Women in Law Study Sheet PDF

Women in Law Midterm – Study Sheet - Natural Law: o According to ancient Greek philosophers, law derives from a rational process. - Legal positivism o Distinct from human morality, created by legitimate legal authority. - Law as social phenomenon...

Women in Law Midterm – Study Sheet - Natural Law: o According to ancient Greek philosophers, law derives from a rational process. - Legal positivism o Distinct from human morality, created by legitimate legal authority. - Law as social phenomenon o Considering, not just what law is but how it can be applied and how it can be influenced o Law on books vs law in action - Legal Realism o Focuses on the consequences of legal decisions for individual and society - Emergence of sociolegal studies o Laws often serve elite interests at the expense of marginalized individuals and groups. o Legal processes tend to reflect and entrench structural power and oppression. o Looking at laws as an oppressive force. - The Common Place of Law o Ewick and Sibey’s describe legal consciousness as the process by which ordinary people understand and interact with the law in everyday life. o 3 ways in which people conceptualize law: ▪ Law is distant, impartial, and formal system of rules that exists above everyday life. (Before the law) ▪ Law is a game of opportunity and strategy (with the law) ▪ Law is oppressive, explotic, and should be subverted (Agaisnt the law) - Sociology of narrative o Bridges the gap between experience and legal structures o Narrative Analysis ▪ Can reveal the truth ▪ Overtly political ▪ Knowlege is socially and politically created o Different ways to use narrative to achieve goals - Marxism and feminist thought o Marxism views history as shaped b material conditions with the economy driving, societal structures  o Legal, political, and cultural institutions reflect and reinforce the interests of the ruling class. o Marxism’s focus on systemic power inspired early feminist critique of patriarchal structures, but its failure to center gender inequality has led to critique from feminist scholars. - First wave feminism (late 19th to early 20th century) o Secured women's formal legal personhood and foundational rights but limited in scope/monolithic. - Second wave feminism (1960s to 1980s) o Focused on social and cultural equality (e.g. reproductive rights, workplace equality, addresses gender-based violence) and highlighted systemic inequalities but viewed womanhood as a “universal experience” - Intersectionality o Intersectionality is a framework for understanding and addressing how multiple social identities (e.g. race, gender, class, sexuality) intersect to shape experiences of privilege and oppression. o Reflects the complexity of feminism. - The Matrix of Domination o A conceptual framework developed by Patricia Hill Collins to analyze how multiple forms of oppression interlock and reinforce one another within social structures. o At individual, cultural, and institutional levels. o Highlights the fluidity of power. - Third Wave Feminism (1990s to early 2000s) o Broadens the scope of feminism to include diverse experiences; incorporates intersectional identities into feminist frameworks; centers the voices of marginalized women in feminist issues. - Postcolonial Feminism o Is a broad term that refers to the feminist frameworks that acknowledge colonial histories and neocolonial practices, and how these histories/practices shape power and oppression. - Historical Witch Hunts o Conceptualizing witches ▪ The term witch is a construct blame of fear, control, misogyny ▪ It emerged as a weapon against women, unleashing centuries of gender-based violence. o Women’s innate wisdom and power  ▪ Prior to 15th century women occupied the central role of healer in their communities. ▪ As Christianity gained momentum in Europe, traditional pagan practices were pronounced “ungodly” or evil’ ▪ Women were recast as morally and physically weak, and therefore dependent on men. o The Malleus Maleficarum (the Hammer of Witches) ▪ A handbook for identifying, prosecuting and punishing witches ▪ Provided theological and legal justification for the persecution of women. ▪ Establishes witchcraft as a) real and b) satanic ▪ Establishes the legal process for convicting witches o The systemic persecution of women ▪ Particularly women deviating from Christian norms (and thus threatening to religious/patriarchal power ▪ Hundreds of thousands (or possibly millions) women died. o Cultural and legal transformations ▪ The witch hunts reinforced the patriarchy legally, and culturally transforming what it meant to be a woman. ▪ Led to the erasure of women’s sacred healing knowledge and practices. ▪ Entrenched stereotypes of women as weak, irrational, and morally corrupt ▪ Codified institutional control over women’s bodies and lives, setting the stage for centuries of gendered legal frameworks. - Managing Social Risks o In recent decades, institutions have adapted a risk management approach to the governance of social problems (like crime or infectious disease) o This hyperfocus on risk has permeated contemporary society, normalizing drastic risk response measures (e.g. Surveillance) in all facets of everyday life. ▪ Creates a self-fulfilling prophecy o Foucauldian theory ▪ Offers insight into how governments employ risk in a way that merges population control with population health and wellbeing. o Governmentality  ▪ Describes a form of institutional power where populations are governed through incentives that appeal to people’s rational self- interests o Biopolitical techniques ▪ shape individual conduct in ways that maximize the life of the citizens. ▪ They operate as coercive state initiatives but are portrayed as population “care” and therefore go unquestioned. o Carceral Protectionism ▪ Musto (2010) offers “carceral protectionism” to describe coercive state interventions that are framed as “protection” for vulnerable groups. ▪ This framework shows how state interventions are often enacted through carceral logics and systems, reinforcing systemic inequalities rather than addressing root causes of harm. - The overturn of Roe v Wade ▪ Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): Allowed for abortion restrictions, provided they do not place “undue burden” on women ▪ Dobbs v Jackson(2022): the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade (1973), eliminating federal abortion protections The Dobbs decision was largely based on historical legal frameworks and claims that “modern developments” preempt any need for women to get abortions. The Dobbs decision was quickly followed with abortion restrictions and bans in conservative states across the US (“trigger laws”) These abortion bans have disproportionate negative effects on already marginalized women. Have emboldened anti-abortion movements in Canada and across the globe. - Criminalizing Sex Work o FOSTA and SESTA targets online platforms for their role in facilitating sex trafficking o In response, many websites have closed their adult sections or imposed strict bans on all sex-related content  o This disrupted sex workers ability to operate in online spaces, pushing many to less safe, more exploitable environments. o Networked Moral Gentrification ▪ Expanded networks of institutions are involved in “sanitizing” public spaces from “undesirable” activities - Gendered Risk Narrative o Women are told to fear male violence as a pervasive and inevitable (though unknowable) threat. o This narrative normalizes instances of male violence toward women. o “Safety Talk” operates a “technology of the soul” whereby women self- regulate based on gendered narratives and societal; expectations. o “Safety Talk” makes women feel responsible - Menstrual Tracking Apps as Surveillance o Apps collect sensitive reproductive data, which can be commercialized or used for regulatory purposes. o “Cyclic Self-Fashioning" ▪ Users self-monitor and regulate their bodies based on feedback from tracking technologies developing a relationship with their “datafied” bodies. o Though marketed as a tool for bodily awareness and empowerment tracking enforce “imperative of self-optimization"