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Article Review : The Sex of Law

The article , entitled The Sex of Law ' written by Frances Olsen , deals with dualism and its treatment of the law , as well the feminists reactions both to dualism and how dualism treats the law . Dualism is a concept that has been developed by the contrast of two opposing ideas and has three general characteristics . Sexualization , which involves the treatment of half of the idea as masculine ' lies on one end and is identified as the rational , principled and objective

portion . The other half is treated as feminine , which is identified as the irrational sensitive and subjective portion

The second characteristic of dualism in law is that the two opposing ideas are unequal , with the masculine ' idea considered the superior one . In line with the idea that males have long dominated the females the male half of the idea dominates and defines the female side

Lastly , the idea of law is associated with the masculine ' portion It is therefore thought of that law is rational rather than irrational objective rather than subjective

Because of these depictions , feminists have developed strategies to attack the system of dualist thought , three of which are discussed here The first strategy is to reject the sexualization of ideas , which refuses to accept the idea that the feminine portion is associated with the irrational and passive side . Harriet Taylor Mill in her essay in 1851 , rejected the idea of women inherently possessing passive and irrational qualities . Today , focus towards the equal treatment of sexes is widely considered to be the norm

The second strategy is to accept the sexualization but reject the characteristic of hierarchy . The advocates of this strategy contend that although women may be inherently irrational or passive , these traits are not inferior to that of the masculine traits . In her novel Herland Charlotte Perkins Gilman conveyed the message that the female qualities of irrationality may prevail over the male qualities of the rational Today , however , this type of strategy is slowly deteriorating

The third strategy is also termed androgyny . It involves an attack on both the characteristics of sexualization and hierarchy . It contends that males and females are equally rational and principled , as well as objective . It also argues that it is not necessarily admirable to be rational , principled and objective . This usually includes the rejection of the concept of dualism as a whole . William Leach , in his studies asserted that the ideal man or woman was that which has developed both masculine ' and feminine ' traits . Today , the resurgence of numerous women 's movements once again brought forth these ideas into common consciousness

Aside from feminist strategies towards dualism , there exist three feminist criticisms of the law as well . The first is the legal reformist ' category and questions the depiction of law as rational principled and objective , and cites instances when the law irrationally favors men over women . The first arises when the law denies formal equality between sexes , as in prescribing different legal...