Law and Gender Commons^™

Introduction: Masculinities, Multidimensionality, And Law: Why They Need One Another, Ann C. Mcginley, Frank Rudy Cooper

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming Demographics: Women, Poverty, And The Common Interest In Particular Struggles, Ezra Rosser

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Don't Forget Dad: Addressing Women's Poverty By Rethinking Forced And Outdated Child Support Policies, Daniel L. Hatcher

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Rethinking The Neighborhood Watch: How Lessons From The Nigerian Village Can Creatively Empower The Community To Assist Poor, Single Mothers In America, Dehlia Umunna

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Failing To Address Sexual And Domestic Violence At Work: The Case Of Migrant Farmworker Women, Robin R. Runge

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

Symposium: Theory And Praxis In Reducing Women's Poverty, Emily A. Benfer, Davida Finger, Annette Appell

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

A Betrayed Ideal: The Problem Of Enforcement Of Eu Sex Equality Guarantees In The Cee Post-Socialist Legal Systems, Goran Selanec

SJD Dissertations

The notion of equality between men and women has, for a long time, played a significant role in the societies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The ideal was particularly important during the period of “real” or “really existing” socialism in CEE. For the CEE socialist regimes, the ideal of equality was an ideological banner that supposedly demonstrated their moral superiority to the “West”. The ideal has gained new importance in recent years, when the CEE post-socialist states had to commit to the protection of the notion of equality between sexes as a condition of their membership in the European …

Intuition And Feminist Constitutionalism, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

In any constitutional system, we must ask, as a foundational inquiry, when and why a government may distinguish between groups of constituents for purposes of allocating benefits or imposing penalties. For feminists and others with a stake in challenging inequalities, the rationales that a society deems acceptable for justifying these classifications are centrally important. Heightened scrutiny jurisprudence for sex-based and other distinctions may help capture some of the rationales that rest on stereotypes and outmoded biases. However, at the end of the day, whatever level of scrutiny is applied, the critical question at any level of review is whether, according …

How (Not) To Talk About Abortion, Meredith Johnson Harbach

Law Faculty Publications

In this essay, I aim to have a conversation about how we converse- how we talk-about abortion and related issues. In the process, I want to consider how we might come together to discover issues of shared commitment and values and transform the existing abortion debate. I begin with a review of some of the more notable abortion-related rhetoric during the 2012 Virginia General Assembly, and contrast that rhetoric with the discourse in my classroom. I then consider whether and how we might move forward together toward a more meaningful and productive dialogue on these issues.

Introduction, Katherine M. Franke

Faculty Scholarship

Each year Columbia Law School’s Center for Gender Sexuality Law selects a scholar whose work has made an important impact on the study and practice of gender and/or sexuality law. For 2010 we selected Judith Butler, the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Departments of Rhetoric and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley. In March of 2010, we held a Symposium recognizing the multiple domains of theory and activism in which Butler’s mark has been profound, and oft times paradigm shifting.

Columbia Law School has the great fortune of having developed one of the deepest and most diverse faculties …

From Private Violence To Mass Incarceration: Thinking Intersectionally About Women, Race, And Social Control, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Faculty Scholarship

The structural and political dimensions of gender violence and mass incarceration are linked in multiple ways. The myriad causes and consequences of mass incarceration discussed herein call for increased attention to the interface between the dynamics that constitute race, gender, and class power, as well as to the way these dynamics converge and rearticulate themselves within institutional settings to manufacture social punishment and human suffering. Beyond addressing the convergences between private and public power that constitute the intersectional dimensions of social control, this Article addresses political failures within the antiracism and antiviolence movements that may contribute to the legitimacy of …

Protecting Traditional Surrogacy Contracting Through Fee Payment Regulation, Dominique Ladomato

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

There is an outdated assumption that payment in exchange for traditional surrogacy services is equal to "baby-selling." Due to this assumption, there is an unrealistic expectation that altruism alone should sustain traditional surrogacy contracts in place of payment. While there is currently no uniform regulation on traditional surrogacy for-pay contracts in the United States, there is a wealth of conflicting state laws that make traditional surrogacy contracting a confusing area of the law. When it is unclear how a state will treat these surrogacy contracts, individuals enter into these unique contractual arrangements with little to no certainty about their enforceability. …

Breeding Incentives: Parental Leave In Japan And The United States, Talia Saypoff

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

More so than in any other area, law that involves family issues tends to lack international consensus. This is certainly the case for parental leave law. This Note examines parental leave and family care leave laws, within the broader context of women's employment, in the United States and Japan. First, this Note offers an overview of the evolution of parental leave laws in the United States and Japan. Next, this Note looks at how many people take advantage of the leave offered and seek to understand parents' underlying motives. The United States, which has arguably the worst parental leave laws …

Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Female Sportswriters As Targets For Sexual Harassment, Aishlin P. Hicks

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Professional sports are big business in the United States, and so perhaps it is no surprise that reporters from magazines, newspapers, and television shows and networks flock to pro locker rooms and practice fields to interview the players and coaches. The situation can become a bit more complex when the person on the other end of the microphone is a woman. Female sportswriters often find themselves as targets for sexual harassment and lewd behavior. This Note considers the possible legal options that sportswriters may have when they are victimized by the athletes and coaches they are charged with reporting on. …

From Gender To Genomics: Achievements And Challenges In Sex-Specific Science, Marianne J. Legato

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

Dr. Legato's keynote speech, delivered at the Journal's Symposium, covered the evolution of gendered approaches to medical examination and research from the early 1900s up to today. This issue features a transcribed version of that address. In the early 1900s, doctors and medical researchers focused solely on men as normative subjects representative of the population at large. Since then, the focus has shifted; first, to a dual approach, considering both sexes, and then, to a greater emphasis on women, to the detriment of the male community. The classic debate of nature versus nurter has been a recurring theme throughout these …

Hey, What About Me: Why Sexual Education Classes Shouldn't Keep Ignoring Lgbtq Students, Sarah Camille Conrey

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

This Note discusses the issue of public school sexual education classes that do not discuss LGBTQ-specific issues. I look at the history of sexual education in public schools in the United States, and the evolving purposes behind such curricula. Next I discuss the social implications of omitting LGBTQ-specific information in sexual education classes, which include the reinforcement of heteronormative beliefs among students. I examine how the failure to inform students of protective measures when having same-sex sexual encounters can have health implications by potentially reinforcing the mistaken belief that such sexual encounters are relatively risk free because there is not …

The Intriguing Potential Of Postnuptial Contract Modifications, M. Neil Browne, Katherine S. Fister

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

An ugly reality faced by many couples is the prospect of an impending divorce. Regardless of this fact, there is a longstanding opposition to the creation of marital contracts that is routed in history and enforced by popular opinion. This Article contends that marriage contracts drafted during the marriage, known as postnuptial contracts, can be effective in providing cleaner ways for marriages to dissolve and for saving marriages that are on the brink of collapse. These contracts allow couples to address marital disagreements that were unanticipated prior to the marriage. Unlike prenuptial contracts, however, postnuptial contracts are difficult to enforce …

Hormone Therapy For Postmenopausal Women: A Brief History Of Time, Cynthia A. Stuenkel

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

All women who live long enough with ovaries intact will experience the menopause transition. This nearly universal, natural physiological event transcends mere biology, however. In our culture, the menopause also connotes a marker of aging. Margaret Meade considered menopause as the portal to a season of postmenopausal zest. Others, such as the infamous gynecologist Robert Wilson, approached menopause as an endocrine deficiency disorder with only negative sequelae in a woman's appearance, sexuality, and health. In an effort to relieve women's symptoms and to ward off the vagaries of aging, hormone therapy entered midstream medicine over fifty years ago. In an …

The "M Word" Symposium: An Interdisciplinary Adventure, Lisa Faigman

UC Law SF Journal on Gender and Justice

No abstract provided.

Steps To Alleviating Violence Against Women On Tribal Lands, Anjum Unwala

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Caveat

One in three Native American women has been raped or has experienced an attempted rape. Federal officials also failed to prosecute 75% of the alleged sex crimes against women and children living under tribal authority. The Senate bill to reauthorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) could provide appropriate recourse for Native American women who are victims of sexual assault. This bill (S. 1925), introduced in 2011, would grant tribal courts the ability to prosecute non-Indians who have sexually assaulted their Native American spouses and domestic partners. Congress has quickly reauthorized the Violence Against Women Act twice before. But …