Gender, Law & Politics 46.320

1. The Legal Construction of Gender in the U.S.

Required Readings:

Marilynn Salmon, "The Legal Status of Women, 1776-1830," History Now, March 2006.

Bradwell v. Illinois (1873), upheld exclusion of women from legal practice.

Lochner v. New York (1905), ruled that the regulation of labor violates individual freedom to enter into voluntary contracts.

Muller v. Oregon (1908), permitted sex discrimination in employment.

Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942), defined procreation as a fundamental right.

Patricia Ireland, "Women's Less Than Equal Rights under the U.S. Constitution," NOW.org.

Further research: Susan E. Gallagher, editor/producer, "The Right to Privacy in Historical Perspective," The Right to Privacy, by Louis D. Brandeis and Samuel Warren: A Digital Critical Edition (University of Massachusetts Press, forthcoming).

    2. 1st Wave Feminism: A Struggle for Admission to the Public Sphere

 Required Readings:  

Summary of the Woman Suffrage Movement, PBS.

The Declaration of Sentiments of the Seneca Falls Convention (1848), Nat'l Park Service.

Woman Suffrage and the Temperance Movement (brief summary), PBS.

Woman Suffrage and Abolitionism (brief summary), PBS.

Monee Fields White, "Women's Suffrage and Racism: Ida B. Well vs. Frances Willard," The Root, March 25, 2011.

Judith Welman, "The Seneca Falls Convention: Setting the National Stage for Women's Suffrage," History Now, March 2006.

Further research: "Victoria Woodhull: The First Woman to Run for President," NPR (audio).

Hill/Thomas Legacy

3. 2nd Wave Feminism: A Struggle for Personal Liberation

Excerpt from Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963).

Equal Pay Act (1963)

Nat'l Organization for Women (NOW), Statement of Purpose (1966).

Stonewall Rebellion (1969), summary, Times Topics.

Gloria Steinem, "Women's Liberation Aims to Free Men Too," The Washington Post, June 7, 1970.

Timeline of Title IX, Now.org.

Barbara Winslow, "The Impact of Title IX," History Now, March 2010.

  4. Public Regulation of Sexual Relations, Part One

Alex Markels, "The Supreme Court's Evolving Rulings on Abortion," brief case summaries, NPR.

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), summary and contextual notes, PBS.

Roe v. Wade (1973), excerpts with link to full text, Supreme Court Historical Society.

George J. Annas, "The Supreme Court and Abortion Rights," New England Journal of Medicine, May 24, 2007.

Anthony Lewis, "Cotton Mather Politics," Op-Ed, New York Times, May 24, 1981.

Kathyrn Kolbert, Interview, "The Last Abortion Clinic," Frontline (PBS).

Dahlia Lithwick, "The Death of Roe v. Wade, Slate," April 19, 2011.

Further research: Susan E. Gallagher, "The Cult of Domesticity in the 20th Century."

  5. Public Regulation of Sexual Relations, Part Two

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), held that the right to privacy does not extend to same-sex sexual relationships.

Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA (1996), banned federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

Lawrence v. Texas (2003), overturned Bowers v. Hardwick.

The Rise and Fall of Don't Ask; Don't Tell, Timeline, Washington Post.

"A Brief History of Gay Marriage," Time Magazine, May 22, 2008.

"Justice Dept. Rachets Up Gay Rights Defense with Anti-DOMA Golinski Brief," Colorado Independent, June 5, 2011.

6. Gender, Race & Justice

Ida B. Wells, Introduction to pamphlet on "Lynch Law in Georgia," The Rise & Fall of Jim Crow, PBS. (Also read biographical information.)

Heather Munro Prescott, "Roman Polanski and the History of “Rape-Rape” in America," History News Network, October 11, 2009 (summary of rape laws in the U.S.).

"Innocence and Injustice in The Central Park Five," NPR, May 24, 2011.

Chris Smith, "Central Park Revisited," New York Magazine, October 21, 2002 (summary of wrongful convictions in the 1989 sexual assault of a white female jogger in Central Park).

Meritor Savings v. Vinson (1986), defined liability in cases of sexual harrassment.

Leslie Bennetts, "Anita Hill Discusses Clarence Thomas Twenty Years Later," Daily Beast, October 3, 2011.