Feminist Jurisprudence: Landmark Decisions Relating

Feminist Jurisprudence: Landmark Decisions Relating to Gender Feminist jurisprudence as a philosophy and practical enterprise began in the 1960's.

It is a philosophy of law based on "...the political, economic, and social equality of sexes." (Feminist jurisprudence: Cornell law School) Among the issue that are dealt with under the rubric of feminist jurisprudence are, "...sexual and domestic violence, inequality in the workplace, and gender-based discrimination." (Feminist jurisprudence: Cornell law School) These include aspects such as general issues relating to laws affecting employment, divorce, reproductive rights, as well as domestic violence, and sexual harassment. The foundation of feminist jurisprudence lies in the struggle for equal rights and against gender discrimination.

It is essentially based on the view that societies have shown a tendency towards gender subjugation and discrimination. Furthermore," the language, logic, and structure of the law are male created and reinforce male values." (Feminist jurisprudence: Cornell law School) The history of the struggle for gender equality is marked the continual fight in many countries throughout the world for legal rights for women and against gender discrimination. This is a struggle which still continues in many areas of the world.

Central to this struggle is the legacy of a past of a male dominated society where women were often relegated to the status of inferior or second class citizens and who were in many cases discriminated against by the male legal and social system. This view runs counter to the ideals of a democratic and ethical society. While there was the appearance of democratic freedom, women and in particular felt oppressed in the Nineteenth and early Twentieth centuries in America.

The feeling was similar to the famous statement by Rousseau in the Social Contract that, "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." (Bryson, Finkelstein and MacIver, 1947, p.1) 2. Landmark decisions Feminist jurisprudence has led to a number of landmark and vital decisions affecting gender rights. While the contemporary decisions affecting gender began in the 1960's, yet in truth there are a number of historic factors and decisions that preceded this.

The advent of women's suffrage ensured that women achieved more extensive rights in the first half of the Twentieth Century in Europe and America. In 1945 the Charter of the United Nations went into effect, and ".. For the first time the human rights of women were afforded equal status with the human rights of men." (Devine and Hansen, 1999, p. 250) In 1970 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was to address the issue of women's rights more extensively and in a variety of contexts.

(Devine and Hansen, 1999, p. 250) In more recent times the issue of discrimination against women in the workplace has also been addressed. This refers to various legislations as well as court decisions that extend from the early 1960's. In 1961 President Kennedy issued Executive Order 10925, which "...created the President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity and prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender, race, creed, color, or national origin by federal contractors." (Gibelman, 2003, p. 22) This was expanded on in 1965 by President Johnson "..

making it illegal for federal contractors to discriminate on the basis of race or sex in their employment policies and practices and requiring contractors to take affirmative steps in all business operations, not just in fulfilling federal contracts. " (Gibelman, 2003, p. 22) One of the most important and far-reaching landmark legislative decisions was the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law in effect outlawed various forms of discrimination which was based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(Civil Rights Act of 1964) This Bill was initially intended mainly to protect the rights of Black people in the country but had a profound effect as well on the promotion and enforcement of gender rights. This Act was to have numerous consequences and was responsible for the enforcement not only of minority rights but also other areas of perceived discrimination. Importantly, the act stated that "Title VI of the Act prevents discrimination by government agencies that receive federal funding.

If an agency is found in violation of Title VI, that agency can lose its federal funding." (Civil Rights Act of 1964) An important aspect of the Bill was that is had a very positive effect on wage and work discrimination in terms of gender disparities. Title VII of the Act "...specifically forbade discrimination in employment practices based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." (Gibelman, 2003, p. 22) it is also significant that the Bill was further amended in 1991 and the protection against gender discrimination in particular was strengthened.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 also provided protection for women in the workplace through its "glass ceiling "legislation (Title 11). A legislation against the prevention of upward mobility of women protected against "...the under-representation of women and minorities in management and decision-making positions and the need to remove artificial barriers to advancement." (Gibelman, 2003, p. 22) Sex discrimination, particularly in the workplace, has been one of the central issues that affect women.

Sexual discrimination can be the result of, "...a policy or practice which treats similarly situated men or women differently from the opposite gender." (the Federal Law Enforcement Center's Policy...) Another way in which this form of discrimination can be precipitated is when, ".. gender-neutral policy or practice has a disproportionate adverse effect on one of the genders." (the Federal Law Enforcement Center's Policy...) Discrimination based on sex is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Among the many contemporary landmark legal decisions affecting sexual discrimination and gender that have been taken was Reed v. Reed, in the Supreme Court, 1971. In this case the Supreme Court invalidated an Idaho law that,"...required that preference be given to men when people of both sexes are equally qualified to administer estates." (Gibelman, 2003, p. 22) This decision was taken on the basis of constitutionality of state statutes, which were considered to discriminate on the basis of gender. In another case, Frontiero v.

Richardson, in 1973, the Supreme court ruled that, "...differential treatment of women members of the military in regard to dependent's benefits was unconstitutional." (Gibelman M. 2003) Sexual harassment in the workplace has been the focus of some important legal decisions. The first sexual harassment case in the United States is considered to be Barnes v. Train (1974). Another landmark case which established sexual harassment as a form of sexual discrimination was Williams v. Saxbe, 1976.

This case showed that "...when sexual advances by a male supervisor towards a female employee, if proven, would be deemed an artificial barrier to employment placed before one gender and not another. " (Sexual harassment) the issue of sexual harassment was also spelt out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which issued various regulations in 1980 and which stated that sexual harassment was in fact a form of gender discrimination that related to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This was followed by many cases of note, one of which was Michelle Vinson v. Merit One Savings Bank. In this case the Supreme Court first recognized sexual harassment as a "...violation of Title VII (and) established the standards for analyzing whether the conduct was welcome and levels of employer liability, and that speech or conduct in itself can create a ' hostile environment'." (Sexual harassment) The issues of sexual behavior and especially homosexual behavior have tended to be seen and treated differently in different judicial areas.

Some laws still"...criminalize certain behavior by opposite-gender as well as same-gender couples." (U.S. LAWS THAT ONCE CRIMINALIZED SAME-SEX BEHAVIOR) in this regard a landmark decision was made when the U.S. Supreme Court "...overruled a 1986 ruling, Bowers v. Hardwick, in which it had upheld a Georgia sodomy statute that applied to both heterosexuals and homosexuals..." (U.S. Supreme Court Reaffirms American's Right to Privacy in Landmark Case) the court rules that the petitioners is this case, "....are entitled to respect for their private lives...." (U.S.

Supreme Court Reaffirms American's Right to Privacy in Landmark Case) In another 2003 court ruling it was declared that the sodomy laws in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas, were unconstitutional. It was stated that "...adults are free to engage in private.