Feminist Law Professors

Misogyny, Sexism, & the Gender Gap in the 2008 Election

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Lengthy, data rich posts from Corrente:

Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV.

Posted in Feminism and Politics, The Underrepresentation of Women | Comments Off

“GayProf” Has Words of Wisdom On The Democratic Primary That Need To Be Widely Circulated!

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

He writes:

Wake up, people. Neither is great on gay issues, immigration, or even basic economic policies (All of my favorite issues). The best we can hope for is that they will be quasi-reasonable and work with those of us who are interested in actual social-justice issues (rather than the aforementioned hyperbole and rhetoric).

In my mind, either one is vastly preferably to McCain and a huge improvement over the incompetent moron in office today. Hell, my cat is more competent than the moron in office today (and darn cute).

All the same, the Democratic Party is divided. Even some of my own family members are threatening to boycott the 2008 election if their chosen candidate doesn’t win the primary. That’s just crazy talk.

I am tired of the hyperbole that has been flying around from both sides of this election. People who fall for the cult of personality in politics make me nervous. It also distracts them from worshiping their true savior: Me.

A-frickin’-women, A-frickin’-men. I’m off to ritually worship Gayprof’s blog. Thank you and good night.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminism and Politics | Comments Off

If You Haven’t Read Rebecca Solnit’s Essay, “Men Explain Things To Me,” You Must.

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here’s the link. Below is an excerpt, in case you need convincing:

… He cut me off soon after I mentioned Muybridge. “And have you heard about the very important Muybridge book that came out this year?”

So caught up was I in my assigned role as ingÃ©nue that I was perfectly willing to entertain the possibility that another book on the same subject had come out simultaneously and I’d somehow missed it. He was already telling me about the very important book — with that smug look I know so well in a man holding forth, eyes fixed on the fuzzy far horizon of his own authority.

Here, let me just say that my life is well-sprinkled with lovely men, with a long succession of editors who have, since I was young, listened and encouraged and published me, with my infinitely generous younger brother, with splendid friends of whom it could be said — like the Clerk in The Canterbury Tales I still remember from Mr. Pelen’s class on Chaucer — “gladly would he learn and gladly teach.” Still, there are these other men, too. So, Mr. Very Important was going on smugly about this book I should have known when Sallie interrupted him to say, “That’s her book.” Or tried to interrupt him anyway.

But he just continued on his way. She had to say, “That’s her book” three or four times before he finally took it in. And then, as if in a nineteenth-century novel, he went ashen. That I was indeed the author of the very important book it turned out he hadn’t read, just read about in the New York Times Book Review a few months earlier, so confused the neat categories into which his world was sorted that he was stunned speechless — for a moment, before he began holding forth again. Being women, we were politely out of earshot before we started laughing, and we’ve never really stopped. …

Via Historiann.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminists in Academia, Sociolinguistics | Comments Off

“Prostitution, Politics and Policy” by Roger Matthews

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the publisher’s website:

Governments in different parts of the world have been struggling to develop constructive policies to deal with prostitution â€“ as, for example, the British Home Office recently instigated a £1.5 million programme to help address the perceived problems of prostitution. In the context of this struggle, and amidst the publication of various policy documents, Prostitution, Politics & Policy develops a fresh approach to understanding this issue, while presenting a range of what are seen as progressive and radical policy proposals. Much of the debate around prostitution has been polarized between liberals â€“ who want prostitution decriminalized, normalized and humanized â€“ and conservatives â€“ who have argued that prostitution should be abolished. But, drawing on a wide range of international literature, and providing an overview that is both accessible to students and relevant to policy makers and practitioners, Roger Matthews proposes a form of radical realism that is irreducible to either of these two positions.

An interview with the author is available here, below is an excerpt:

… As Matthews explains in his new book, Prostitution, Politics and Policy, he is entirely against liberal solutions to prostitution. The liberal approach is to think of the trade as simply another form of work, to be “non-judgmental” in dealing with it, and to set up areas, such as “tolerance zones”, where women can work without fear of arrest. (The Netherlands is among countries that have set up these zones, which are usually on the edge of industrial estates. The theory is that, without the fear of a police swoop, women will have more chance to size up customers, thus improving their safety.)

Matthews completely disagrees with the notion of legalisation. Instead, he says, the punters should be deterred from buying sex, women in prostitution should be decriminalised, and a radical welfare strategy should be put in place to help them out of the trade. “You can’t remove the abuse and coercion from prostitution, whether legal or not,” he says, so “the answer is to clamp down on the punters, while helping the women to get out and stay out.”

Matthews has been studying street prostitution for more than two decades, but his latest book was inspired partly by the murders of the five young women in Ipswich. “All the evidence of the Ipswich case shows us that tolerance zones would not have kept the women safe,” he says, because “it is about where the punters take the women to harm them, not where they pick them up.” As he points out, “the killer was a trusted regular”, which is why the women went with him.

In the book, Matthews describes most women he has met on the streets as “extremely desperate, damaged, and disorganised”. “Many of these women, who are supposed to be ‘working’, are obviously off their faces with drugs and drink,” he says. “Which other ‘profession’ would that be tolerated in?” He has interviewed women who have carried on selling sex immediately after being stabbed, raped, beaten, and in once case, hours after giving birth. “Entry into prostitution is often as a result of physical and sexual abuse, parental neglect, a history of local authority care, and drug addiction,” says Matthews.

“I think that speaks for itself.” …

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Acts of Violence, Coerced Sex, Recommended Books, Women's Health | Comments Off

“The Feminist Reawakening”

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The thesis of this New York Magazine article is that the sexist treatment of Hillary Clinton during this primary is generating a feminist revival. Via Echidne of the Snakes.

Posted in Feminism and Politics, Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

The Cupcake Dance

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. Hopefully no cupcakes were harmed during the making of the film.

Posted in Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

Blog for Fair Pay on Friday!

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Women in the United States are still paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their white male counterparts.

And for women of color, the numbers are even worse. African-American women earn 63 cents and Latinas earn 52 cents for every dollar paid to white men.*

It’s time to take action.

More information here.

Posted in Feminism and Law, Women and Economics | Comments Off

“Why gamers need to stop being assholes to feminists if they want to be happy”

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That’s the title of this post at Feminist Gamers. Below is an excerpt:

… We all know that videogames are being scapegoated. But whenever someone offers up a scapegoat, it’s because they’re trying to avoid taking responsibility for the real culprit. The Media-with-a-capital-M has made millions off of the objectification of women (from using half-naked women to sell cheeseburgers to titilating rape-porn on prime-time TV). People raised in our culture are bombarded constantly with the message that women and children are”less than.”Some of us overcome that programming, some don’t, and it expresses it in varying degrees of violence against women and childrenâ€¦ sometimes horrifically as we have seen here. These things keep happening : they are not just tidy isolated incidents that can be swept under the rug, and so the media is looking for something to blame and they’re chosing videogames. …

Posted in Acts of Violence, Feminism and Culture, Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

“An Either/Or Decision: Keeping Women Out of Competitive Careers”

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Tired of the “women won’t move here” and “women are just going to leave and have babies” stereotypes that get invoked as reasons not to extent qualified female candidates offers of employment? You aren’t alone. Read this post at the Feminist Underground.

Posted in Feminists in Academia, The Underrepresentation of Women | Comments Off

When Trademarks and Racism Intersect

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Jenn at Reappropriate has the details.

Posted in Feminist Blogs Of Interest, Race and Racism | Comments Off

Squaw Peak (in Arizona) will be renamed for Lori Piestewa, a Hopi woman who died in action in Iraq.

Posted on April 16, 2008 by Ann Bartow

So reports a post entitled “U.S. board approves naming of Piestewa Peak” posted at the Ojibway Migisi Bineshii blog (via), and it makes me really happy. Using trademark law as a doctrinal launching place, I argued in this article that public naming acts are often undemocratic and unfair, privileging wealthy white men and carving their names into the public landscape to broadcast and reify their cultural and political hegemony. It’s nice to see Piestewa receive this honor, and also great to see a derogatory name erased from the physical public domain.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminism and Politics, Race and Racism, Sociolinguistics, The Underrepresentation of Women | Comments Off

“Women Lawyers—Back on Track”

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Nicole Black’s blog by this name is fantastic. Rather than cherry picking a few links, let me just recommend you go there and browse.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminism and Law, Feminist Blogs Of Interest, Legal Profession | Comments Off

Wheelock College Summer Institute – “Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence and Commercial Culture on Adults, Children and Society”

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

Media Madness: The Impact of Sex, Violence and Commercial Culture on Adults, Children and Society

A Summer Institute/Training for Educators, Students, Human Service Professionals, Activists and Parents

July 8-11, 2008, Wheelock College, Boston.

For the 14th consecutive year, Wheelock College is offering a very popular summer institute on the role that the media (television,magazines, advertising, pornography, video games and music videos) plays in shaping our gender identity, our intimate relationships, our children’s lives, and ultimately our culture.

The institute is taught by Dr Gail Dines, author of Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality, and Dr. Diane Levin, author of the forthcoming So Sexy So Soon

Participants will learn:

â€¢ How media violence affects behavior and contributes to violence in society
â€¢ How media images perpetuate and legitimize sexism, racism,consumerism and economic inequality
â€¢ How political and economic forces shape the media
â€¢ How media affects children’s ideas about sexual behavior and
relationships with others
â€¢ How to critically deconstruct media images and develop media literacy skills
How to become active in advocacy, community building and grass roots organizing

As a way to accommodate the needs of the participants, this year two days of the institute will be split into the following tracks:

1. Fighting the porn culture: how to think about and organize against the increasing pornification of our society. (Led by Dr. Gail Dines, with guest lectures by feminist educators and activists)

2. Combating the hazards of media culture: how to work with children and teachers in a classroom setting. (Led by Dr. Diane Levin)

Details:

â€¢ Price for non-credit institute: $475 (special rate for organizations sending more than one person)
â€¢ Price for three graduate credits: $2,025
â€¢ Price for single dorm room at Wheelock: $35 per night/double is $45 per room

The institute runs from 9am-5pm, Tuesday through Friday, with optional evening events

To register:

For fee-paying applicants only, please see here.

Scholarships are available. If you need to apply for a scholarship to cover cost of the institute/training, don’t click on the link above. Instead, please write a one-paragraph application that includes the following:

o History of your involvement with these issues, if any
o Reasons you want to attend the institute/training
o What you hope to do in the future with the information

Please email your application to stoppornculture@gmail.com by May 15.

We will contact you with an answer by May 20th.

For everyone who needs a dorm room at the college, please tell us so we can reserve one for you.

Posted in Upcoming Conferences | Comments Off

10 Men Rape 17 Year Old, Imitating Porn

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Sparkle*Matrix has an account of a recent horrifying porn-inspired rape.

Posted in Acts of Violence, Coerced Sex | Comments Off

Webcasts from “CAN YOU HEAR US NOW?” (a Feminist Legal Theory & Feminisms Conference) are now available.

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here! This wonderful event was held at the U. of Baltimore School of Law on March 7, 2008.

Posted in Feminism and Law, Feminist Legal Scholarship, Feminists in Academia | Comments Off

“Although Barnard College in New York eventually granted Nadia Abu El-Haj tenure as an associate professor of anthropology, it was an arduous process that proved a testing ground for academic freedom.”

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Learn more at the ACS Blog.

Posted in Academia | Comments Off

“Quick, name a few recent popular movies where the two top-billed stars are female.”

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Struggling? Here’s why. Via Bitch, Ph.D.

Posted in Feminism and Culture, Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

Still Working On The Technical Problems

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The ads and spam are not our doing and we apologize for allowing them to infect the blog, espcially given the odious porn links some of you are getting in your RSS feeds.

Posted in Blog Administration | Comments Off

“What’s My Line?” Clip from January 27, 1957

Posted on April 15, 2008 by Ann Bartow

As Froomkin notes, the Mystery Guest is surreal. What I also find interesting is that even though the female panelists are hyper-feminizied with lacy blindfolds (which I’m guessing were pink) and high maintenance hair, make-up and clothing, they are permitted to be smart and assertive players. Also, note the glaring “sponsorship” advertisement on the front of the desk which the panelists sit behind is for a beauty products company. The host, male panelists, and male announcer do not seem to fear that this causes girl cooties!

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminism and Culture, Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

Somehow I Lost My Appetite…

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Posted in Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

It’s All Happening At The Zoo…

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

More zoo-sign-ology here!

Posted in Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

Queers for Economic Justice Event April 17, in NYC

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

WOC PhD has the details.

Posted in LGBT Rights, Women and Economics | Comments Off

“Ali G Takes on Feminism”

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Check it out at Oh, You’re a FEMINIST?!

Posted in Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

“Blogswarms: Congo Rape Epidemic and Global Day for Darfur”

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Check out the excellent coverage and link round-up at Diary of An Anxious Black Woman.

Posted in Acts of Violence, Coerced Sex, Sisters In Other Nations | Comments Off

“In the late 1990s the government began underwriting studies … using poor neighborhoods as laboratories to make a case that sludge may … directly benefit human health.”

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

BUT:

… Meanwhile, there has been a paucity of research into the possible harmful effects of heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, other chemicals and disease-causing microorganisms often found in sludge.

A series of reports by the EPA’s inspector general and the National Academy of Sciences between 1996 and 2002 faulted the adequacy of the science behind the EPA’s 1993 regulations on sludge.

The chairman of the 2002 academy panel, Thomas Burke, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says epidemiological studies have never been done to show whether spreading sludge on land is safe.

“There are potential pathogens and chemicals that are not in the realm of safe,” Burke told the AP. “What’s needed are more studies on what’s going on with the pathogens in sludge : are we actually removing them? The commitment to connecting the dots hasn’t been there.”

That’s not what the subjects of the Baltimore and East St. Louis research were told. …

Read the whole horrifying article here.

Posted in Feminism and the Environment, Women's Health | Comments Off

“Marilyn Monroe sex film to be kept private”

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Good. She probably didn’t know she was being filmed.

Posted in Feminism and Law | Comments Off

Feminism As Wal-Mart

Posted on April 14, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Rebecca Walker writes:

… Simply put, if Feminism was Wal-Mart, and had as many decades-old unresolved grievances against it, it would have long ago been bankrupt. …

… The rise of Women for Obama then, to some extent has to do with Feminism’s creation of a vacuum. This is why, for instance, a Wal-Mart would “go green” at the insistence of its customers. If Wal-Mart did not respond to the messages of its base, its base would go elsewhere. To a consumer environment that better suits their sensibilities an aspirations, perhaps. The same could be said about Feminism. …

… To continue the analogy, if Wal-Mart claimed it had made the switch to green, but the products on its shelves were, in fact, not reflective of that claim, Wal-Mart would lose the faith of its customers and again, over time, be forced into bankruptcy.

4. Based on the above, I am not entirely certain that the calls decrying Feminism’s death are incorrect or even undesirable. Perhaps a Feminism that has not responded to the needs of its constituents needs to die. Perhaps Obama is unintentionally killing feminism and facilitating the rise of “feminisms.” We shall see. …

Posted in Feminism and Politics | Comments Off

“Joyce E. McConnell Named 16th Dean of West Virginia’s Law School”

Posted on April 13, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Details here. Joyce is a terrific choice. She is not the first female dean at this law school, but her selection is still excellent news.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Academia, Law Schools | Comments Off

“Menopausal Sexpots” As Marketing Opportunity?

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Ann Bartow

How I wish I was kidding.

Posted in Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

Bad Signs.

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here. Scroll down for international and domestic edition slide shows.

Posted in Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

Kamal Ghali, “No Slavery Except as a Punishment for Crime: The Punishment Clause and Sexual Slavery”

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Ann Bartow

The abstract:

This Article is about the hidden complexity of the textual exception to the Thirteenth Amendment. The amendment mandates that there shall be no slavery”except as a punishment for crime.”At first glance, the exception seems insignificant: The drafters sought to free the slaves, but did not want to curtail the power of state governments to sentence criminals to imprisonment or hard labor. Some courts, however, have interpreted the punishment clause more broadly, holding that prisoners are categorically exempt from the Thirteenth Amendment’s protections. Are these courts correct? The question is not merely academic. The extensive documentation of sexual slavery in American prisons makes resolving the scope of the punishment exception critical. This Article argues that despite the explicit wording of the punishment clause, prisoners retain Thirteenth Amendment rights while in prison. Drawing on multiple approaches to constitutional interpretation, this Article concludes that the Thirteenth Amendment protects prisoners against sexual slavery.

Downloadable here.

Citation: 55 UCLA L. Rev. 607 (2008).

Posted in Acts of Violence, Coerced Sex | Comments Off

South Carolina Law Students Vote Susan Kuo “Best Professor”

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Ann Bartow

And I think they got that one exactly right! Learn more about Feminist Law Prof and all around great colleague Susan Kuo here.

Posted in Academia, Law Schools, Law Teaching, South Carolina | Comments Off

“The Burka Band”

Posted on April 12, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Not really sure what to make of this, see what you think.

Posted in Sisters In Other Nations | Comments Off

Announcement: 2008 Law School Summer Boot Camp for Students of Color

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Having more lawyers of color is essential to the well-being of communities of color. In fact, a recent National Jurist Article, a journal for law students, talked about the disappearing black and Latino law student. This is particularly problematic. The power in this country is held by those who control the money and the law. The decreasing number of black and Latino attorney is in fact a decrease in power in our community. The JD Project ( http://thejdproject.org/ ) is committed to reversing that trend. One our projects is to assure that entering law students of color do well in law school, particularly their first year. This is important so that they can maximize their career options and be prepared to give back to their community with legal knowledge, skills and support.

Everyone admitted to law school has demonstrated similar intelligence, commitment and effort. What distinguishes “A” students is study skills and habits, access to legal information, analytical and test-taking skills. All these are skills and abilities that can be learned and improved on. In our more than 35 years of experience of helping students-of-color succeed, we have seen the impact that intense preparation can have on a student’s ability to excel. In a competitive environment like law school, where grades are given based on how a person performs compared to the other students in the class, it is essential the entering law students-of-color be appropriately prepared. The Summer Boot Camp ( http://www.thejdproject.org/Excelling/BootCamp/index.htm ) is an online distance learning program designed to provide that intense preparation.

The Boot Camp teachs students to study effectively for law school, introduces students to the writing, thinking and test-taking skills needed to excel on law school exams, and builds a network of academic support that crosses school boundaries. The participants will work on the study skills, strategies and techniques they will need to achieve their goals as law students. This is a 100 hour online program. It is $600 (Compared to $2000 for a 40 hour program by BarBri). Admission is on a rolling basis till the program is filled. Because of the intense nature of this program it is important that students start as early in the summer as possible, preferably by June 1st. If you know a black, Latino, Asian, Native American person who is planning to go to law school in the fall 2008, please forward this email to them.For more information, contact Ms. Brenda Randall, Volunteer Director and Admission Coordinator, admin@thejdproject.org .

–Vernellia Randall

NB from Ann – I hope Vernellia will not mind, but this is just too funny not to mention: Brenda Randall is Vernellia’s sister, but Brenda’s husband’s last name is also Randall, potentially making her Brenda Randall Randall or Brenda Randall-Randall. I think the stripped down “Brenda Randall” moniker was an excellent feminist choice! :>)

Posted in Academia, Law Schools, Law Teaching, Race and Racism | Comments Off

Judy Blume: One of the most banned authors in the U.S.

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Video interview with Blume here, at Current TV. Make sure you hear her explanation for the motivations behind her novel “Forever.” Via Jezebel. See also this interview essay about “Forever” that appeared in The Guardian. If it wasn’t for Blume’s book “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” I might not have learned certain facts of life until I experienced them.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Recommended Books | Comments Off

“JoAnne A. Epps named dean of Temple’s Beasley School of Law”

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Read the official announcement here. Below is an excerpt:

… As associate dean of academic affairs at Temple Law since 1989, Epps has served as the primary liaison between the dean and the law faculty; overseen student administrative operations, from admissions to career planning; and assisted the dean in faculty personnel decisions, fundraising and alumni relations.

Epps joined the Temple Law faculty in 1985; she teaches”Evidence,”â€œCriminal Procedure”and”Trial Advocacy.”She was appointed a full professor in 1994, and served as the I. Herman Stern Professor of Law, a rotating professorship honoring teaching excellence, from 1997 to 2000.

Although she has been a faculty member for more than two decades, Epps’ connections to the university run far deeper. Her first job at 16 was as a cashier at Temple’s bookstore, and her mother was a Temple employee.

An authority on evidence, criminal procedure and litigation advocacy, Epps is the author or co-author of several articles and books that are widely used by law students and lawyers, including The Winning Argument (2001) and 100 Vignettes for Improving Trial Evidence (2005). …

I am exceedingly fond of both Temple and JoAnne, so this is really exciting news! I believe that she is Temple Law’s first woman Dean!

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Academia, Firsts, Law Schools, Law Teaching | Comments Off

The Women on the Web

Posted on April 11, 2008 by Tracy McGaugh

Wow o wow.

One thing that Xer and Millennial women definitely benefit from is having Boomer mothers and grandmothers who broke a lot of glass ceilings and forged a lot of paths. So I’m especially tickled about the unveiling of The Women on the Web. It’s a web conversation about all kinds of things by women (mostly Boomers from the looks of it) who were responsible for a lot of firsts, including two of my favorite things in the world: comedy and news.

It has an impressive group of participants, including Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Lesley Stahl, and Judith Martin (Ms. Manners).

What I love is that it includes things like a report of what kind of hair day it is side-by-side with discussions about Iraq and recession, as well as a poll asking whose disappearance has you worried. Check it out.

Tracy L. McGaugh (cross-posted at Millennial Law Prof)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Empowering the Victim: Developments in Human Trafficking Seminar

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

EMPOWERING THE VICTIM: DEVELOPMENTS IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) offices of the Canadian Embassy to the United States of America, together with the locally-based Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) and the National Center for Women and Policing (NCWP) invite you to a day-long seminar entitled “Empowering the victim: Developments in Human Trafficking”.

The Seminar, to be held on May 1st, 2008 at the Canadian Embassy, will be the fourth organized on the broad topic of human trafficking and will bring together the international organizations, the diplomatic community, US federal, state and local law enforcement officers, as well as NGOs and experts from civil society dedicated to combating human trafficking.

The special focus of this year’s seminar will be on measures specifically devoted to the needs of the victims of human trafficking. Speakers will include representatives from the Canadian and US governments as well as specialists from the private sector and civil society.

A complete agenda will be available later in April.

Date: Thursday, May 1, 2008

Time: 8:30 am to 4:30 pm (boxed lunch will be provided, with a reception to follow.)

Address: 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC, 20001

There is limited parking around the Canadian Embassy. The metro stations in the vicinity are Judiciary Square (Red Line) and Archives Navy Memorial Penn Quarter (Yellow and Green Line).

RSVP: wifle@comcast.net

Posted in Upcoming Conferences | Comments Off

Alison Stein on “Women Lawyers Blog for Workplace Equality: Blogging as a Feminist Legal Method”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

Alison I. Stein (J.D. Candidate, University of Pennsylvania Law School) has posted to ssrn her article, “Women Lawyers Blog for Workplace Equality: Blogging as a Feminist Legal Method.” Here is the abstract:

Legal scholars and academic commentators have long written about the ways in which close-knit communities of people employ extra-legal or non-legal methods to structure conflict, resolve disputes, and advocate for their rights and interests. From cattle ranchers to diamond merchants to third-wave feminists, scholars emphasize how groups of people opt out of the legal system and instead use personalized and informal methods of rights assertion as a means of “overcoming the ineffectiveness” of state-sponsored laws, and because they reject the law as a viable means of achieving change. Similar to cattle ranchers and diamond traders, a growing number of women lawyers have developed their own method of rights assertion and conflict resolution that does not involve turning to the legal system. Despite the cottage industry of articles, books, and reports describing gender inequality in the legal profession, few, if any, have focused on what women lawyers are actually doing to address the challenges and grievances they face in the workplace, and to increase the proportion of women in leadership positions in the profession. Based on a detailed, empirical analysis of women lawyers in law firms, this Article argues that similar to cattle ranchers and diamond traders, a growing number of women lawyers have rejected the law as a viable means of personal advocacy and are instead, using blogging – an alternative, informal and impersonal form of engagement – to advocate for their rights and interests in the workplace. One would expect that women lawyers, when confronted with unfair hiring practices, unequal pay, or unjust choices, would turn to the legal system. They are legally trained and undoubtedly immersed in the law, and therefore, one might presume that they are particularly attentive to legal rights and predisposed to think of personal grievances in a legal framework. Nonetheless, a growing group of women lawyers are using the Internet–and, in particular, blogging– to resolve their disputes, address their personal grievances, challenge implicit male bias engrained in the profession, and share and obtain the information they need to become stronger bargainers in the workplace.

The full paper is available here.

I’ve read Stein’s article; I think it is a great contribution to the discourse by a star-on-the-rise.
-Bridget Crawford

Posted in Feminism and Technology, Feminist Legal Scholarship, Legal Profession | Comments Off

“At the New York Times Book Review, all the misogyny is fit to print”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Ann Bartow

So says Sarah Seltzer, in this article entitled Hard Times. I’m not sure I agree with everything she says but she is certainly correct that the NYT seems rabidly afraid of feminism. Link via Feministing.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Sexism in the Media, Sociolinguistics, The Underrepresentation of Women | Comments Off

“Rape Still Widespread in Darfur”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Ann Bartow

From the Feminist Daily News:

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Monday that sexual violence in Darfur continues to be a constant threat for women and girls. According to HRW, the Sudanese government repeatedly denies the fact that sexual violence occurs in Darfur. Most crimes against women are left unpunished.

The report documents violence against girls as young as 11. The majority of the violence is committed by government forces and militias allied with them. The BBC News reports that over 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003 as a result of the genocide.

HRW called on the government of Sudan and the United Nations (UN)- African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) to address the issue of widespread sexual violence. They asked the government to condemn sexual violence and enforce the condemnation with the end of impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence. They also encourage UNAMID to deploy more women police officers and to create “firewood patrols” to protect women and girls outside refugee camps.

Georgette Gagnon, Africa director of HRW, said, “The victims of these horrific attacks have little or no hope of redress in Darfur’s current climate of impunity. By failing to prosecute the perpetrators, the government is giving them a license to rape. Five years living in fear of rape is five years too long. Women and girls in Darfur urgently need protection, and those who are victims need justice.”

Posted in Acts of Violence, Feminism and Law, Sisters In Other Nations | Comments Off

Tomorrow, in Atlanta and On The Net: “Lawrence v. Texas Five Years Out: Can the Promises of Liberty and Equality Be Fulfilled?”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Ann Bartow

WHAT: ACS will co-host a symposium on equality and liberty, focusing on the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. Paul Smith, the litigator who argued on behalf of John Lawrence before the high court, will give the keynote address.

WHEN: 12 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. EST, Friday, April 11, 2008.

WHERE: Emory University School of Law, Tull Auditorium, Atlanta, Ga.

WHY: Five years have passed since the Supreme Court ruled in Lawrence v. Texas that the constitutional protection of sexual privacy precludes state laws that prohibit sexual relations between adults of the same sex. In addition to Paul Smith‘s keynote address, two panels of experts will examine Lawrence over the last five years and discuss where the law should go from here. The program of events is available here.

REGISTRATION: There is no charge to attend. Lunch will be served. A closing reception is sponsored by Alton & Bird LLP. Register here. The event is approved for 3.75 general CLE hours.

MORE: The program will be webcast live, and will be made available afterward on ACS’ website. The symposium is cosponsored by ACS, Lambda Legal, ACS’ Georgia Lawyer Chapter, the Stonewall Bar Association of Georgia, ACS’ Emory Student Chapter and Emory EGALA.

Posted in LGBT Rights, Upcoming Conferences | Comments Off

“The Progress of Women Lawyers at Big Firms: Steadied or Simply Studied?”

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

The report by Judith S. Kaye & Anne C. Reddy’s paper is available here. It is a good resource for students and scholars who are beginning or updating studies about women in the legal profession.

-Bridget Crawford

Posted in Legal Profession | Comments Off

That’s Not the Protection We Had In Mind

Posted on April 10, 2008 by Bridget Crawford

If Johnson & Johnson withheld information about the level of hormones delivered by the Ortho Evra birth control patch, in what universe should FDA approval shield the company from lawsuits? According to this NY Times article,

More than 3,000 women and their families have sued Johnson & Johnson, asserting that users of the Ortho Evra patch suffered heart attacks, strokes and, in 40 cases, death. From 2002 to 2006, the food and drug agency received reports of at least 50 deaths associated with the drug.

J&J lawyers argue that FDA approval of the patch “preempts” (read: shields the company from) any litigation. If a court buys that argument, then what happens when the FDA turns out to be wrong in approving a drug? Does the name “Thorazine” ring a bell?

-Bridget Crawford

Posted in Women's Health | Comments Off

George Mason School of Law and Microsoft Holding Womenless Patent Law Conference?

Posted on April 9, 2008 by Ann Bartow

According to this page of Conference website, twenty-one men are participating or were “Invited”. The main page notes:

Presenters at this year’s conference include:

Richard Epstein, University of Chicago Law School
Keynote Address
Scott Baker, University of North Carolina Law School
Luigi Franzoni, University of Bologna Faculty of Economics
Damien Geradin, Tilburg University Law & Economics and Howrey LLP and the College of Europe
Scott Kieff, Washington University in St. Louis Law School and the Hoover Institution
Michael Meurer, Boston University School of Law
Adam Mossoff, George Mason University School of Law (Currently Michigan State University Law School)
Greg Sidak, Criterion Economics
David Teece, Haas Business School (U.C. Berkeley) and LECG
Josh Wright, George Mason University School of Law

Commenters/Moderators:

George Cary, Cleary Gottlieb
Eric Claeys, George Mason University School of Law
John Golden, University of Texas Law School
Roy Hoffinger, Qualcomm
Geoffrey Manne, Microsoft and Lewis & Clark Law School
Dick Wilder, Microsoft

George Mason School of Law is of course known for the paucity of women on its tenured and tenure track faculty. From their website it looks like there is only one tenured woman there and she does not appear to have a law degree.

–Ann Bartow

Posted in Academia, The Underrepresentation of Women, Upcoming Conferences | Comments Off

“Sacrificed to the Surge”

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

That would be the women of Iraq. From Newsweek:

… At the national level, some women are still fighting to open up Iraqi society. Women’s Affairs Minister Narmin Othman, for instance, is waging a campaign against “honor killings.” If a man kills a straying wife or a daughter suspected of engaging in sex before marriage, he faces a maximum of three years in jail under Iraqi law. “Killing is killing,” says Othman, a Kurdish woman partial to blue jeans and Ralph Lauren reading glasses. If an Iraqi woman kills a cheating husband, the charge is murder. Othman says men should get the same treatment.

But she faces stiff resistance from the religious parties leading the government. They claim Othman's proposal is contrary to Islam (a point disputed by some respected scholars). The Justice Ministry has refused even to provide Othman with official statistics on how many honor killings come to court. So far she and her allies have collected only 70 signatures, far short of the number necessary to get the bill considered by Parliament. She's in no hurry to bring it to a vote. "I think we would lose," she says. "We have to try to have more discussion and do more lobbying." She's not giving up. A similar measure has been adopted by leaders of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

Iraqi parliamentarian Samira Musawi worries that the Americans are sacrificing the possibility of a more liberal Iraq by putting too much trust in groups like the Sahwa. "There is a lot of respect for tribal sheiks, but a lot of them are not educated," she says. As she sees it, the less education they have, the more reactionary their views tend to be, especially on issues like women's rights. The Americans should be more cautious about building up the Sahwa, she says: "There have to be criteria."

But at present, U.S. forces are too pleased by the sharp drop in jihadist attacks to lose sleep over things like gender issues. "They're going to find their own level about what is acceptable," says Col. Martin Stanton, one of the Sahwa program's U.S. coordinators. "In terms of what they're doing within their own culture, I don't think we'd intervene in that." The Coalition has let Shiite groups impose their values across much of the south for years for the sake of stability; women there mostly go veiled now, and some have quit their jobs under pressure from Shiite militia members. ...

Via Reclusive Leftist.

--Ann Bartow

Posted in Feminism and Law, Feminism and Politics, Sisters In Other Nations | Comments Off

“Mobblog” on Legal Education

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Here, at Madisonian.net! Featuring comments by some of my favorite law profs.

Posted in Academia, Law Schools, Law Teaching | Comments Off

One way to celebrate tenure.

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

This. Via Belle at Law & Letters. Hey Bridget, where’s your celebratory vid?

Posted in Academia, Bloggenpheffer | Comments Off

“Stand Up! The New Politics of Racial Uplift” A Public Philosophy Symposium at Temple University on Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

For information about participants, schedule, and work by participants and material relevant to symposium themes, go to our website:

http://www.temple.edu/philosophy/standup/

The Millions More Movement, Cosby’s ‘call-outs,’ and other recent trends renew an old approach to black political thought and practice. The racial uplift tradition tries to improve the conditions of black life by insisting on moral refinement and race-based organization. Uplift ideology and practice have a long and storied past, but critics of the tradition worry over its limitations. Some express concern that it is anti-democratic, intolerant, elitist, sexist, and heterosexist. Others think it focuses too much on personal morality and cultural pathology and not enough on social justice and political economy.

The participants in the ‘Stand Up!’ symposium will think through the risks and rewards of this new racial uplift politics. This interdisciplinary exercise in public philosophy will explore the implications of a social phenomenon with broad ethical significance. The new politics of racial uplift emerges from a widely shared conviction that something is deeply wrong in American society. Our public philosophy conference will take this judgment seriously, and subject this politics to searching and critical scrutiny.

Confirmed Participants:

Angela D. Dillard, Afroamerican and African Studies and Residential College, LSA, at the University of Michigan

Kenyon Farrow, essayist, organizer, media and communications specialist, and board co-chair for Queers for Economic Justice

Kevin Gaines, Afroamerican and African Studies and History at the University of Michigan

Kathryn T. Gines, African American and Diaspora Studies and Philosophy at Vanderbilt University

Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University and the Jamestown Project

Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Women’s Research and Resource Center and the Women’s Studies at Spelman College

Joy James, Humanities and Political Science at Williams College and Senior Research Fellow in the Center for African and African American Studies at the University of Texas-Austin

Adolph Reed, Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania

Jared Sexton, African American Studies and Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Irvine

Aishah Shahidah Simmons, AfroLeza Productions and award-winning African-American feminist lesbian documentary filmmaker, international lecturer, writer, activist, and producer, writer, and director of the internationally acclaimed documentary NO!

Ronald S. Sullivan, Jr., Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard University Law School and the Jamestown Project

Paul C. Taylor, Philosophy at Temple University and the Jamestown Project

The symposium is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Tamara K. Nopper, assistant organizer, at tnopper (at) temple.edu

Posted in Race and Racism, Upcoming Conferences | Comments Off

“Person on the Street” Interviewer Describes Significant Differences Between Women and Men

Posted on April 8, 2008 by Ann Bartow

Her observations can be viewed here at Mob Logic TV. I think there are valid reasons that women fear media exposure and the mockery (or worse) that may follow, but an unwillingness to take risks does keep us less visible.

Posted in Feminism and Politics, Feminism and Technology, Sexism in the Media | Comments Off

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Albany Law School

Ambedkar University Delhi

American University Washington College of Law

Arizona State University College of Law

Australian National University College of Law

Barry University School of Law

Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Birmingham City University School of Law

Birmingham Law School

Boston College Law School

Boston University School of Law

Brigham Young University School of Law

Bristol Law School

Brooklyn Law School

California Western School of Law

Case Western Reserve University

City University of New York

Cleveland State University College of Law

Columbia Law School

Cornell University Law School

Creighton University School of Law

Dalhousie University

DePaul University College of Law

Drake University Law School

Drexel University College of Law

Duke University School of Law

Durham Law School

Edinburgh Law School