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Law In Case 137 Sexism

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Law as envisioned when it is written is different from how it is practiced. According to Ngaire Naffine as discussed by Elizabeth Comack and Gillian Balfour there is an official version of the law in which, ‘“the legal world would have us believe about itself – […] that it is an impartial, neutral, and objective system for resolving social conflict”’ (Comack& Balfour, 2004, 16). This version of the law in my opinion is idealistic. I would argue instead that the law with its illusion of being impartial, neutral, and objective is actually steeped in sexism, and homophobia. This paper will demonstrate that the official version of law hides homophobia and sexism within institutions that create and enforce laws.
In order to understand how the law …show more content…

she was sentenced to 20 months in prison (Comack, 2004, p.38). In this example this woman’s gender becomes the center to her trial. This is demonstrated through the language of the Crown, complainant, and a second bouncer who testified. The complainant told the court “I got stabbed, the bitch stabbed me” she was then called “super- female,” accused of being “strung up on heroin or something” the crown explained to the jury “despite her size [she] is capable of causing great injury” (Comack, 2004, 39) “the force which was used to restrain her (five kicks in the back with steel toed boots while she laid on the ground) is evidence of the extent of her rage (Comack, 2004, 39). She is portrayed to the jury as a violent woman which is a common judgement for any woman who commits a violent crime to an extent (Comack, 2004, 39). The language used to describe the woman in this case focused on how she breaks away from society’s definition of a what a woman is. Which goes against the idea that law is to be disconnected from the social context as the official version of the law tells us. As a result, this fails to reflect the impartiality of the official version of law. As women who appear before a court with violent charges are already pre-judged as cruel, calculating, and cold hearted

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