NCJ Number
117529
Date Published
1989
Length
59 pages
Annotation
This paper assesses the potential of the legal concept of "social injury" to be theorized in ways which may lead to the development of feminist legal theory designed to advance legal remedies for the abuse of women.
Abstract
The "social injury" of women living in gender-ordered societies where they are relegated to a lower status than men not only undermines a healthy feminine psyche but produces such overt injuries as domestic violence, incest, pornography, and sexual harassment. The concept of "social injury," however, should extend to more subtle forms and effects of gender discrimination and oppression. Such a concept would make illegal the perpetuation of injurious, stigmatic sexual stereotypes. Women as an oppressed group must publicize and politicize all injuries based in sexual discrimination. This concept of "social injury" and its application to women's plight in a gender-ordered society is offered as a contribution to two current feminist projects: the "deconstructive project," which identifies and deconstructs male perspectives on human experience and the feminist "reconstructive project," which identifies distinctive aspects of women's experience that can provide resources for the construction of a more representative view of human experience. 59 footnotes.