Women and children first? Potential gender bias in a legal text in the UK, Sue Wharton

KrisK_lvin · 2015-01-12T19:01:55+00:00

This is absolutely fascinating - Not only because of the position it takes in the conclusion:

Form D8A is a pre-court measure, but it may be one factor contributing to the antipathy which fathers’ rights advocates express towards the court system. As a first ine of that system, this form may make a father who is respondent in divorce proceedings feel voiceless, and anxious, right from the beginning of proceedings.

But also because the method she draws on, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), is something I know a little about and in my experience it is overwhelmingly used in the service of attempting to demonstrate structural oppression - a term which you may well be familiar with from Feminist discourses.

It's quite surprising - but pleasantly so - to see it put to use to point out that this impact causes stress on all parties involved, men, women and children, and perhaps particularly so towards the father.

ZimbaZumba · 2015-01-13T00:31:25+00:00

I am glad to see more academics are beginning to look at these difficult problems, without getting on the ideological gravy train.

IlleFacitFinem · 2015-01-12T17:56:12+00:00

Abstract

This paper explores a perceived social problem in the UK from a critical discourse analysis perspective. The problem is that of divorced fathers’ lack of access to a family relationship with their children. To explore it, I examine one of the legal forms used to determine child residence after divorce. I first analyse the ways in which this text represents mothers’ and fathers’ relationships with their children. I then go on to analyse the form as part of a legal exchange between individuals and official bureaucracy. I conclude not only that the form fails to facilitate equal legal rights for all parties concerned, but also that it fails to serve children’s best interests due to its perpetration of gender stereotypes.

Conclusion

Kanagas & Day Sclater (2004: 2-3) argue that ‘Getting divorced … obliges parents to position themselves in relation to a range of often competing discourses. In form D8A, ostensibly about childcare, the discourse of divorce itself appears to be powerful. The labelling of parents in accordance with their legal roles in the divorce, and the differential privileges accorded to each of these roles, is inappropriate in a legal system which claims to take decisions on child residence in accordance with the best interests of the child, over and above consideration of spouses’ behaviour leading to divorce. It could also be seen as unhelpful in the light of current views on the importance of parental consensus for child welfare. Form D8A is a pre-court measure, but it may be one factor contributing to the antipathy which fathers’ rights advocates express towards the court system. As a first line of that system, this form may make a father who is respondent in divorce proceedings feel voiceless, and anxious, right from the beginning of proceedings. At the very least, it seems a missed opportunity to promote a conciliatory attitude between divorcing parents, and to promote a discourse where the needs of mothers, fathers and children in divorced families were constructed as more interdependent. the texts examined here.

Title	Women and children first? Potential gender bias in a legal text in the UK, Sue Wharton
Author	_Kies_
Upvotes	19
Comments	9
Date	January 12, 2015 5:54 PM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/2s6ot8/women_and_children_first_potential_gender_bias_in/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/women-and-children-first-potential-gender-bias-in.990689 https://theredarchive.com/post/990689

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