Relevance of Feminism to Study of Law in 21Sst Century - Essay Example

Many scholars have asserted that feminism has affected the study of law in the twenty first century. The study of law per say has been facing mass influence from feminist groups in United Kingdom. This paper therefore expounds on how feminism is related to the study of law in the twenty first century. (Ashe, 2004) This paper will handle expansively liberal, difference, radical and post-modern feminism in relation to the study of law. It has a feminist analysis of the law of torts. This paper also discusses the extent to which new legislative or constitutional initiatives are required to address equality on the grounds of sex and sexual orientation. (Melissa, 2004) Research shows that the study of law has faced myriad changes in the twenty first century. This includes the number of ladies who are venturing in the law field. One can pause and ask; why the increase in the number of female students studying law. What part has feminism played in influencing women to garner interest in the law field? (Ashe, 2004) It is important to note that not only women have been influenced by feminism in the study of law. The issue of feminism has also influenced the extent to which men seek for more information on law issues. In answering these questions, one has first to understand what feminism is all about. (Brizendine, 2007) Feminism is an ideology that women need to have equal rights like men have in terms of economic, intellectual, social and even sexual aspects. This incorporates a variety of philosophies, movements and theories are geared towards enhancement of equality for women. These theories and philosophies, movements and theories also carry out campaigns where they fight for women’s rights at work, in marriage, education etc. (Ashe, 2004) There are various topics under feminism that have influenced the study of law in the twenty first century. One of them is difference feminism. In this type of feminism, there is the philosophy that women and men are different in ontological aspects. This is in terms of spiritual, psychological, emotional or biological differences between men and women. (Rhoads, 2004) This is a movement of feminism that is quite recent though its roots can actually be traced to early Greeks. One of the components of difference feminism is gender polarity that is reverse based. This is the type of feminism that states that women are actually superior to men. This type of feminism was initiated to deal with the notion that men are superior to women. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Reverse gender polarity has highly influenced the study of law in the twenty first century. Many women in the twenty first century are studying law just to prove a point that they can also make it in this field. They want to prove a point that they can make better judges, advocates etc. This initiative to study law by women came about because they wanted to prove their superiority in law field. (Rhoads, 2004) Feminism has also affected the study of law a great deal in the twenty first century. Many women in the twenty first century are studying many law courses that are highly related to issues of equal rights between men and women. It has also been noted that the quest for more knowledge on women and law issues has resulted in many women scholars writing books and articles on women and law issues. Many scholars have written books that expound on areas where they feel that the law is discriminating against women. It is important to note that these articles have not been written by women only but also the men. Some of the articles actually depict United Kingdom’s laws and regulations that encourage equality among men and women. (MacGregor, 2006) Feminism has therefore not resulted in massive numbers enrolling in formal law studies but also informal ones. Women are studying law to find the basis of social injuries in the law of torts. This is in line with compensations that have to be made to the plaintiff in case of sexual harassment which may not necessarily have physical impacts. (Currie and Cameron, 2000) Many women have felt in the past that men judges have not been fair when dealing with marriage issues. They thought that male judges tended to deal with men as a superior sex. Many women in the twenty first century decided to study law expansively so that they can challenge legal and constitutional aspects that perpetuate discrimination against women. (Rhoads, 2004) This saw to it changes in number of female students applying to study law courses in universities and colleges. This move has also affected their male counterparts in various ways. It has resulted in a case where men are doing their best to improve their grades in law courses. This means that there is a tougher competition among female and male students taking law courses. (Wheeler, 2005) Men feel that this is where they belong in terms of profession while women feel that they have to show superiority even in the law field. This explains why performances of female and male students tend to be closely tied with neither of the groups wanting to feel inferior to the other. It was also noted that in reaction to feminism many men decided to further their studies in courses related to law and gender. Majority of feminists in the twenty first century gained interest in legal practices, legal theory and also other law areas. (Wheeler, 2005) Complementarity on gender bases is another aspect of difference feminism. In gender complementarity there is assertion that the way men and women reason is quite different and therefore they need to complement each other. Other scholars argue that if this concept is true, then women would be disqualified from becoming moral philosophers, judges and lawyers. This concept has however influenced women to study law knowing that they need to complement their male counterparts. (Wheeler, 2005) Another section of difference feminism is complementarity in lines of integral gender. This school of thought asserts that women and men are integral. Ashe (2004), states that women can use their feminine prowess in every vocation and profession. This has definitely stirred women to study law in the twenty first century. (Ashe, 2004) Liberal feminism on the other hand, relates to legal and political reforms that bring equality of both women and men. This is where women’s choices and actions depict their ability. In this case, women need to assert themselves in order to attain their equality in society. Liberal feminists consider various aspects to be of importance. These are issues of domestic violence, sexual violence, healthcare that is affordable, education issues, abortion, childcare, voting and even reproductive rights for women. (Rhoads, 2004) This has resulted in many women choosing to study law in the twenty first century. Many women choose to study law so that they are well versed on legal aspects relating to the above named factors. The issue of sexual harassment of women at the workplace was quite common in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Liberal feminism influenced women to study law so that they can protect their rights even in issues of compensation at work and domestic violence. (Brizendine, 2007) According to a survey carried out by Brizendine in the year 2007, many mothers have played a big role in influencing their daughters to take up law courses. This is more so those who ever went through domestic violence or sexual harassment and felt that they never got justice out of law courts. Young girls who watched their parents face injustices caused by judicial system decided to study law while at a young age. (Brizendine, 2007) It has been noted that many women are studying law so that they can play a role in implementing laws that respect women’s rights. This means that they will be in a better position to challenge their male counterparts. They are studying law so that they can be part and parcel of the government where laws and regulations are put in place to govern institutions. This therefore proves that feminism has played a great role in influencing the study of law in the twenty first century. (Ashe, 2004) Radical feminism deals with issues of male supremacy in the society that emanates from patriarchal systems. These aspects of male supremacy end up oppressing women in the society. In this case, radical feminism aims at overthrowing or challenging patriarchy. Majority of radical feminists believe that the society is dominated by male supremacy that calls for radical reordering. Radical feminists believe that reordering of the society is necessary if patriarchy is to be abolished. They also believe that all men benefit in one way or the other from all forms of oppressing women. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) In this theory or concept, the correlation of dominance is highly upheld. This means that the dominant party (men) oppresses the other party (women) at its own (men) benefit. This school of thought therefore led to the thought that men judges and lawyers are part of the systems that dominate over women. (Dean and Gary 2008) This has therefore resulted in more women joining law profession so that patriarchy or domination of men over women can be eliminated. It has been quite evident in the twenty first century that women who in other professions decided to pursue law because of issues that they related to social injustices by men against women. (Ashe, 2004) They actually feel that men judges do not understand when women talk of issues on sexual harassment at work, domestic violence against women and even biases against women in the education sector. They claim that it takes a woman judge to understand what a women feels when she undergoes rape. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) In order to have a proper foundation to protect women’s rights, then they needed to put in place proper legislative measures. This could not be achieved without prior knowledge in the law field. This explains the spurred interest in the overall study of law in the twenty first century. This has seen to it women judges and lawyers seeking to legalise abortion. All this has been carried out in the name of abolishing domination of men. This school of thought therefore looks at the main cause of subordination of women to be the domination of men. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) To radical feminists, the solution to this problem relates to radical steps by women. This includes plunging into male dominated professions like law. This explains the culture of radical female lawyers who cannot tolerate male chauvinism from their colleagues. Through this, radical feminism has highly influenced women to study law. (Brizendine, 2007) According to post-modernism theory, there is no single cause to subordination of women. This means that there is also no single solution to the problem. In this school of thought, there is incorporation of both post structuralist and post-modern theory. Postmodernism theory therefore argues that there is no clear cut distinction between gender that is socially structured and sex that is biological structured. (Ashe, 2004) In this case, Haaland-Matlary (2005), argues that through culture, the female body has actually been given a bundle of meanings. This means that as culture changes, so does the definition of female body. Analysis of this type of feminism illustrates that it has not had any effects on the study of law in the twenty first century. This is considering the act that post modernism does not consider domination of men in law field as the sole cause of female subordination. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) The issue of feminism in the twenty first century resulted in a group of men who can be classified as pro-feminists. These are men to support feminism and all aspects of gender equality. This group of men also decided to study law so that they can challenge legislative rules that encourage sexual harassment and domestic violence among women. Some pro-feminists have studied law in the twenty first century so that they can actually help women fight for their rights in the society. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Tort law deals with remedies on actions that cause harm to a determinate person. This is whether the action is done intentionally or unintentionally. This is usually referred to as a civil wrong and does not therefore depend on contracts. The court imposes the remedy in such cases. In the law of torts, there has to be duty of care and there must be infringement of a civil right of an individual. In the law of torts, the wrong doer is required to compensate the injured party. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Feminists’ analysis of the law of torts illustrated some shortcomings in the law of torts, the court requires the plaintiff to show injuries caused by the other party. Feminists assert that this law does not take into consideration aspects of emotional harm. (Ashe, 2004) There is no way a person can show emotional stress that the other party has caused. In this case, feminists argue that many men usually cause emotional harm to their wives or even female friends. The court cannot therefore listen to their cases because the harm caused is not visible. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) According to some feminists, the law of torts cannot be termed as being fully gender neutral. This is because some sections of the law actually illustrate harm that can occur to women only. Injuries caused to the plaintiff that are fright based as illustrated by law of torts are not neutral on gender aspects. (Currie and Cameron, 2000) They are premature birth, miscarriage and disorders that are historical in nature highly relate to women. It was noted that the law of torts required the accused to compensate for physical harm caused to the plaintiff if found guilty. On the other hand, issues of harm caused by fright did not clearly elaborate on aspects of compensation. (Dean and Gary 2008) There was concern from courts that defendants would be caused unduly trouble or burden if they were to compensate fright based harm. This is because it was claimed that there would be cases of unpredictable liability. This is a scenario whereby the harm did not have any physical effects. Cases of premature births, miscarriages and other feminine injuries were considered to be hypertensive. (Ashe, 2004) Many feminists assert that the law of torts does not understand harms that are specifically caused to women. This is in relation to tort doctrine development that is highly gender biased. This is more so on tort law rules relating to sexual harassment, assessment of damages caused to women, loss of consortium and aspects of inter-familial immunity. This includes doctrines on tort immunity that are inter-spousal based. (Brizendine, 2007) These issues have therefore resulted in a situation where courts fail in overall compensation of women. This is more so in cases where there is substantial and real harm caused to women. It was noted that courts simply limited damages to losses that are pecuniary in nature. Feminists noted that losses that affect children directly affect their mothers too. Law of torts does not however consider emotional and relational injuries. This to feminists is gender bias. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Feminists’ analysis of all these aspects of tort law therefore shows that normal responses to fright were mainly male. There is therefore the assertion that separation of emotional and physical stress is highly related to gender dynamics. Feminists therefore assert that tort law had an overall marginalisation of feminine or women injuries by excluding them from harms that can be compensated for. This has therefore prompted scholars to carry out in-depth studies on remedies of incest survivors in accordance to the law of torts. (Melissa, 2004) There are new legislative and constitutional initiatives that have been put in place that are required to address equality on grounds of sex, sexual orientation etc Analysis of legislative measures in United Kingdom shows that there is an equality bill in parliament that is dealing with issues of equality. (Brizendine, 2007) In this bill, employers will be allowed to favour female candidates over their male counterparts during recruitment process. Analysis of this bill shows that it is not promoting equality. This is because it is still favouring one of the sexes over the other. This is still promotion of inequality and therefore it can not be considered as an effective way of promoting equality in United Kingdom. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Research on legislative measures in United Kingdom show that they have played a great role in promoting equality based on sexual orientation grounds. This is in accordance to Employment equality regulations of 2003. These regulations outlaw any form of harassment, victimisation and discrimination. These regulations cover all scopes of people including heterosexuals, bisexual, lesbians and gay. Therefore all these clusters of people are protected against any form of discrimination that is in line with their sexual orientation or because of the sexual orientation of their friends and acquaintances. This is an effective way of promoting equality in the society. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) Analysis of the equality duty enacted in two thousand and seven shows that it is promoting gender equality. This gender quality duty requires authorities to eradicate discrimination on sexual grounds. In this duty, responsibility is placed on public authorities in such a way that they have to treat both men and women equally and fairly. (Ashe, 2004) This means that policies that public authorities make that are related to public services like employment opportunities, flexible working and practices and transport uphold the concept of equality. This equality duty has played a great role in effectively promoting gender equality in United Kingdom. This is because it deals with authorities who are in a position of power and putting in place policies. As they adhere to this duty, they become an example to the rest of the citizens who follow suit. (Haaland-Matlary, 2005) In conclusion, feminism is all about women having equal rights in terms of intellectual, social and even sexual aspects. Feminism has highly affected the study of law in the twenty first century. This is in both formal and informal studies. Feminism prompted many women to enrol in law courses so that they can be better placed to challenge their male counter parts in law professions etc. Feminists’ analysis of the law of torts show that it is highly gender biased. This is because it does not recognise feminine injuries like emotional harm to be worth compensation. The law of torts only recognises physical injuries and not emotional injuries that are common in women. Laws and regulations in United Kingdom have tried to promote equality. For instance, employment equality regulations enacted in 2003 discourages discrimination, victimisation and harassment because of an individual’s sexual orientation or his friends’ sexual orientation. All these measures work towards building a cohesive nation. Reference: Ashe, F. (2004): The new politics of masculinity; London: Routledge; pp. 178 Brizendine, L. (2007): The Female Brain; Bantam Press; pp. 12-45 Currie, S., and Cameron, D. (2000): Your Law; Nelson Thomson Learning; London; Melbourne Press; p. 225 Dean, J. and Gary, R. (2008): Criminal Courts, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; pp. 33-56 Haaland-Matlary, J. (2005): Men and Women in Family, Society and Politics; Vatican; p. 6-7 MacGregor, S. (2006): Beyond mothering earth; ecological citizenship and the politics of care. Vancouver; UBC Press. pp. 286 Melissa, G. (2004): Statutes of Limitations in Civil Incest Suits; Preserving the Victim' Remedy, London; Free Press; pp. 91-112 Rhoads, E. (2004): Taking sex differences seriously, San Francisco; California; Encounter Books; pp. 25-35 Wheeler, M. (2005): One woman, one vote: rediscovering the woman suffrage movement. Troutdale, OR: New Sage Press Read More