LAW 753 Gender and the Law
This course aims to explore the socially constructed norms and frameworks enabling the legal regulation of human sexuality. The course will offer students a comparative law perspective on issues of sexual orientation, gender identity and justice, while providing the critical tools required to evaluate a host of legislative and judicial responses to gender and sexuality. The readings will consist of case law, legal scholarship, and commentary. The course will also include readings and discussions of the various approaches taken by feminist legal theorists in analyzing the legal system and the norms it perpetuates. Topics that will be covered include marriage and alternative relationships, workplace discrimination and sex-role stereotyping, the regulation of sexuality, rape and sex-based violence, abortion, and issues within gender law and legal theory relating specifically to minority women.