How do "no-fault," "gender-neutral" divorce reforms actually harm the lives of women and children they are designed to protect? Focusing on the language and symbols of reform, Martha Fineman argues that by advocating measures based on equality of treatment rather than of outcome, liberal feminists disregarded the socioeconomic factors that simultaneously place women at a disadvantage in the market and favor their taking on primary domestic responsibilities. She traces in persuasive detail the detrimental effects of equality rhetoric in shaping divorce law — such as the legal separation of parents' and children's interests; equality replacing need as the prime criterion for settlements; and the increase of state intervention into family life. More than a critique, this book is an incisive argument for adopting outcome-oriented measures and a valuable overview of the pitfalls of uncritically implementing any rhetoric as social policy.

The Illusion of Equality: The Rhetoric and Reality of Divorce Reform

Politics & Social Sciences

Fineman, Martha Albertson

Sociology

University of Chicago Press

Rules & Procedures

This collection of essays presents an examination of many facets of the status of motherhood and the position of mothers in our society. The unifying theme of the contributions is that mothers must often operate within legal constraints that contradict behavioural norms.

Mothers in Law: Feminist Theory and the Legal Regulation of Motherhood (Culture & Gender)

Columbia Univ. Pr.

This collection of essays presents an examination of many facets of the status of motherhood and the position of mothers in our society. The unifying theme of the contributions is that mothers must often operate within legal constraints that contradict behavioural norms.

Mothers in Law (Gender and Culture)

Karpin, Isabel

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Public Nature Private Violence

Mykitiuk, Roxanne

Routledge

First Published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor &amp; Francis, an informa company.

The Public Nature of Private Violence

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Calling for nothing less than a radical reform of family law and a reconception of intimacy, The Neutered Mother, The Sexual Family, and Other Twentieth Century Tragedies argues strongly against current legal and social policy discussions about the family because they do not have at their core the crucial concepts of caregiving and dependency, as well as the best interests of women and children. The Neutered Mother scrutinizes the definitions of family and mother throughout the volume while paying close attention to issues of race, class and sexuality. In addition, Fienman convincingly contests society's refusal to dignify, support and respond to the needs of caregivers and illustrates the burden they must bear due to this treatment. This book is a crucial step toward defining America's most pressing social policy problems having to do with women, motherhood and the family.

The Neutered Mother, The Sexual Family and Other Twentieth Century Tragedies

A brilliant expose of the contradiction between the American myth of self-reliance and the reality of an interdependent society. In a truly paradigm-shifting book, Martha Albertson Fineman, the influential and always-provocative legal theorist, makes the fascinating case that the sexually affiliated couple is not the appropriate building block for contemporary families. Rather, society should be organized around "caretaking relationships," particularly those involving children or elderly dependents. Having previously argued in her widely acclaimed The Neutered Mother for the end of marriage, Fineman here tries to extrapolate out beyond changes in the family itself to other adjacent social institutions, considering what types of adjustments are necessary to achieve a more just and realistic allocation of responsibility for dependency. Sure to cause an uproar in fields ranging from law to economics and social welfare, The Autonomy Myth offers an important new way to think about society and its institutions.

The Autonomy Myth: A Theory of Dependency

Social Sciences

New Press, The

A brilliant exposé of the contradiction between the American myth of self-reliance and the reality of an interdependent society. With the controversy over gay marriages grabbing national headlines, traditional conceptions of family in American society have become subject to increasingly fierce debate. In The Autonomy Myth, influential and always-provocative legal theorist Martha Albertson Fineman expands the terms of the debate even further to argue for public policy that reflects the realities of how we live together.
As Fineman points out, those charged with administering U.S. social policy have long considered the marital family household as both separate and self-sufficient, often at the cost of the well-being of many families and their members, especially children. Vigorously taking issue with this approach, Fineman makes the compelling case that the sexually affiliated couple is not the appropriate building block for contemporary families. Instead, she argues, society should be organized around "caretaking relationships," particularly those involving children or elderly dependents. In this paradigm-shifting book Fineman insists that, because each of us is "inevitably dependent" at various stages in our lives, it makes far more sense for us to recognize from the outset that society as a whole has a vital role to play in providing assistance.

The Autonomy Myth: A Theory Of Dependency

The New Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fineman, Martha Albertson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fineman, Martha Albertson

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fineman, Martha Albertson. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Illusion of Equality: The Rhetoric and Reality of Divorce Reform

The Illusion of Equality: The Rhetoric and Reality of Divorce Reform

Mothers in Law: Feminist Theory and the Legal Regulation of Motherhood (Culture & Gender)

Mothers in Law (Gender and Culture)

Public Nature Private Violence

The Public Nature of Private Violence

The Neutered Mother, The Sexual Family and Other Twentieth Century Tragedies

The Autonomy Myth: A Theory of Dependency

The Autonomy Myth: A Theory Of Dependency