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Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
SHIVANJALI BHAGAT
4/1/20
Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
1. Introduction :-
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PROF.SHIVANJALI BHAGAT
4/1/20
Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
3. Origins of Feminism :-
The first known use of the term feminist jurisprudence was in the late
1970s by Ann Scales during the planning process for Celebration 25, a party and
conference held in 1978 to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first women
graduating from Harvard Law School. The term was first published in 1978 in the first
issue of the Harvard Women's Law Journal.
In 1984 Martha Fineman founded the Feminism and Legal Theory Project
at the University of Wisconsin Law School to explore the relationships between
feminist theory, practice, and law, which has been instrumental in the development of
feminist legal theory.
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PROF.SHIVANJALI BHAGAT
4/1/20
Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
C. Postmodern feminism :-
Postmodern feminist legal theorists reject the liberal equality idea that
women are like men as well as the difference theory idea that women are inherently
different from men. This is because they do not believe in singular truths and instead
see truths as multiple and based on experience and perspective. Feminists from
the postmodern camp use a method known as deconstruction in which they look at
laws to find hidden biases within them. Postmodern feminists use deconstruction to
demonstrate that laws should not be unchangeable since they are created by people
with biases and may therefore contribute to female oppression.
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PROF.SHIVANJALI BHAGAT
4/1/20
Critical Feminist Jurisprudence
6. Conclusion :-
The main concern of feminist theory is the treatment of women by the
legal system, and the perception or lack of perception of women’s experiences and
needs in law. In other words, it is the extension of the feminist perspective to an analysis
and critique of law.
In India, feminist views patriarchy as the main reason for the
subordination of women. Patriarchy is the ordering of society under which standards-
political, economic, legal, social- are set by and fixed in the interests of men. In such a
society men are more highly valued than women. Naturally the political structure of
that society also values men more than women. In patriarchal society, experiences and
perspectives of males are the reference points in relation to which the law fixed. Even
when laws are enacted for women, it is men’s understanding of women, their nature,
capacities, and experiences that have informed the law. In short, law sees women
through the male eye.
Feminist jurisprudence challenges the claim by those in power that the law
is neutral, detached, objective, and disinterested. Enumerating instances of
disadvantages and discriminations that women had to fight against- as in the case of
inheritance and property rights, access to education and employment, right to vote etc.
feminist jurisprudence believes that the system will not be free from gender bias until
women’s lives are taken by law as seriously as men’s.
Feminist jurisprudence may therefore be described as an approach which
challenges the male-centric approach of legal theory and practice, and which seeks to
incorporate feminist reasoning into law, and legal scholarship.