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Male-Female RelationsMacKinnon is not a one-topic legal philosopher. She is a prolific writer about issues other than pornography which affect women such as abortion, comparable worth, and sexual harassment. In fact, it was in the area of sexual harassment case law that she first gained notoriety. In the mid 1970s, MacKinnon broke new legal ground when she began litigating sexual harassment lawsuits. Up until that time, claims of sexual harassment in the workplace were viewed legally as private harms and thus, not illegal. MacKinnon argued that indeed, it was a form of sexual discrimination, and therefore, illegal under Federal law. At that time, the law considered an act to be discriminatory if it occurred between two people who were equivalent. However, MacKinnon developed a new approach that has become pivotal in feminist legal theory. She argued that a practice should be considered discriminatory if it “participates in the systematic social deprivation of one sex because of sex.”5 In 1979, MacKinnon expanded this theory into her book Sexual Harassment of Working Women, which “immediately became the definitive work on the subject”6 Many sexual harassment lawsuits today are based on MacKinnon’s legal theory. Sexual harassment and pornography are linked, according to MacKinnon. In many cases, harassment of women is an outcome of men’s viewing of pornography, in MacKinnon’s opinion. And she believes both offenses illustrate the inherent inequality of women in today’s society. Ultimately, she synthesizes her analysis of most issues—such as sexual harassment, pornography, and abortion— to a question of equality between men and women. She believes that most conflicts and controversies between men and women come down to a lack of equality. Time and time again she points out the inequality of women in society and especially in the law. According to writer Pete Hanirnill, it is a power issue for MacKinnon: .... [sic] she goes on to insist that the law is not neutral but male, conceived by men to serve the interests of male supremacy.”7 Whether she is talking about pornography or comparable worth, MacKinnon reduces the issue to the pervasive inequality of women to men in society. As she told reporter Janny Scott of the Los Angeles Times, “So, again, when you’ve got the deepest inequality, which is when you’ve got segregation of jobs on the basis of sex, and you say you can’t do anything if the sexes are differently situated, then you can’t address those problems. But those are the problems that most pervasively affect the most women. It is crucial that they be addressed.”8 Criticism and CritiqueAs discussed in an earlier section, MacKinnon has come under attack in recent years for her views on pornography. Few writers have received as much criticism for their views about pornography as Catharine MacKinnon. Perhaps feminist writer Andrea Dworkin has received as much critical review. Since they have collaborated together for more than a decade, this is no surprise. One of their staunchest critics is Nadine Strosser, who has called those who agree with MacKinnon and Dworkin “MacDworkinites.”9 In an ironic twist on MacKinnon’s constant call for equality, she seems to attract equal disdain from the political left and the right As reporter Charlotte Allen wrote in The Washington Post, “Liberals detest MacKinnon because she advocates censorship—or something like censorship: court awards against pornographers whose works inspire sexual abuse. Conservatives detest MacKinnon because she despises all traditional arrangements between the sexes, which she insists on calling gender discrimination and also, by the way, advocates censorship.”10 One group has organized to fight MacKinnon. The Feminist Anti-Censorship Task Force (FACT), formed when MacKinnon was trying to enact the pornography ordinance in Minneapolis. They denounced the ordinance because they felt it was vague and could be misinterpreted to criminalize” ‘the most traditional of heterosexual act’ because the man would be in a ‘physical position of superiority’ to the woman.”11 FACT submitted a legal brief that included the names of more than 50 prominent feminists, including Friedan, Millett, and Rich. In keeping with her dramatic and extroverted style, MacKinnon dismissed FACT’s relevance by claiming that they were puppets of “male supremacists” and characterized them as the “Uncle Tom’s” and “Oreo Cookies” of the women’s movement.12 Summary and Conclusion Since the 1970s, when she began representing women in sexual harassment lawsuits, Catharine MacKinnon has attracted considerable attention. Fortunately for her, she is able to endure the intense scrutiny of her controversial views. From legal scholars to feminists to mainstream media, MacKinnon has been harshly criticized from both spectrums of the political continuum. Because we are still in the midst of many of the battles she has fought—abortion tights, anti-pornography laws, etc.—it is difficult to attach concrete assessments to the results of her labors. However, there can be no denying she has impacted the debate on these issues and has perhaps even changed the course of the discussions. Given the volatile nature of these topics, that is enough proof that MacKinnon will go down in history as an influential legal scholar in the areas of law which affect women. BIBLIOGRAPHYAllen, Charlotte, “Penthouse Pest; Why Porn Crusader MacKinnon Is Right,” The Washington Post. November 28, 1993, sec. Outlook, p. C 1. DeLauretis, Teresa. “Eccentric Subjects: Feminist Theory and Historical Consciousness,” Feminist Studies 16 (Spring 1990): 115-51. Carter, Terry. “MacKinnon Leaves Yale Grads With Tough Talk on Sex Abuse,” The National Law Journal, July 17, 1989, p. 4, cal. 2. Gates, David. “Free Speech - of a Hostile Act (Controversy Over Critique of Catharine MacKinnon’s Anti-pornography book ‘Only Words’),” Newsweek. January 17, 1994, p. 53. Graham, Judith, Ed. Current Biography Yearbook. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1994, pp. 364-367. Hanimill, Pete. “Woman on the Verge of a Legal Breakdown; Feminist Catharine MacKinnon,” Playboy January, 1993, p. 138. Iannone, Carol. “Sex & the Feminists,” Commentary. September 1993, pp. 5 1-5. MacKinnon, Catharine A. Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987. . Only Words, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993. . “Turning Rape in Pornography,” MS. Magazine, July-August 1993, pp. 24-3 1. . “Does Sexuality Have a History? (The Female Body Part 2),” Michigan Quarterly Review 30 (Winter 1991): 1-12. . “Reflections on Sex Equality Under Law,” Yale Law Journal. 100 (March 1991): 1281-1328. . “Sexuality, Pornography, and Method: ‘Pleasure Under Patriarchy,’ (Symposium on Feminism and Political Theory),” Ethics. 99 (January 1989): 314-346. Parent, W.A. “A Second Look at Pornography and the Subordination of Women,” The Journal of Philosophy 87 (April 1990): 205-12. Rhodenbaugh, Suzanne. “Catharine MacKinnon, May I speak?,” Michigan Quarterly Review 30 (Summer 1991): 415-23. Ring, Jennifer. “Saving Objectivity for Feminism: MacKinnon, Marx, and Other Possibilities,” The Review of Politics 49 (Fall 1987): 467 (23). Scott, Janny. “Los Angeles Times Interview; Catharine MacKinnon; Pursuing a Different Approach to Sexual Inequality,” Los Angeles Times October 24, 1993, part M, cal. 1, p.3. Strebeigh, Fred. “The Words They Can’t Say,” The New York Times Magazine. October 6,1991, p29 (7). Strosser, Nadine. “In Defense of Pornography,” USA Today, January 12, 1995, sec. News, p. 9A. Toobin, Jeffrey. “X-Rated. Feminists Against Pornography,” ~ October 3, 1994, p. 70(9). Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 5.81 Mb. Share with your friends:
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