WMST 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Feminist Legal Theory, De Facto, Implicit Stereotype

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Women's Studies
• Course: WMST 1000
• Professor: Amy Butchart

Document Summary

Feminist legal theory is complex, and is related to an even more complex history of feminist intellectual activity and activism. Far too complicated a collection of ideas to pin down a single doctrine or thesis. We can identify some common themes throughout the development of feminist work on law. Lets just be critical of the fact that we are putting together radically different ideas under one flag. Most feminist work through the 60"s to the 90"s was focused on the law"s usually implicit (through sometimes explicit) patriarchy. The predominance of male values in both theory and practice. The transition to second wave feminism in the 70"s saw shifts in both key issues and focus. Patriarchy was seen less as a political obstacle, and more as an entrenched way of seeing the world. This complicated the picture when it comes to liberating women. Liberal models of feminist jurisprudence generally adopt a rights-based approach to the law.