Female Sexuality and the Law
eBook - ePub

Female Sexuality and the Law

A Study of Constructs of Female Sexuality as they Inform Statute and Legal Procedure

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Female Sexuality and the Law

A Study of Constructs of Female Sexuality as they Inform Statute and Legal Procedure

About this book

The treatment of women by the law, whether as victims or offenders, is based on certain attitudes towards female sexuality that have influenced legal thinking since 1800. The aim of this book, originally published in 1981, reissued here with a new preface, was to expose and investigate these attitudes and to show how the law has subtly but inexorably been used as an instrument of social control over women and their sexual behaviour.

The study focuses on the treatment of victims of rape and sexual assault. Within the legal process, it is the area of discretion which is as important as the actual formal content of the law. Why is it that one man may be imprisoned for the daring of a kiss, whereas countless others have escaped with fines and admonitions for the most brutal assaults? What influence can a woman's personal background, material circumstances or mental condition be allowed to have on the case? How brutally assaulted does a woman have to be to prove beyond all doubt that she did not secretly desire the assault.

The scope of the book encompasses law, sociology, psychoanalysis and medicine, and paints a startling picture of the degree of prejudice and masculine interest still woven into the fabric of the law. Today it can be read in its historical context.

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Yes, you can access Female Sexuality and the Law by Susan S. M. Edwards in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Psychoanalysis. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. New Preface for Reissue
  6. Original Title Page
  7. Original Copyright Page
  8. Table of Contents
  9. Acknowledgements
  10. Introduction: The Social Control of Female Sexuality
  11. Part I: The Female Paradox
  12. Part II: Scientia Gynaecologia et Sexualis
  13. Part III: The Routine Management of Discretion
  14. Conclusion
  15. Notes and References
  16. Select Bibliography
  17. Index