Feminism

I'm finding feminism interesting again. In high school I found it interesting, and loved author like de Beauvoir and Freidan. In college, Women and Gender Studies folks scared me and I found their rhetoric and shrillness tiresome. Many of them also don't seem to be that intelligent or imaginative, and instead just rehash the old jargons that were never that great even when they were new. Most of the "feminists" also seem very angry and unpleasant to be around.

In college I was also in my idealistic phase. I was very interested in literature, philosophy, art,... basically, fields where pleasure and aesthetic appreciation reign paramount. I still believe that those fields are not particularly suited for the feminist critique (although the feminists certainly try). Feminist theory's relentless and insistent need to see nearly everything as a power relationship, or related somehow to the subjugation of women, really turned me off. Feminists seemed like a bunch of humorless bore.

Well, now I'm studying law, and law actually IS about power. From the cases I read, I AM increasingly aware of the imbalance of power and the many male-oriented assumptions that legal doctrines make. And this makes feminist theory relevant to me as it has never been before.

For instance, last semester in crim law, we talked for a bit about how manslaughter, which gives people a lesser sentence for killing someone because there was "provocation", can be seen as condoning the killing of another in the heat of passion -- a very "male" response. This jibes with reality, since the vast majority of people convicted of manslaughter are male. Female, it seems, don't really respond to provocation by killing, but usually by retreating.

There are other examples of this kind of assumptions in crim law. Indeed, what better reflects the assumptions and attitudes abotu women than rape law and domestic violence law? It was very interesting to see how both developed. And I'm sure there are examples like this in torts and contracts and property.

In any event, what I want to say is, I am finding feminist theory, and gender theory, and all that stuff that I couldn't stand when I was doing literature or philosophy or history, interesting again. Law seems like a particular appropriate field for this kind of critique and analysis, since it is after all about the allocation of power. The ultimate question for any law ought to be what the Crits ask: what group does this law favor in society? In fact, now as I type this, I can hardly believe that some would dispute that this is the most important question in law. What is the use of law, except to preserve order and effect positive change in society? And how can you possibly evaluate a law without looking at its results and effects for different groups of people in society?

so, anyway, I am planning to spend my summer reading up on some feminist critique of law. I'm sure I'll have many questions, doubts, and problems with it, just as I do with everything else, but it's a start.

:D Seeing S dance Bollywood styled dances at the International Party tonight.
:( The fact that I'm still not asleep, and the fact that I have a 10:30 class tomorrow morning.