Synopses & Reviews
Tracing the way various public policies have evolved, David L. Kirp, Mark G. Yudof, and Marlene Strong Franks find that the profusion of legislation and court decisions masks an uncertain and problematic sense of what gender-based justice means. They show that even policies not ostensibly concerned with gender—from tax codes to health benefits—have a significant effect on sexual equality. They argue that whether or not it intends to do so, our government is setting gender policies. Pointing out that individual autonomy is the essential component of a just society, they endorse a policy that encourages choice rather than one that promotes particular outcomes.
About the Author
David L. Kirp is a professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy and lecturer in the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
Mark G. Yudof is dean of the University of Texas Law School and holds the James A. Elkins Centennial Chair in Law. Marlene Strong Franks is a senior analyst at Berkeley Planning Associates.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I - Conceptualizations
1. Choice and Justice
2. Pedstal or Prison? The Historic Consequences of Paternalism
3. Neither Oppression nor Naturalism: Why the Prevailing Paradigms Distort the Present
4. Gender in the Context of Community
Part II - Elaborations
5. Gender, Justice, and the Justices
6. Gender in the House of Policy
7. Gender Policy and the Marketplace
8. Gender Policy and the Forms of Family
Conclusion
Notes
Index