Male bias of law
Name(s):
Legal bias against women
Nature
The law embodies a masculine way of looking at the world. Its objectivity and neutrality is a myth. Few if any standard legal texts or doctrines refer to or acknowledge the existence of women. Many legal principles and doctrines are based on assumptions about society, women, and the relationship of the sexes that women do not accept.
Incidence
An example of "male law" is the modern law of obscenity, which is incapable of understanding the harm done to women by pornography for several major reasons. It views the publication of pornography as mere speech rather than a concrete social activity. It is premised upon strong non-contextual notions of individualism which inhibit comprehending group harm. It sees pornography simplistically as a question of nudity and morality rather than as a question of power. The legal system has failed to consider pornography from a woman's point of view. This is why the courts have been unable to perceive the horror of robbing women of their humanity. To be portrayed as a sex object is to be portrayed as a non-human.
Reduces
Aggravates
Aggravated by
Value(s)
Type
(E) Emanations of other problems