| 09-04 TABLE of CONTENTS:
Part 5 of Dr. DiFonzo's review of
the Michael Grossberg book exploring a Victorian Age custody battle
The Fourth World Conference on Women
sponsored by the United Nations
A private comment by Irene Stuber
DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and
EVENTS
QUOTE by
Marianne Williamson.
To read this entire article,
see: | 1 | | 2
| | 3 | | 4
| | 5 |
Part 5 of Dr. DiFonzo's
review of the Michael Grossberg book exploring a Victorian Age custody
battle
[Part 5 of 5 parts of Dr. DiFonzo's
review of the Michael Grossberg book exploring a Victorian Age custody
battle when common law doctrine granted full sway to a father's decisions
regarding child custody and family residence.]
"A Judgment for Solomon adds a needed case
study to the debate among legal historians about the changing contours
of the public and private spheres in the development of family, the modern
as well as to the related policy question whether the shift of the conjugal
bond from status to contract can or should be reversed or at least significantly
modified. Lee E. Teitelbaum argued a decade ago that very little of the
"private" Victorian family was truly private. Courts and legislatures
gradually eased out the private sphere in establishing hegemony over issues
of child-rearing, education, marriage regulation, child custody, and spousal
support. [10] Later, in a review of Governing the Hearth, Teitelbaum suggested
that even Grossberg had not fully acknowledged the transference of functions
from the household to the state regulator in the course of the nineteenth
century. [11]
By contrast, Jana B. Singer stressed the larger trend
transforming family law from public to private ordering. [12] That debate
has of late been subsumed into a discussion of whether Henry Maine's dictum
about the relentless creep from status to contract applies immutably to
domestic relations. [13]
"Grossberg sidesteps the polemics pitting
the rights-talkers against the communitarians, which have flared up in
this context in current proposals to end or severely limit no-fault divorce,
and a marriage of "commitment" and a marriage of "compatibility,"
to instead, legislate two types of relationships. [14] He demonstrates
the power of storytelling at junctures when the law is in flux (p. 104).
"Grossberg's talent at narrative discourse allows
him to show that the relationship between law and social change is not
susceptible to easy cause-and-effect analysis. Culture obeys only the law
of unintended consequences, and we learn our lessons by approaching issues
of social engineering with a healthy and historically informed measure
of skepticism about our own abilities.
"As readers of this review may have guessed,
Ellen d'Hauteville won her custody battle.
"But the judges awarded only temporary custody.
Because the litigation had exposed every private corner of her family to
public view, her limited victory ensured that the family would be subject
to "continuous judicial surveillance"
(p. 165).
"In many ways, Ellen d'Hauteville's world has
entirely passed from the scene. But she and we share a keen sense of life
in a culture facing "continuous judicial surveillance."
"In a society deeply divided over gender roles
and the permissible reach of the government into domestic relations, we
should be wary of those too quick to grasp the mantle of King Solomon."
Copyright (c) 1996 by H-Net, all
rights reserved. This work may be copied for non-profit educational use
if proper credit is given to the author and the list. Used with permission.
The footnotes are not included in the permission given to WOA by Dr. DiFonzo.
To read this entire article, see: | 1
| | 2 | | 3
| | 4 | | 5 |
| PRIOR DATE |
| HOME |
| WOA INDEX |
| NEXT DATE |
| RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|
The Fourth World Conference
on Women sponsored by the United Nations
EVENT 09-04-1995: The eyes of women and
girls with dreams were fastened on Beijing, China, as the fourth world
conference on women sponsored by the United Nations began.
Unfortunately
the news reaching most women was sparse on empowerment as news reports
centered on the mud and the controversial decisions of Chinese officials
that became harassment of the delegates.
Even
when Hillary Rodham Clinton the wife of a U.S. president gave a rousing
speech about the rights of all
women, the American media presented color, i.e., describing what clothes
she wore instead of the substance of the speech. Such methods are time-honored
and effective ways of ignoring the worldwide movement to improve the conditions
of all women.
But
as the tents were struck and the attendees dispersed throughout the world,
the message of hope and determination moved with them. Cut off from the
main sources of mass communication such as TV and newspapers, women utilized
their traditional and effective methods: word of mouth. This time it has
been helped by the communication revolution of the internet - and by women
who are publishing small woman-based books and magazines. These women communications
experts traded in the big bucks of mainstream publishing to carry on women's
dream of equality and human rights through small presses and internet websites
such as Undelete: Women's Internet Information Network.
Here are some excerpts from some of the positions
adopted in Beijing... issues that are being addressed every day, today(!),
in the United Nations through the Division for the Advancement of Women.
Even though our nation's media ignores it, it is happening! The next international
conference will be held in 2005 - save your pennies to get there. The new
millennia shall belong to women!
The
position paper reads (in part):
"We, the Governments participating
in the Fourth World Conference on Women... determined to advance the goals
of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest
of all humanity...
"recognize
that the status of women has advanced in some important respects in the
past decade but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women
and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences
for the well-being of all people...
"also
recognize that this situation is exacerbated by the increasing poverty
that is affecting the lives of the majority of the world's people, in particular
women and children, with origins in both the national and international
domains;
"We reaffirm our commitment [to] the equal
rights and inherent human dignity of women and men...
"in
particular the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child...
"Ensure
the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child
as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and
fundamental freedom...
"The empowerment and advancement of women,
including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief,
thus contributing to the moral, ethical, spiritual and intellectual needs
of women and men, individually or in community with others and thereby
guaranteeing them the possibility of realizing their full potential in
society and shaping their lives in accordance with their own aspirations.
"We are convinced that:
"Women's
empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all
spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process
and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development
and peace;
"Women's
rights are human rights;
"Equal
rights, opportunities and access to resources, equal sharing of responsibilities
for the family by men and women;
"The
explicit recognition and reaffirmation of the right of all women to control
all aspects of their health, in particular their own fertility, is basic
to their empowerment;
"Local, national, regional and global peace
is attainable and is inextricably linked with the advancement of women,
who are a fundamental force for leadership, conflict resolution and the
promotion of lasting peace at all levels;
"We are determined to:
"Ensure
the full enjoyment by women and the girl child of all human rights and
fundamental freedoms and take effective action against violations of these
rights and freedoms;
"Take
all necessary measures to eliminate all forms of discrimination against
women and the girl child and remove all obstacles to gender equality and
the advancement and empowerment of women; Encourage men to participate
fully in all actions toward equality;
"Promote
women's economic independence, including employment, and eradicate the
persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women by addressing the
structural causes of poverty through changes in economic structures, ensuring
equal access for all women, including those in rural areas, as vital development
agents, to productive resources, opportunities and public services;
"Promote
people-centred sustainable development, including sustained economic growth,
through the provision of basic education, lifelong education, literacy
and training, and primary health care for girls and women;
"Take
positive steps to ensure peace for the advancement of women and, recognizing
the leading role that women have played in the peace movement, work actively
toward general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international
control, and support negotiations on the conclusion, without delay, of
a universal and multilaterally and effectively verifiable comprehensive
nuclear-test-ban treaty which contributes to nuclear disarmament and the
prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in all its aspects;
"Prevent
and eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls;
"Ensure
equal access to and equal treatment of women and men in education and health
care... reproductive health as well as education;
"Promote
and protect all human rights of women and girls; Intensify efforts to ensure
equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all women
and girls who face multiple barriers to their empowerment and advancement
because of such factors as their race, age, language, ethnicity, culture,
religion, or disability, or because they are indigenous people;
"Develop
the fullest potential of girls and women of all ages, ensure their full
and equal participation in building a better world for all and enhance
their role in the development process.
"We are determined to:
"Ensure
women's equal access to economic resources, including land, credit, science
and technology, vocational training, information, communication and markets,
as a means to further the advancement and empowerment of women and girls,
including through the enhancement of their capacities to enjoy the benefits
of equal access to these resources, among others, by means of international
cooperation;
"The
participation and leadership of the half of humanity that is female is
essential... and a radical transformation of the relationship between women
and men to one of full and equal partnership will enable the world to meet
the challenges of the twenty-first century.
"One fourth of all households' worlds wide
are headed by women and many other households are dependent on female income
even where men are present. Female-maintained households are very often
among the poorest because of wage discrimination, occupational segregation
patterns in the labour market and other gender-based barriers.
"Family
disintegration, population movements between urban and rural areas within
countries, international migration, war and internal displacements are
factors contributing to the rise of female-headed households.
"Religion, spirituality and belief play a
central role in the lives of millions of women and men...
"The
right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion is inalienable and
must be universally enjoyed. This right includes the freedom to have or
to adopt the religion or belief of their choice either individually or
in community with others, in public or in private, and to manifest their
religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching... it
is acknowledged that any form of extremism may have a negative impact on
women and can lead to violence and discrimination.
"...Equality between women and men has still
not been achieved. On average, women represent a mere 10 per cent of all
elected legislators world wide...
"Women play a critical role in the family...
"The
social significance of maternity, motherhood and the role of parents in
the family and in the upbringing of children should be acknowledged. The
upbringing of children requires shared responsibility of parents, women
and men and society as a whole. Maternity, motherhood, parenting and the
role of women in procreation must not be a basis for discrimination nor
restrict the full participation of women in society. Recognition should
also be given to the important role often played by women in many countries
in caring for other members of their family.
"While the rate of growth of world population
is on the decline, world population is at an all-time high in absolute
numbers... In many developing countries, 45 to 50 per cent of the population
is less than 15 years old, while in industrialized nations both the number
and proportion of elderly people are increasing. According to United Nations
projections, 72 per cent of the population over 60 years of age will be
living in developing countries by the year 2025, and more than half of
that population will be women.
Care
of children, the sick and the elderly is a responsibility that falls disproportionately
on women, owing to lack of equality and the unbalanced distribution of
remunerated and unremunerated work between women and men.
"In the past 20 years, the world has seen
an explosion in the field of communications...
"Until
women participate equally in both the technical and decision-making areas
of communications and the mass media, including the arts, they will continue
to be misrepresented and awareness of the reality of women's lives will
continue to be lacking.
"The girl child of today is the woman of
tomorrow.
"The
skills, ideas and energy of the girl child are vital for full attainment
of the goals of equality, development and peace.
"For
the girl child to develop her full potential she needs to be nurtured in
an enabling environment, where her spiritual, intellectual and material
needs for survival, protection and development are met and her equal rights
safeguarded...
"Yet
there exists worldwide evidence that discrimination and violence against
girls begin at the earliest stages of life and continue unabated throughout
their lives. They often have less access to nutrition, physical and mental
health care and education and enjoy fewer rights, opportunities and benefits
of childhood and adolescence than do boys. They are often subjected to
various forms of sexual and economic exploitation, paedophilia, forced
prostitution and possibly the sale of their organs and tissues, violence
and harmful practices such as female infanticide and prenatal sex selection,
incest, female genital mutilation and early marriage, including child marriage.
"Empowerment of women and equality between
women and men are prerequisites for achieving political, social, economic,
cultural and environmental security among all peoples.
"To this end, Governments, the international
community and civil society, including the non governmental organizations
and the private sector, are called upon to take strategic action in the
following critical areas of concern:
"The
persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women
"Inequalities
and inadequacies in and unequal access to education and training
"Inequalities
and inadequacies in and unequal access to health care and related services
"Violence
against women
"The
effects of armed or other kinds of conflict on women, including those living
under foreign occupation
"Inequality
in economic structures and policies, in all forms of productive activities
and in access to resources
"Inequality
between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all
levels
"Insufficient
mechanisms at all levels to promote the advancement of women
"Lack
of respect for and inadequate promotion and protection of the human rights
of women
"Stereotyping
of women and inequality in women's access to and participation in all communication
systems, especially in the media
"Gender
inequalities in the management of natural resources and in the safeguarding
of the environment
"Persistent
discrimination against and violation of the rights of the girl child."
(The grandmother of information about the conference
and other UN initiatives for women is to be found at the United
Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, a site to make your
heart warm and full of confidence for the future.)
| PRIOR DATE |
| HOME |
| WOA INDEX |
| NEXT DATE |
| RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|
A private comment by
Irene Stuber
The ultra-conservative, religious right-wing forces
of many nations are unalterably opposed to the United Nations. The UN stand
on the women's rights, including their reproductive rights, are an anathema
to them. The takeover of many nations such as Iran and Afghanistan by religious
extremists has resulted first and foremost in the virtual enslavement of
women and women's complete loss of human rights.
Also,
remember when reviewing the above excerpts a few American facts: more women
are raped in the U.S., percentage- wise, than any other nation in the world;
more women are raped in the U.S. every year than were raped in Bosnia.
Every major money-saving legislation adopted by American government recently
impacts the most on women - without exception.
The
U.S. has one of the smallest representations of women in its state and
federal legislative bodies in the world.
| PRIOR DATE |
| HOME |
| WOA INDEX |
| NEXT DATE |
| RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|
09-04 DATES, ANNIVERSARIES, and EVENTS
B. 09-04-1803, Sarah Childress Polk, shrewd and ambitious, layered
with charm and backed by a politically powerful family paved the way for
her husband, James, to become president of the U.S. She was his closest
advisor and was admired greatly by official Washington society. SCP attended
the South's most outstanding school for girls. She is recognized by many
as a powerful influence on his official actions.
B. 09-04-1811, Marie-Félicité-Denise Pleyel, Belgium-born
French virtuoso who was considered one of the most outstanding pianists
of the 19th century. She toured much of Europe while still in her teens.
Her only venture into marriage ended in scandal because she reportedly
continued to have had many affairs. She became notorious (as were many
of the male artists of the day) but because of her talent, the notoriety
did not slow her highly successful career.
She was also professor
of piano at the Brussels Conservatory for almost 30 years.
B. 09-04-1824, Phoebe Cary, collaborated with her sister Alice
on volumes of poetry. Each had successful, individual writing careers.
The younger Phoebe wrote less than her sister, preferring to "keep"
house. They were inseparable, living together all their lives.
Both were staunch women's
righters and Phoebe served for a time with the Revolution paper of Susan
B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The sisters were home and self-taught
without any formal education.
B. 09-04-1890, Katherine Garrison Chapin, U.S. poet.
B. 09-04-1890, La Argentina, (Antonia Merc, Luque) who invented the
style of Spanish dance that is seen on the stage and in theaters. Argentinean-born,
she was of direct Spanish descent. Dancing with the Madrid opera, she turned
away from the classical ballet to study native dancing. She was refused
staging for her new art and had to go to Paris (including the Moulin Rouge)
to perform. She became the greatest Spanish dancer of her day, a solo dancer
without compare.
B. 09-04-1894, Oriana Atkinson, American author of the Catskill
trilogy.
B. 09-04-1899, Ida Kaminska was a acting star in the U.S., in
her native Poland, and finished off her years in Israel. She was recognized
as the queen of the Yiddish theater in Poland where she had her own theater.
Following World War II, she established and headed the Jewish State Theatre
of Poland (1946-68). She resettled in the U.S. and attempted to develop
the same type of Jewish Repertory theater, but it failed. She then moved
to Israel. IK received an Academy Award nomination for her work in the
film The Shop On Main Street (1965).
B. 09-04-1905, Mary Renault (Mary Challans), English novelist who
specialized tales with authentic ancient Greek settings. She wrote the
trilogy on Alexander the Great and The Bull From the Sea
(1962).
Her books were renowned
for their scholarship and she was much admired for her ability to re-create
everyday lifestyles in the classical period.
MR and her lifelong partner
Julie Mullard (whom she met in nursing school) lived on a houseboat on
the Thames until they moved to South African in 1948. MR became an outspoken
critic of apartheid.
B. 09-04-1905, Eleanor Packard, noted war correspondent WWII.
B. 09-04-1924, Joan Delano Aiken, author of fiction and poetry,
winner of 1972 Poe Award.
B. 09-04-1930, Mitzi Gaynor, U.S. actor.
B. 09-04-1937, Dawn Fraser, Australian swimmer was the first
person to win the same event in the Olympics three times, winning the 1956,
1960, and 1964 freestyle swimming gold medals before being suspended in
1964 from the Olympics for a prank.
DF had been seriously
injured in an automobile accident just months before the 1964 event which
made the winning of the third gold even more spectacular.
She set 27 individual
swimming records from 1956 to 1964 and broke the world record in the women's
100 meter freestyle event nine times. All of her records have been replaced
by modern training methods that produces faster athletes in all sports.
However, in most sports where records are falling spectacularly, there's
a growing problem with illegal (and some quasi-legal) drug and steroid
use, including at the 1998 Olympics.
Her autobiography is
Below the Surface (1965).
B. 09-04-1944, Jennifer Salt, U.S. actor.
Event 09-04-1948: In poor health, Queen Wilhelmina abdicated
the throne pf the Netherlands in favor of her daughter.
B. 09-04-1951, Judith Ivey, marvelous U.S. character actor who
won the 1983 Tony award for her work in Steaming and in 1985 for
Hurleyburly.
B. 09-04-1952, Jane Ellen Altenhofen, U.S. federal agency administrator
who served as auditor, U.S. General Accounting Office Kansas City 1974-76,
and inspector general, U.S. International Trade Commission, Washington
D.C. 1989-.
Event 09-04-1974: Mary Louise Smith of Iowa is elected chair
of the Republican Party, the first woman to hold that post.
Event 09-04-1991: Dr. Frances Conley, 50, pioneer woman neurosurgeon
withdrew her resignation for sexual harassment against the Stanford Medical
School after the school agreed to hire more women. Stanford also agreed
not to promote the male physician who was the primary sexual harasser of
Dr. Conley.
Studies in 1998 show
that sexual harassment of women in the medical field continues to be endemic.
Event 09-04-1995: Women from 185 countries met in Beijing, China,
for the fourth world conference on women sponsored by the United Nations.
It ran through September 15.
| PRIOR DATE |
| HOME |
| WOA INDEX |
| NEXT DATE |
| RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|
QUOTES DU JOUR
WILLIAMSON, MARIANNE:
"This
is a book about a woman's inner life. Here, we are our real selves, while
in the outer world we are impostors. We're not sure why we're posing, except
we have no clue how not to. We have forgotten the part we came here to
play. We have lost the key to our own house. We're hanging out outside
the door. The stress of being away so long from home is hurting us, even
killing us. We must not stay away; we must find the key. For until we do,
we will continue to shrivel - our faces, our breasts, our ovaries, our
stories. We are drooping down and falling apart. If we knew how to moan,
they would hear us on the moon.
"But the dirt around us is moving, making room
for tiny sprouts. Like every woman, I know what I know. Something is starting
to happen. New things lie in store for the earth, and one of them is us.
Womanhood is being recast, and we're pregnant, en masse, giving birth to
our own redemption."
-- Marianne Williamson, A Woman's Worth,
New York: Random House, 1993.
| PRIOR DATE |
| HOME |
| WOA INDEX |
| NEXT DATE |
| RETURN TO TOP OF PAGE
|
|
