A Fearful Freedom: Women's Flight from Equality

Description

Anyone who has ever wondered what became of the feminist revolution will do well to read this important book understand its lessons, and act upon them. If the 1970s were marked by enormous progress for women, the 1980s have been a slide-back decade. Lawyer and writer Wendy aminer, in this brilliantly argued book, shows how revival of the notion that men are naturally more analytic, aggressive, and interested in success, while women are naturally more compassionate and nurturing has harmed the cause of women. Doubting their own ability to compete in the marketplace while being responsible for child care, many women, including some feminists, have taken what Kaminer calls the "protectionist" view, asking for child custody laws and workplace benefits favoring mothers — instead of for equal rights. In A Fearful Freedom, Kaminer presents an impassioned defense of equality. She shows how protective laws in the workplace, the home, and the criminal justice system, which some believe helpful, always hurt women by advancing debilitating stereotypes of feminine passivity, weakness, and dependence. Covering a wide range of issues, including abortion, reproductive rights, divorce reform, workplace rights, and sexual violence, Kaminer clarifies the connection between racial and sexual equality and outlines the struggle for full equality facing women in the 1990s. This fascinating and bracing book raises once again the banner of equality, combining clear-sighted legal analysis with history in an eloquent story of sexual justice. "Kaminer develops her case for a public policy of equal rights with a lawyer's acuteness and a writer's narrative flair. She never loses sight of the real-life implications of legal debates; she never loosens the thread of her strong moral argument about what is just. This book is sure to find an enthusiastic readership among those concerned with gender, law, and public policy." — Nancy Rosenblum, Professor of Political Science, Brown University "This thoughtfully reasoned analysis locates ideological, sentimental, and structural roadblocks to women's equality. Kaminer reveals deep ambivalence and resistance in American society to real changes in traditional roles, even as it espouses equal rights. A clear and convincing account of a complex social issue." — Cynthia Fuchs Epstein, author of Deceptive Distinction: Sex Gender and the Social Order and Professor of Sociology, Graduate Center, CUNY Cover Inside Flaps Back Cover Title Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Feminism, Equality, and Sexual Difference: How We View Nature 2. Theories of Rights: How We View Law 3. Constitutional Standards of Equality and Women's Rights 4. A History of Egalitarianism and Protectionism and the Ideology of Sexual Difference 5. A History of Protective Labor Laws and the Equal Rights Amendment 6. Equality and the Sexual Revolution 7. Equality in the Workplace: Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 8. Equality in Education: Title IX of the 1964 Civil Rights Act 9. Federal Resistance to Expanding Civil Rights 10. Pregnancy, Child Care, and the Workplace 11. Equality in the Home: Divorce, Child Custody, and Surrogacy 12. Equality and Reproductive Choice 13. Equality in Criminal Justice, Sexual Violence, and Pornography Conclusion Notes Index