``I'd Rather Keep Him Chaste.' Retelling the Story of Sterilisation, Learning Disability and (Non)Sexed Embodiment

This note examines two recent judgements of theEnglish Court of Appeal, Re S.L. and ReA., concerning the sterilisation of a womanand a man with learning disabilities. The casesare significant for health care lawyers in thatthey effect a reworking of the common lawdoctrine of necessity, which serves as thelegal justification for providing medicaltreatment to adults lacking capacity to giveconsent. The cases are also significant forfeminist scholars engaged in the project of`sexing' the subjects of legal discourse (forexample, Naffine and Owens, 1997). Thejudgments of Re S.L. and Re A.,consistent with earlier sterilisation cases,fail to offer a conception of learning disabledsubjects as `sexed'.     

Governing Legal Embodiment: On the Limits of Self-Declaration

This article presents the first empirically-based and theoretically-informed investigation of the effectiveness of the ‘self-declaration model’ of legal gender recognition in Denmark, the first European state to adopt it. Drawing upon analysis of legislative materials, as well as interviews with stakeholders in the legislative process and trans and intersex legal subjects, it contends that self-declaration is not without its limitations. By conceptualising embodiment as an ontological and epistemological process of becoming, and emphasising the institutional dimensions and effects of such processes, it demonstrates that self-declaration may not address the complexities of legal embodiment, particularly concerning restrictions on trans and intersex people’s access to health care. The article’s empirical findings are directed towards the policymakers and activists tasked with shaping reforms of gender recognition legislation in the UK and elsewhere. The analytical agenda it develops may be adopted, and adapted, by scholars working in this area and other regulatory contexts.     

Organising and Representing Women: the historical case of the Female Confectioners Union

How women workers’ interests should be represented and advanced by unions underpins debates about the merits of separate organising. This study of an Australian women's union, the Female Confectioners Union, shows how separate organising created union space and voice for female confectionery workers. Set against this was inter-organisational conflict that developed between the union and the existing male-dominated union, in which separate organising became a contested strategy. For the Female Confectioners Union, this conflict not only reinforced the necessity of separate organising to ensure that the interests of women workers remained a central union concern but also what form the separate organising should take.     

"代表先进文化方向"与自觉的文化意识

"三个代表"理论的完整提出,有着重大的历史意义,其中"代表中国先进文化的前进方向"作为当代中国共产党人文化自觉的理论标志,意味着党对社会发展整体进程及其"内在目的"的深刻把握,意味着党在复杂多变的新形势下,始终坚持共产党人的根本宗旨和坚定信仰,使党的所有现实努力,紧紧维系于造福人民、振兴中华的历史使命,维系于谋求人类完善和人类解放的"内在目的".     

Considering the role of men in gender agenda setting: conceptual and policy issues

The international gender equality agenda evolved into one of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes. Within this process, the role of men gained increasing attention in the debates on gender equality. This resulted in the inclusion of ‘men's role’ as one of the themes of the agenda of the Commission on the Status of Women for the year 2004. While this is another step forward in the global efforts for achieving equality between women and men, its potential risks should not be overlooked. Therefore, it is necessary to revisit the concept of gender and carefully assess and monitor how the role of men is included in the agenda. This article starts with the premise that gender inequalities are the product of historically determined gender order in which the differentially assigned male female attributes are unequally structured in layers of privileged and subordinate positions of masculinities and femininities. The concept of patriarchy is brought back into the analysis to capture the interlinkages between the various status hierarchies that lead to shifts in hegemonic forms of masculinity that reproduces itself under diverse and changing conditions. Thus, while the article attempts to account for the generic and universal characteristics of gender inequality, at the same time, it draws attention to its specific socio-cultural manifestations. Finally, policy guidelines are offered for the consideration of the role of men in gender agenda setting. Accordingly, it is suggested that men's initiatives for alternative masculinities are acknowledged and that the questions regarding which men, in what kinds of alliances and for which end are reflected upon in formulating policies.     

中西文化比较与代表先进文化的发展要求

中西文化比较研究是全球化的必然要求,是提高"文化自觉"的需要,是进行文化建设、代表先进文化发展要求的需要,是确立正确的文化态度的需要。它不仅对于了解文化的发展及其对人类的贡献和优势、缺点具有重要意义,而且对于推动中国特色社会主义文化建设有重大的现实意义。     

Narratives of Irishness and the Problem of Abortion: The X Case 1992

This paper considers the ways in which discourses of abortion and discourses of national identity were constructed and reproduced through the events of the X case in the Republic of Ireland in 1992. This case involved a state injunction against a 14-year-old rape victim and her parents, to prevent them from obtaining an abortion in Britain. By examining the controversy the case gave rise to in the national press, I will argue that the terms of abortion politics in Ireland shifted from arguments based on rights to arguments centred on national identity, through the questions the X case raised about women's citizenship status, and women's position in relation to the nation and the state. Discourses of national identity and discourses of abortion shifted away from entrenched traditional positions, towards more liberal articulations.     

Intragroup Contact and Anxiety Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: Considering Ethnic Identity and School Diversity Transitions

Everyday interactions with same-racial/ethnic others may confer positive benefits for adolescents, but the meaning of these interactions are likely influenced by individual differences and larger structural contexts. This study examined the situation-level association between contact with same-ethnic others and anxiety symptoms among a diverse sample of 306 racial/ethnic minority adolescents (Mage = 14 years; 66 % female), based on (1) individual differences in ethnic identity centrality and (2) developmental histories of transitions in diversity between elementary, middle, and high school. The results indicated that at the level of the situation, when adolescents interacted with more same-ethnic others, they reported fewer anxiety symptoms. Further, for adolescents who had experienced a transition in school diversity, the positive benefits of contact with same-ethnic others was only conferred for those who felt that their ethnicity was very important to them. The importance of examining individual differences within larger developmental histories to understand the everyday experiences of ethnic minority adolescents are discussed.     

域外判例制度的考察与展望

判例制度长期以来是英美法系的独特标志,但是其具体的制度和方法,甚至某些理念却以顽强的生命力逐渐跨越了两大法系的界限,得到许多其他国家、地区的普遍认可和接受。但是跨越法律传统界限后的判例制度必然会出现前所未有的差异和争鸣,同时在不同土壤中成长和发展起来的判例制度也会蕴含和昭示出共同的发展趋势。通过对二者差异和共鸣的深入考察,无疑会为我国法治建设中判例制度的探索提供更为合理的研究思路和有益的经验借鉴。     

Rethinking Explicit Consent and Intimate Data: The Case of Menstruapps

Feminist Legal Studies - Period-tracking software applications or ‘menstruapps’ have witnessed a surge in popularity in recent years. At the same time, many of them are a part of the...     

Domestic Violence and the Gendered Law of Self-Defence in France: The Case of Jacqueline Sauvage

Legal responses to battered women who kill have long animated scholarly debate and law reform activity. In September 2012 after 47 years of alleged abuse, Frenchwoman Jacqueline Sauvage fatally shot her abusive husband three times in the back. The subsequent contested trial, conviction for murder, unsuccessful appeal and later presidential pardon of Sauvage thrust the French law of self-defence into the spotlight. The Sauvage case raises important questions surrounding the adequacy of the French criminal law in this area, the ongoing proliferation of gendered stereotypes in law and the need for reform. In the wake of the Sauvage case, this article provides a timely analysis of the gendered law of self-defence in France. Drawing from an in-depth analysis of the judgments imposed in the Sauvage case, this article examines the adequacy of French legal responses to battered women who kill and ignites an argument for further law reform.