I am struggling through the process of drafting an essay for the Wellington Women's Lawyer's Association competition. It asks us whether the challenges faced by female law students and graduates are the same or different to 100 years ago, and invites us to also explore other forms of oppression and how this intersects with patriarchy (my words, not theirs).
If you are female, and a law student, you should enter. Check out the details here.
So its a really exciting opportunity, because law school and feminism are two important parts of my life, and it is not often that I get to interrogate how the two overlap. The excuse to rant for 3000 on a topic so dear to my heart is exciting, and the prospect of winning money makes it doubly so.
The only question then, is what on earth to say!
I am well aware that being Pākehā, heterosexual, cis-gendered, able bodied, middle-class, from a family that has always valued education, privileges me above many other people, in general, and in a law school context. I am well aware that feminism too often focusses on the voices of those like myself, while many other women (and people) are further marginalised.
I know these two things are not contradictory, yet I am finding them difficult to reconcile in a coherent way. Does focussing on my own experience continue the feminist trajectory of marginalising women who are more oppressed than I am? Or by focussing on, for example, race and disability, am I refusing to really confront the patriarchal system? Is it even valid to speak of a patriarchy that oppresses all women (and other genders), when every individual experience is so different?
I am also struggling with the part of the question that asks me "how such challenges may be addressed". Obviously, overthrowing the patriarchy and de-colonising the legal system would be great, but in terms of practical suggestions I'm pretty stuck. Obviously, individual women can and have done well in this system - this encourages other women and shows that it is possible, BUT it also makes patriarchy and sexism even more invisible.
In an article I read recently (not specifically about law students), most of the women interviewed saw that women faced barriers on account of their gender, but saw the solutions as a matter of individual empowerment rather than collective or structural change. This is largely due neo-liberal ideology individualising everything. Its flaw, of course is that it blames failure squarely on the individual's lack of merit and refuses to recognise structures which oppress some groups and privilege others. But because of its pervasiveness, how to overcome it is a difficult question.
So yeah, hmm. As always, if people have thoughts I'd love to hear them, either on how to attack this essay, or on experiences you've had of sexism or any other form of oppression at law school or in the legal profession. And yeah, enter the competition! It's such a great opportunity, and you've still got like another month.
If you are female, and a law student, you should enter. Check out the details here.
So its a really exciting opportunity, because law school and feminism are two important parts of my life, and it is not often that I get to interrogate how the two overlap. The excuse to rant for 3000 on a topic so dear to my heart is exciting, and the prospect of winning money makes it doubly so.
The only question then, is what on earth to say!
I am well aware that being Pākehā, heterosexual, cis-gendered, able bodied, middle-class, from a family that has always valued education, privileges me above many other people, in general, and in a law school context. I am well aware that feminism too often focusses on the voices of those like myself, while many other women (and people) are further marginalised.
On the other hand, I have realised that even the most privileged women are still disadvantaged by law school and the legal system. It is inherently patriarchal, and values "masculine" traits. This is as true of Vic as anywhere else. As a study by Caroline Morris concludes: “Academically, women law students at VUW found
the place more competitive than men, were more dissatisfied with the
performance, spoke up less frequently in class and were less happy about it.” And we all know that female lawyers are disproportionately unrepresented at the higher levels of legal practice.
I know these two things are not contradictory, yet I am finding them difficult to reconcile in a coherent way. Does focussing on my own experience continue the feminist trajectory of marginalising women who are more oppressed than I am? Or by focussing on, for example, race and disability, am I refusing to really confront the patriarchal system? Is it even valid to speak of a patriarchy that oppresses all women (and other genders), when every individual experience is so different?
I am also struggling with the part of the question that asks me "how such challenges may be addressed". Obviously, overthrowing the patriarchy and de-colonising the legal system would be great, but in terms of practical suggestions I'm pretty stuck. Obviously, individual women can and have done well in this system - this encourages other women and shows that it is possible, BUT it also makes patriarchy and sexism even more invisible.
In an article I read recently (not specifically about law students), most of the women interviewed saw that women faced barriers on account of their gender, but saw the solutions as a matter of individual empowerment rather than collective or structural change. This is largely due neo-liberal ideology individualising everything. Its flaw, of course is that it blames failure squarely on the individual's lack of merit and refuses to recognise structures which oppress some groups and privilege others. But because of its pervasiveness, how to overcome it is a difficult question.
So yeah, hmm. As always, if people have thoughts I'd love to hear them, either on how to attack this essay, or on experiences you've had of sexism or any other form of oppression at law school or in the legal profession. And yeah, enter the competition! It's such a great opportunity, and you've still got like another month.
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