Drawing together the threads of the contributions to Women, Power and Autonomy—Rights, Respect and Representation in Law and Society, this Conclusion briefly critiques the notion of “soft” and “hard” areas of responsibility and policy. The chapter determines that fields labelled “women’s issues” should not be rated as “soft” and hence secondary. Rather, they should be considered areas of policy and practice, action and accountability, that are the concern of “everyone”—albeit “everyone” too often includes the male of the species only, demoting the female to the realm of “the other”. Referencing the manner in which each of the book’s chapters raises and reflects questions of rights, respect and representation, with cross-overs between chapter topics, consideration is given to rights and lack of respect for widows, property and its importance to them, as to teenager readers, women’s (and girls’) rights (and wrongs) as mothers and surrogates, as under-age and forced brides, prostituted, paedophiled, and pornographied women, women in politics, in finance and the corporation, in non-traditional jobs and campaigning to get there, in prison and on bail, encountering conflicts between religion and culture, and working in under-resourced service fields to support women and women’s needs, embracing Black and minoritised women, and including abortion and health rights. It references women’s efforts, as related by contributors, to advocate and gain advances for women through law and practice, in times of revolution and change, and in times of regression and fighting back. It recounts the way legislative reforms can be undermined by traditional lawyers and judges schooled in conventional—and patriarchal—law, and the importance of language and women’s aptitude in finding “the words to say it”. It concludes that the language of rights, respect and representation is central to women’s demands for them, and that it is the language of rights, respect and representation that will determine in law and society whether women’s demands can or will be met. Finally, that women’s temperament and tenacity, voice and vision, will ensure women win.

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Conclusion: Parsing Women’s Rights, Respect and Representation in Law and Society

  • Jocelynne A. Scutt

摘要

Drawing together the threads of the contributions to Women, Power and Autonomy—Rights, Respect and Representation in Law and Society, this Conclusion briefly critiques the notion of “soft” and “hard” areas of responsibility and policy. The chapter determines that fields labelled “women’s issues” should not be rated as “soft” and hence secondary. Rather, they should be considered areas of policy and practice, action and accountability, that are the concern of “everyone”—albeit “everyone” too often includes the male of the species only, demoting the female to the realm of “the other”. Referencing the manner in which each of the book’s chapters raises and reflects questions of rights, respect and representation, with cross-overs between chapter topics, consideration is given to rights and lack of respect for widows, property and its importance to them, as to teenager readers, women’s (and girls’) rights (and wrongs) as mothers and surrogates, as under-age and forced brides, prostituted, paedophiled, and pornographied women, women in politics, in finance and the corporation, in non-traditional jobs and campaigning to get there, in prison and on bail, encountering conflicts between religion and culture, and working in under-resourced service fields to support women and women’s needs, embracing Black and minoritised women, and including abortion and health rights. It references women’s efforts, as related by contributors, to advocate and gain advances for women through law and practice, in times of revolution and change, and in times of regression and fighting back. It recounts the way legislative reforms can be undermined by traditional lawyers and judges schooled in conventional—and patriarchal—law, and the importance of language and women’s aptitude in finding “the words to say it”. It concludes that the language of rights, respect and representation is central to women’s demands for them, and that it is the language of rights, respect and representation that will determine in law and society whether women’s demands can or will be met. Finally, that women’s temperament and tenacity, voice and vision, will ensure women win.