Gender Equality and the Law Essay

The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution was at first created to protect against racial discrimination, but the Supreme Court later expanded the clause to also providing equal treatment amongst different races. The clause says, “No state shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (U.S. Constitution. Art./Amend. XIV, Sec. 1.) A person could not be discriminated upon solely because of his or her race and if the law treated a group of people differently, then a valid reason for the discrepancy of different treatment must exist. Racial minorities, but mainly women, have historically been subjected and made vulnerable to harsh restrictions on activities such as voting, attending college, and working as lawyers. These restrictions, based on stereotypes overlooked the actual capability and potential of each individual woman. For many cases dealing with discrimination of women, the Court looked to another important element of equal protection, which stated that unfair treatment couldn’t be based on immutable distinctions, such as race and gender, because those fixed distinctions are uncontrollable and unrelated to ability. In the case of Frontiero v. Richardson, 411 U.S. 677 (1973), the Supreme Court was just one vote short of adopting gender as a suspect classification. In United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996), women rights supporters were very pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling and remain

was the first of many cases to alter the Court’s ideas on gender discrimination (Cushman,

Allens article “Defiant V.M.I. to Admit Women, But Will Not Ease Rules for Them.” (1996) connects to the court case United States v Virginia because they talk about all the changes women had to go through when they were admitted. Women had to get crew cuts when they were admitted. They also had to go to through many fitness programs and meet their physical and mental health standards. VMI wouldn’t give women any lee way. The only drastic change they added to their institution was when they added doors to their changing rooms to give women more privacy from the men. Other than that one change, women were treated just the same.

Craig v. Boren- In this 1976 ruling, the Supreme Court established the “intermediate scrutiny” standard for determining gender discrimination.

In 1976, by a 7-2 decision, the Court adopted an intermediate level of review for gender classifications in the case Craig v. Boren. The decision struck down a statute that allowed women over the age of eighteen to purchase beer but only men over the age of twenty-one. Using this intermediate scrutiny, the Court has invalidated gender segregation across the board. However, while this heightened level of scrutiny has drastically helped women, it has not been equal in its effect on men. Since Craig, the Court has upheld a requirement that only men register for the draft (Rostker v. Goldberg) and a statutory rape law where only adult men were punished for having sex with an underage individual of the opposite sex (Michael M. v. Superior Court). While these cases occurred in the 80s, this trend of favoring women over men in gender discrimination cases has continued, especially in regards to administrative law and protection. Recent Supreme Court cases reveal that men are still being unfavorably ruled against over women, leading one to believe a push for strict scrutiny is key in bridging that gap and implementing a federal statute that all States must obey in order to ensure gender equality is achieved on both sides of the spectrum.

In this paper, I will discuss a number of topics regarding woman and the Supreme Court from historical precedents to objective research to the importance of female judges and Justices and finally to the possibilities of the future. Each of these steps is vital to fully understanding how we got to our country’s current place in female jurisprudence and creating future opportunities for women both on the Supreme Court and in all other levels of the judicial system across the United States.

Sec. 3 Equal Rights is a civil liberty. The third section of the Texas Constitution is based on equal protection against government discrimination among men (sex, race, color, creed or national origin). In this case the government cannot take away citizens’ rights. The first amendment of the Bills of Rights gives people the right to practice any religion they chose to and government is prohibit to interfere in a person’s beliefs. In past court cases that freedom of religion was addressed dealing with the exclusion of prayers in public schools, the prohibition of polygamy, and the limitation of the use of drugs or snakes in religious rituals.

Freedom and equality are ideas this country has had for centuries that have evolved over time. In 1776, what Thomas Jefferson meant by “all men are created equal”, is that white males are dominant in society. Women are treated worse than men and slaves treated worse than women. People that weren’t of the “superior” race/gender of a white male were typically treated as if they were less. Women and African-Americans aren’t being treated as bad today, but they’re still being treated worse than the white males of society. Even today, when white males are typically the leaders of society, it’s not always race and gender that creates inequality; sometimes it’s money that creates the issue. Not just from past evidence, but from present

In the 1800’s a women was suppose to have four things Piety, Purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. These principles shaped the “Cult of True Womanhood” an idea that women were to be seen but not heard. Women had no say when it came to politics, they couldn’t own property, they were not allowed to do many jobs, and they couldn’t even speak in front of men. They had the duty to be a mother and raise their children but even thought they had this responsibility it was the husband who had the complete control and guardianship of the children. Because of these ideas it was very difficult for change to happen. When women started to receive more education they began to ask questions about why they were being denied these rights, which began the

Gender inequality has been an issue since long before the 1840s, when feminists finally brought the problem to light. Most ancient cultures were societies based on gender inequality, skewed towards male-dominance. Most societies are still mostly patriarchal, in fact. Patriarchy is the root of discrimination between sexes and genders and has been for a very long time.

The concept of gender denotes the distinction between culturally driven and created roles of masculinity and femininity. These specific and normalized attitudes and behaviors transcend and effect how differently men and women live their lives. Based on society’s continual re-enforcement of such gender stereotypes, we see an on-going dilemma of gender inequality. Though some may argue that men experience gender inequality, this seems to exist on a much more invasive level for women. As of recently, the awareness of gender inequality in the workplace has increased. With the fight for equal pay and equal respect, society is already making strides towards the equality of women. With that being said, one aspect of gender inequality that seems

It is only recently that sociology has begun to explore the topic of gender. Before this, inequalities within society were based primarily on factors such as social class and status. This paper will discuss gender itself: what makes us who we are and how we are represented. It will also explore discrimination towards women throughout history, focusing mainly on women and the right to vote, inequalities between males and females in the work place and how gender is represented in the media.

Feminism as a Theory of Law As a concept, feminism is very much a modern notion within legal circles, which aims to eradicate any prejudice against women’s rights. This in a society strongly founded upon a male-orientated legal system, which historically fails to recognise the social and legal rights of women, and instead focuses upon “male-orientated theories and ideologies. ”[1] It is this patriarchy that feminists thrive to eliminate. The essence of patriarchy is emphasised by the Marxist legal theory, developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the 19th Century, which places no emphasis upon gender, and consequently belittles the feminists fight for gender equality.

Equality between Women and Men, or Gender Equality, means equality of rights and freedoms. For equal opportunities for participation, recognition and appreciation of women and men, In all areas of society, political, economic, labor, personal and family.

Historically women have had to fight to get equal access to the profession and to the practice of law however, as late as the 1970 women were refused partnerships within firm even after they have demonstrated that they are capable of doing the job. For example, Judge Carolyn king who had practiced corporate law for 10 years at one of the highly established firm, and according to her account had a great experience and her career path proceeded exactly like the career paths of men, was refused partnership simply because she was a woman. She was told later that the possibility of her getting pregnant and taking parental leave was the main reason for being refused partnership (Jackson, 2006). While legislations have been put now to ensure that discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal, researchers agree that systemic discrimination, which is largely unintentional still exist at all levels and its impact touches on women’s inability to reach high ranking positions