Feminist scholars have long been concerned with how women and sexuality are perceived and treated by the American legal system. Feminists have put forth a variety of arguments seeking the causes and solutions to the class-based and sex-biased characteristics of the legal system that contribute to the victimization of women in contemporary society. No consensus within the women's movement has been achieved on a number of legal issues, such as pornography or prostitution, since approaches are often divided by political, economic, moral, or sexual ideology.Women, Sex, and the Law is a comprehensive survey and analysis of the legal and sexual issues important to women. Rosemarie Tong introduces the reader to the different feminist and legal perspectives on the causes and solutions for the problems of pornography, sexual harassment, prostitution, rape, and woman-battering. Tong clearly and concisely details and assesses the legal theory and practice for each issue, describs and critiques the various feminist debates surrounding these concerns, and offers her own thoughtful proposals for ameliorating the discriminatory tendencies and improving the effectiveness of our present legal system.
Feminist scholars have long been concerned with how women and sexuality are perceived and treated by the American legal system. Feminists have put forth a variety of arguments seeking the causes and solutions to the class-based and sex-biased characteristics of the legal system that contribute to the victimization of women in contemporary society. No consensus within the women's movement has been achieved on a number of legal issues, such as pornography or prostitution, since approaches are often divided by political, economic, moral, or sexual ideology.Women, Sex, and the Law is a comprehensive survey and analysis of the legal and sexual issues important to women. Rosemarie Tong introduces the reader to the different feminist and legal perspectives on the causes and solutions for the problems of pornography, sexual harassment, prostitution, rape, and woman-battering. Tong clearly and concisely details and assesses the legal theory and practice for each issue, describs and critiques the various feminist debates surrounding these concerns, and offers her own thoughtful proposals for ameliorating the discriminatory tendencies and improving the effectiveness of our present legal system.
This work examines the evolution of law and legal method, and challenges the law's claim to neutrality by examining its role in creating and reproducing inequality between the sexes. It considers many of the current debates, and in each, the law is stated with reference to recent developments in statute and judicial decisions in the UK and other jurisdictions. The author illustrates how each issue is shaped by the current political climate and, where relevant, by the European Court. Reference is also made to US and Australian case law. The book should be of interest to students studying women and the law, family law, criminal law and jurisprudcence, as well as those on criminology and sociology courses. It should also be useful to family and criminal practitioners.
Multidisciplinary focus Surveying many disciplines, this anthology brings together an outstanding selection of scholarly articles that examine the profound impact of law on the lives of women in the United States. The themes addressed include the historical, political, and social contexts of legal issues that have affected women's struggles to obtain equal treatment under the law. The articles are drawn from journals in law, political science, history, women's studies, philosophy, and education and represent some of the most interesting writing on the subject. The law in theory and practice Many of the articles bring race, social, and economic factors into their analyses, observing, for example, that black women, poor women, and single mothers are treated by the wielders of the power of the law differently than middle class white women. Other topics covered include the evolution of women's legal status, reproduction rights, sexuality and family issues, equal employment and educational opportunities, domestic violence, pornography and sexual exploitation, hate speech, and feminist legal thought. A valuable research and classroom aid, this series provides in-depth coverage of specific legal issues and takes into account the major legal changes and policies that have had an impact on the lives of American women.
First published in 1985, Women-in-Law is a collection of essays examining the complex interactions of law, sexuality, and the family. It explores the ways in which legal ideology and practice affect women and looks at issues such as child custody, domestic violence and prostitution in the light of new research. The contributors review the history of feminist involvement with the law and analyse the law's fundamental failure to improve the status of women. They also assess strategies for change in view of the current backlash against women's rights and the traditional role of law in the subjugation of women. This book will be of interest to students of law, political science, sociology, gender studies, and sexuality studies.
'Women's Lives, Men's Laws' collects papers by MacKinnon from 1980 to the present, in which she discusses the deep gender bias of American law and the changes to legislation on sexual harassment, rape and battering, to which she has contributed.
American women fare worse than men on virtually every major dimension of social status, financial well-being, and physical safety. Sexual violence remains common, and reproductive rights are by no means secure. Women assume disproportionate burdens in the home and pay a heavy price in the workplace. Yet these issues are not political priorities. Nor is there a consensus that there still is a serious problem. In What Women Want, Deborah L. Rhode, one of the nation's leading scholars on women and law, brings to the discussion a broad array of interdisciplinary research as well as interviews with heads of leading women's organizations. Is the women's movement stalled? What are the major obstacles it confronts? What are its key priorities and what strategies might advance them? In addressing those questions, the book explores virtually all of the major policy issues confronting women. Topics include employment and appearance discrimination, the gender gap in pay and leadership opportunities, work/family policies, childcare, divorce, same-sex marriage, sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape, trafficking, abortion, poverty, and political representation, all with a particular focus on the capacities and limits of law as a strategy for social change. Why, despite four decades of equal employment legislation, is women's workplace status so far from equal? Why, despite a quarter century's effort at reforming rape law, is America's rate of reported rape the second highest in the developed world? Part of the problem lies in the absence of political mobilization around such issues and the underrepresentation of women in public office. In an age where many women are reluctant to identify as feminists, a broad-ranging, expert look at where American women are today is more necessary than ever. This path-breaking book explores how women can and should act on what they want.
Sex, Sexuality, Law, and (In)Justice covers a wide range of legal issues associated with sexuality, gender, reproduction, and identity. These are critical and sensitive issues that law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals need to understand. The book synthesizes the literature across a wide breadth of perspectives, exposing students to law, psychology, criminal justice, sociology, philosophy, history, and, where relevant, biology, to critically examine the social control of sex, gender, and sexuality across history. Specific federal and state case law and statutes are integrated throughout the book, but the text moves beyond the intersection between law and sexuality to focus just as much on social science as it does on law. This book will be useful in teaching courses in a range of disciplines—especially criminology and criminal justice, history, political science, sociology, women and gender studies, and law.
![Eighth [i.e Ninth] Annual Gender, Sexuality & the Law Symposium and International Women's Human Rights Clinic Report](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/-cM_AQAAIAAJ)
