Law and Gender Commons^™

The Wrongful Rejection Of Big Theory (Marxism) By Feminism And Queer Theory: A Brief Debate, Dana Neacsu

ExpressO

Post modern thought has fought meta-narrative into derision. "[I]f you lick my nipple," as Michael Warner remarked, "the world suddenly seems insignificant," and of course, identity becomes more than a cultural trait. It becomes "the performance of desire." It becomes a place of "ideological contestation over need," or, in other words, an ideology that demands "legitimacy for its desire." However, meta-narratives talk about desire too. For example, Marx talked about the desire caused by the never-ending production of commodities. Thus, if, at first sight, it may seem that identity politics and Marxism have very little in common, that may not …

Book Review: Madam Secretary, Dru Stevenson

ExpressO

Review of Madeline Albright's Memoirs

Some Dumb Girl Syndrome: Challenging And Subverting Destructive Stereotypes Of Female Attorneys, Ann Bartow

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

No abstract provided.

Some Dumb Girl Syndrome: Challenging And Subverting Destructive Stereotypes Of Female Attorneys, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Essay considers ways in which female attorneys confront sexism and stereotyping in the legal profession and in life, and strongly endorses embracing feminism, and wearing comfortable shoes.

The Feminist Pervasion: How Gender-Based Scholarship Informs Law And Law Teaching, Deseriee A. Kennedy, Ann Bartow, F. Carolyn Graglia, Joan Macload Hemingway

Scholarly Works

This is an edited, annotated transcript of a conference panel discussion on feminism, sex, and gender in law, legal education, and legal scholarship. The transcript reflects widely divergent views of the place of feminism, sex, and gender in the law and legal scholarship. Moreover, the panelists differ as to the role feminism has played in the lives of women as law students and practicing attorneys. In the latter part of the transcript, the panelists' remarks focus in on hotly debated issues surrounding possible gender (or sex) and racial bias in LSAT testing and the innate abilities of women and men …

Female Circumcision In Africa: Procedures, Rationales, Solutions, And The Road To Recovery, Shayla Mcgee

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Transversal Feminism And Transcendence, Deseriee A. Kennedy

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Law's Nobility, Robin West

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article first aims to set out the feminist theory of Catharine MacKinnon as explicitly as possible and in a way that accounts for its incredible power. To strengthen MacKinnon's theoretical project, the article proposes some modifications to the original that are drawn from, in part, the critiques of queer theorists. The crucial departure proposed here concerns MacKinnon's "critique of desire," which in my view is deeply mistaken. Rather than distrusting the sexual desires of women as hopelessly polluted by subordination, we should be neutral -- neither critical nor confident -- regarding the degree to which our desires, if fulfilled, …

The Best Interest Standard: How Broad Judicial Discretion And Influences Of Social And Political Suggestion Have Led To An Abandonment Of The Rule’S Primary Purpose In Child Custody Decisions, Lakeisha J. Johnson

ExpressO

The vital questions in child custody disputes all concern that which is in the best interest of the child. Historically, interpretations of the “best interest” standard have been founded upon presumptions steeped in the notion of natural rights and duties based largely upon a mix of scientific and subjective conclusions regarding gender-based parenting roles and the need to sustain them. My research demonstrates that, as courts attempt to avoid the decisions of the past and submit to the societal will of the present, the modern application of the “best interest of the child” standard has led unexpectedly to an abandonment …

Are Single-Sex Schools Inherently Unequal?, Michael Heise

Michigan Law Review

In chess, a "fork" occurs when a player, in a single move, attacks two or more of an opponent's pieces simultaneously, forcing a necessary choice between unappealing outcomes. Similar to the potentially devastating chess move, single-sex public schooling forks many constitutionalists and feminists. Constitutionalists are forced to reexamine the "separate but equal" doctrine's efficacy, this time through the prism of gender. Although the doctrine - forged in the crucible of race and overcome in the monumental triumph we know as Brown v. Board of Education - rested dormant for generations, persistent (and increasing) single-sex education options are forcing scholars to …

Legalization Of Prostitution In Thailand: A Challenge To Feminism And Societal Conscience, Virada Somswasdi

Cornell Law School Berger International Speaker Papers

Thai society and the feminist movement have been bombarded with the (ir)rationality of economic greed, social ignorance and a patriarchal frame of thinking on the legalization of prostitution. Feminist ideology and societal conscience are hence being tested all over again. The issue of prostitution has been reduced to an issue of taxation for state income generation. Basically, the issue of legalizing prostitution is twofold, i.e., the decriminalization of prostituted women and the legalization of prostitution or decriminalization of the sex industry. The first of these points perceives that the prostituted women are victimized, exploited and violated, and thus should not …

In Defense Of Paid Family Leave, Gillian Lester

ExpressO

In this article I defend state provision of paid family leave. Such a program would allow workers to take compensated time off work to care for a newborn infant or ill family member. I normatively ground my claim in the argument that paid leave would allow women, who have historically performed a disproportionate share of family caregiving labor, to participate more fully in the paid workforce. This enhancement in labor force participation, I argue, would in turn increase women's independence and capacity to determine the conditions of their lives. In taking this position, I distinguish myself from those who would …

Symposium Introduction: Women's Work Is Never Done: Employment, Family, And Activism, Kristin (Brandser) Kalsem, Verna L. Williams

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This article frames the issues in the Supreme Court case, Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs, and introduces the articles making up the inaugural symposium of the Law and Women's Studies Program at the University of Cincinnati. Hibbs involved a husband who was trying to get leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in order to take care of his severely injured wife. The case presents an opportunity to rethink issues of work and family, the legal subordination of women, and the law as an agent for social change, and it was therefore an ideal focus for …

The Use Of Human Rights Discourse To Secure Women's Interests: Critical Analysis Of The Implications, Renu Mandhane

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This article highlights the significant theoretical constraints of universalism, the tendency of human rights advocates to ignore the underlying cause of rights violations, as well as problems associated with the concept of and informal hierarchy between rights. The article suggests that there are certain circumstances in which INGOs that rely primarily on human rights language in their advocacy efforts may wish to supplement their analysis with explicit reference to feminist legal theory in order to more effectively secure women's interests globally. These ideas will be developed with ongoing reference to the recent and successful campaign initiated by Nepali women to …

Feminist Voices In The Debate Over Single-Sex Schooling: Finding Common Ground, Rosemary C. Salomone

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This article examines the deep divide within feminist ranks with an eye toward proposing a constructive and essential role for feminist understandings as single-sex schooling inches its way toward legal acceptability and into the mainstream of educational reform. In doing so, the forces that have shaped competing perspectives on women's equality are examined, especially disagreements over sameness and difference. In the end the article looks to the Court's decision in United States v. Virginia as a road map for feminists to follow in reaching common ground on the approach, despite seemingly profound ideological differences among them.

Job Security Without Equality: The Family And Medical Leave Act Of 1993, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This piece reevaluates the passage and implementation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) against the egalitarian ideal described by the Supreme Court in its recent decision in Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs. The Court in Hibbs upheld the FMLA against an Eleventh Amendment challenge, concluding that Congress enacted the law as a congruent and proportional remedy to the longstanding history of state-sponsored discrimination against working women. According to the Court, Congress enacted the FMLA to remedy a longstanding history of discrimination against working women by forcing employers to offer caretaking leave on gender-neutral terms. At least …

Negotiating Gender And (Free And Equal) Citizenship: The Place Of Associations, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

This article focuses on the place of associations within John Rawls's political liberalism and in feminist liberalism. It revisits crucial components of political liberalism in light of feminist criticisms, such as those of Susan Moller Okin and Martha Nussbaum, that political liberalism's protection of associational life hinders women's free and equal citizenship. Offering a different reading of Rawls, it finds greater potential to draw on political liberalism to support such citizenship. It then brings liberal feminist ideas about the place of associations into dialogue with recent feminist work on gender, rights, and culture calling for models of rights within culture …

Women Law Journals In The New Millennium: How Far Have They Evolved? And Are They Still Necessary?, Katherine L. Vaughns

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Decreeing Women's Equality: Using Women's History To Create Legal Parity, Denise D. J. Roy

Faculty Scholarship

This article critiques the feminist view Ute Gerhard offers in “Debating Women's Equality: Toward a Feminist Theory of Law from a European Perspective”. Throughout Debating Women's Equality, Gerhard appears to have three ambitious objectives in mind: (1) to decry the paucity of research into women's legal history while beginning to do the needed work, focusing primarily on Germany but also broadly exploring European trends, (2) to demonstrate that German/European women's legal history ultimately vindicates reliance on “equal rights” as a political strategy for women, and (3) to develop an understanding of legal equality that can serve as a meaningful tool …

Defining Feminism, Defining Feminisms, Reginald Oh

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Oh argues that feminists urgently need to define Feminism and to construct feminist theories that validate and affirm the truth of women's lived experience, in all their multiplicity and diversity. Because feminist theories are forged through the diverse experiences of differently situated women, it is respectfully suggested that the title of this Chapter may and can be seen as the call to define Feminism and Feminism(s). Defining feminism(s) means, in spirit of the "I-Thou" relationship, being mindful and respectful that individual Feminists will define Feminism in alignment with the truth of their unique experience, in alignment with the truth of …

Feminist Legal Scholarship: Charting Topics And Authors, 1978-2002, Laura A. Rosenbury

UF Law Faculty Publications

In their call for papers, the organizers of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law’s Spring 2003 symposium “Why a Feminist Law Journal?” posed several questions, including: "Are feminist law journals a victim of their own success? Have they outlived their usefulness?" and "What is the state of feminist legal scholarship today? What constitutes feminist scholarship?" As a new member of the legal academy, my answers to their questions depend on answers to two more basic questions: What has been published in feminist law journals? And, how do those articles relate to feminist articles published in non-specialty, or flagship, law …

Which Wave Are You? Comments On The Collected Essays From The Seminar “To Do Feminist Legal Theory”, Deborah W. Post

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Not Whistlin' Dixie: Now, More Than Ever, We Need Feminist Law Journals, Carlin Meyer

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Two Colored Women's Conversation About The Relevance Of Feminist Law Journals In The Twenty-First Century, Taunya Lovell Banks, Penelope Andrews

Articles & Chapters

This is a critique by two non-white law professors in the form of a conversation about the relevance offeminist law journals on their lives and scholarship. We conclude that the impression that feministscholarship now is accepted in mainstream law reviews may be illusory and thus there is a continuing need for feminist law journals. In the past rather than creating a new type of journal, feminist law journals tend to replicate the traditional law journal model. Only the focus is different. Twenty years later not only do race and sexuality continue to separate us, but increasingly, careerism as well. The …

A Brief History Of Gender Law Journals: The Heritage Of Myra Bradwell's Chicago Legal News, Richard H. Chused

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Out Of The Shadows: Traversing The Imaginary Of Sameness, Difference, And Relationalism - A Human Rights Proposal, Berta E. Hernández-Truyol

UF Law Faculty Publications

This work seeks to develop a methodology that serves a women's anti-subordination project. To achieve this goal, Part II sets out the theoretical background of feminist theory (II.A) and three waves of feminism (II.B). Part II.C articulates the feminist revelations about law these analytical frameworks have engendered.

This project sets out to craft a methodology that can assist the goal of full personhood for women. Women's full personhood is a substantive concept that, as detailed in Part III, I ground on international human rights notions of fundamental rights - rights that we have, or ought to have, because we are …

Feminism And International Law: An Opportunity For Transformation, Rosa Ehrenreich Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this essay, the author wants to outline briefly both some of the ways in which the assumptions and categories of international law can be damaging to women, and also some of the ways in which creative feminists could use international law to transform both international policy and the domestic political and legal discourse. In the wake of September 11, a robust feminist engagement with international law and policy is more urgent than ever before.

Business Lawyer, Woman Warrior: An Allegory Of Feminine And Masculine Theories, Barbara Ann White

All Faculty Scholarship

The first part of this essay is a discourse on how two of the last half century’s most influential contributions to legal thinking: Law and Economics Jurisprudence and Feminist Legal Theory, whose adherents are normally adversaries, can function synergistically to create a greater analytic power. Using business law issues as an example - historically law and economics’ terrain but recently explored by feminism - I comment on how each can unravel different knots but each standing alone leave other conundrums unresolved.

Expanding on the feminist concept of “masculine thinking,” I discuss how, just as law and economics’ analytic style (i.e., …

United Nations Convention Documents In Light Of Feminist Theory, R. Christopher Preston, Ronald Z. Ahrens

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

This article proposes that language identifying human rights of women in U.N. Conference documents has its origin in several different feminist theories. An understanding of these theories can help to clarify meaning, resolve inconsistencies, and predict the future direction of language in U.N. documents. Part I examines three prominent feminist theories and their relation to international law. Part II examines the history of women's rights in U.N. documents and examines the influence of feminist theory on the document language. Using the Women and the Economy section of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Platform for Action (Platform for Action), Part …

Remembering Chrystal Macmillan: Women's Equality And Nationality In International Law, Karen Knop, Christine Chinkin

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article both continues and returns to the story of Chrystal Macmillan and the International Law Association. Some seventy-five years later, gender discrimination still exists in nationality law. For an American audience, Thailand's offer of nationality to U.S. golfer Tiger Woods, whose mother is Thai, highlighted the inequality of Thailand's laws on nationality. Although Thai women, as well as Thai men, can now pass their nationality to their children, the law continues to discriminate against women in other matters of nationality. Whereas the foreign wives of Thai men are specially entitled to apply for Thai nationality, the foreign husbands of …