Feminist Jurisprudence

Supporters of feminist jurisprudence believe that the reason that women are treated unequally is because of the way the justice system is set up. Supporters focus mainly on the law and the sources of bias within it. Basically it is another form of feminism. I do agree that women are not completely equal to men. There is still somewhat of a "glass ceiling" that prohibits some women to rise to the top with promotions and salary, inequality in pay between men and women for doing the same job, and little support for women and family. I do recognize that our society has come a long way from how it used to be. There are laws that prohibit the work force to exclude on the basis of gender and there are a good amount of women that do make it to the top and do make just money as much perhaps even more than plenty of men. However, that does not specifically mean that the laws are always followed. There seems to be a way in which companies and corporations get around the laws and still exclude women for reasons that they cannot help; an example would be to decide to have a child.

There is also bias within the law that can seem to be leading to gender equality. Take a rape case for example. Many women are not taken seriously when they have been victims of rape. Their integrity is questioned. The ones that are brave enough to take the case to court and to try and obtain justice are sometimes belittled by defense attorneys by being accused of "wanting it or consenting to it" and dressing in a way in which the female should KNOW that being raped was a possibility. Because of this problem within the justice system, many victims of rape do not even report the incident in fear of being exploited or even pure embarassment. Rape cases are a huge example of the bias and gender inequality within the justice system.

Supporters of feminist jurisprudence are aimed at solving the problems starting at the heart of the law in hopes of eliminating gender inequality all together. Although women have come a long way and fought for years for equality, I feel that it may be impossible for it to be eliminated in all aspects. It has been a social norm for men to be the superior gender for years and years. There will always be someone who will be opposed to this huge change for fear of it affecting them in a bad way.