Description
Book SynopsisA rigorous analysis of systemic misogyny in the law and a thoughtful exploration of the tools needed to transcend it through constitutional change beyond litigation in the courts. Just as racism is embedded in the legal system, so is misogynyeven after the law proclaims gender equality and criminally punishes violence against women. In After Misogyny, Julie C. Suk shows that misogyny lies not in animus but in the overempowerment of men and the overentitlement of society to women's unpaid labor and undervalued contributions. This is a book about misogyny without misogynists. From antidiscrimination law to abortion bans, the law fails women by keeping society's dependence on women's sacrifices invisible. Via a tour of constitutional change around the world, After Misogyny shows how to remake constitutional democracy. Women across the globe are going beyond the antidiscrimination paradigm of American legal feminism and fundamentally resetting baseline norms and entitlements. That
Trade Review"In this intriguing scholarly treatise, Fordham University law professor Suk (
We the Women) documents how the law protects men’s 'overentitlement' and 'overempowerment' and examines efforts to correct the problem through constitutional reform. . . . a well-informed and actionable diagnosis of one of society’s most persistent ills"
* Publishers Weekly *
"'This world has always belonged to males, and none of the reasons given for this have ever seemed sufficient,' Simone de Beauvoir wrote in her 1949 foundational text,
The Second Sex. The spirit of de Beauvoir pervades
After Misogyny, a provocative new book by Julie C. Suk, a professor at Fordham University School of Law. . . . Credit is due to Suk for detailing how progress has been accomplished in other countries, and for inviting us to think about how true gender equality can be achieved—after misogyny." * Ms. Magazine *
“Ambitious. . . . Contributes to a feminist literature on equality and care spanning centuries and national boundaries, yet offers timely diagnoses and prescriptions for the United States at a very particular moment.” * Jotwell *
"Suk ’03 traces how misogyny has persisted in the law even after the end of legal patriarchy. Adopting a global perspective, Suk defines misogyny not only as hatred against women but also as overentitlement to women’s sacrifices. She examines how abortion bans compel women’s reproductive labor and assume a patriarchal notion of the public good. Suk also discusses how past generations of women have resisted misogynistic legal structures, including through the temperance movement." * Yale Law Report *
Table of ContentsContents
Introduction: Legal Patriarchy and Its Aftermath
PART I HOW THE LAW FAILS WOMEN: MISOGYNY BEYOND MISOGYNISTS
1. The Equal Protection of Feminists and Misogynists
2. Overentitlement and Overempowerment
3. Misogyny and Maternity: Abortion Bans as Overentitlement
PART II WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT: REMAKING CONSTITUTIONS AND DEMOCRACY
4. From Patriarchy to Prohibition: Resetting Entitlements through Constitutional Change
5. Rebalancing Power through Parity Democracy
6. Building Feminist Infrastructures: The Constitutionalism of Care
Conclusion: Toward a Feminist Remaking of Constitutional Democracy
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
