical Argument For Recognizing Constitutional Flexibility With Regards To Women In The New Republic, Samantha Ricci

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

No abstract provided.

When Gender Meets Sex: An Exploratory Study Of Women Who Seduce Adolescent Boys, Kay L. Levine

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

This article describes the origins, design, and implications of a new study exploring female-perpetrated statutory rape against adolescent boys in the United States. In contrast to both legal frameworks, which typically regard statutory rape as a male-on-female phenomenon, and existing literature from the fields of psychology and psychiatry derived from clinical samples and sex offender registries, this study examines the incidence of female-perpetrated statutory rape using data from electronic news reports covering the period 1990-2008. In this short article, the author explains the advantages of her approach over those taken by prior scholars, in terms of the size of the …

Cedaw, Compliance, And Custom: Human Rights Enforcement In Sub-Saharan Africa, Angela M. Banks

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How Planned Parenthood V. Casey (Pretty Much) Settled The Abortion Wars, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

More than twenty-one years after Robert Bork's failed Supreme Court nomination and seventeen years after Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the rhetoric of abortion politics remains unchanged. Pro-choice interests, for example, argue that states are poised to outlaw abortion and that Roe v. Wade is vulnerable to overruling. In this Essay, I will debunk those claims. First, I will explain how Casey's approval of limited abortion rights reflected an emerging national consensus in 1992. Second, I will explain why the Supreme Court is unlikely to risk political backlash by formally modifying Casey- either by restoring the trimester test …

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 …

Re-Possessing "Home": A Re-Analysis Of Gender, Homeownership, And Debtor Default For Feminist Legal Theory, Lorna Fox

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

The current credit crisis has brought the subject of subprime and other problematic debt to the forefront of many agendas - both political and personal. This article explores some of the underlying legal, theoretical, economic, and phenomenological issues associated with default and foreclosure, particularly as they affect women homeowners. The analysis is embedded in feminist discourse on home, from traditional critiques of the association between women and home to evolving conceptions of the benefits and the burdens of home for contemporary feminist theory. This article traces the ideas of "home" and "homeownership" for American women and considers how it might …

Public Policy, Women, And Confinement: A Plea For Reasonableness, Peter M. Carlson

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

This veteran correctional administrator reviews the explosion of numbers of female offenders confined in the United States today. The article explores the myriad causes and effects of this shift in public policy and notes the negative impact of today's policy outcomes on individual offenders, correctional systems, and our society. The author argues for a modification of policy to a more rational approach to judicial sentencing.

The Caged Canary, Elizabeth Alexander

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

The United States has experienced an explosion in the number of people in prison, an explosion that cannot be attributed to changes in the crime rate, but rather reflects changes in public policy, particularly sentencing policy regarding drug crimes. These changes have had a devastating impact on African-American communities. The changes have also adversely affected the social, economic, and political culture of the nation as a whole. The rate of increase in incarceration for women prisoners has been disproportionately high, although women are generally imprisoned for non-violent crimes and have lower recidivism rates than men. Once in prison, women are …

Women In Federal Prison: Pathways In, Programs Out, Kim White

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

One of the fastest growing populations in most correctional systems is female offenders and the impact of these rising numbers is significant. The author speaks to the rising female population numbers, the types of crimes and behaviors that lead to their incarceration, the characteristics of female offenders, the impact their incarceration has on their families and children, and how gender responsive programming is pivotal to their effective and successful reentry into society.

Women In Prison: International Problems And Human Rights Based Approaches To Reform, Jenni Gainsborough

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

The growth in prison populations is a world-wide phenomenon, and within the overall growth rate, many countries are seeing a disproportionate rate of increase among women. Despite differences in culture and resources, women everywhere face similar problems in prison systems, which have been designed primarily by and for men. These include sexual abuse, lack of appropriate medical care, loss of children and breakdown of families. The United States leads the world in both the overall size of its prison population and its rate of incarceration. Advocates for reform are increasingly turning to international human rights laws, standards and norms to …

Women And The Death Penalty: Racial Disparities And Differences, Harry Greenlee, Shelia P. Greenlee

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

The death penalty in America has been studied, discussed, and written about extensively. The vast majority of researchers, however, have focused their study of the death penalty, or capital punishment, on male prisoners. This article examines the data related to women on death row since 1973, with particular attention to similar problems that have been documented for men, while highlighting racial differences and/or racial disparities where found. The subjects were 157 women who received death row sentences, forty-nine women currently on death row, and the eleven women executed since 1973. The data demonstrated that some racial disparities do exist with …

Hard Labor: The Legal Implications Of Shackling Female Inmates During Pregnancy And Childbirth, Geraldine Doetzer

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

Despite international human rights guidelines that prohibit the practice, thirty-eight states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons currently allow corrections officials to shackle pregnant inmates during the third trimester of pregnancy. Of these, twenty-three states and the Bureau also allow restraints to be used during active labor. Only two state legislatures, Illinois and California, have addressed the issue of using physical restraints on pregnant inmates; the vast majority of states rely on corrections officials to craft policy.

This article analyzes both states' justifications for shackling policies as well as the Constitutional and human rights arguments that have been posed by …

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 …

Red Light, Green Light: Assessing The Stop And Go In The Advancement Of Women In The Legal And Business Sectors, Megan Erb

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

The purpose of this note is to identify the problems professional women have in building a career while caring for a family, and to provide the basis for creating a solution. Part I of this note addresses the various types of problems that force women out of the workplace, as well as the difficulties women have in reentering the job market. Part II of this note compares the alternative work schedules offered in the legal and business communities. Part III focuses on the success the business firms have had, with the help of business schools, in finding a practical solution …

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

Faculty Publications

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.

Yet Another Gender Study? A Critique Of The Harvard Study And A Proposal For Change, Morrison Torrey

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

No abstract provided.

The Intersection Between Domestic Violence And The Child Welfare System: The Role Courts Can Play In The Protection Of Battered Mothers And Their Children, Linda Quigley

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

No abstract provided.

More Women On Corporate Boards? Not So Fast, Jayne W. Barnard

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

No abstract provided.