Graycar and Morgan examine the links between law and women's lives and in doing so, unite both theory and practice in a book which has won acclaim around the world. The authors pose fundamental questions as to the impact of the law on women and their participation in society. This second edition continues the immense detail and intellectual rigour of the first and includes proposals for a reconstruction of the law to make it more responsive to women's lives.

Table of Contents

Introduction

PART ONE: RECURRENT THEORETICAL THEMES
The Public/Private Dichotomy
Gender (In)Equality
Methodologies and Epistemologies

PART TWO: WOMEN AND ECONOMIC (IN)DEPENDENCE
Work in Families
Out to Work

PART THREE: WOMEN AND CONNECTION
Constructing Relationships
Controlling Reproductive Bodies
Losing Children

PART FOUR: GENDERED HARMS
Violence: An Introduction
Invading Women's Bodies
Sexual Harassment and Pornography

PART FIVE: AN AGENDA FOR GENDER?
Legal Strategies and Social Change

Table of Cases
Table of Statutes
Index

"This innovative book starts from the premise that women's lives are central to the operation of law and that legal categories and legal doctrines have been developed in such a way that women have been disadvantaged. While the book's authors are Australian and it draws extensively on Australian examples, it has much to say to anyone seeking to use the law to pursue equality and eradicate disadvantage, in Canada and elsewhere. The Hidden Gender of Law makes a wonderful contribution to reconceptualising law in the twenty-first century."
-- The Hon. Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Supreme Court of Canada

"In this challenging but very interesting book … the level of scholarship and analysis on the part of Graycar and Morgan is very high. Their method is to identify the issue, then review and explain the differences between those on opposites sides of the debate as well as the differences between those who are essentially on the same side but still hold significantly different views. The authors then raise questions of their own for the reader to think about. Their intention is not necessarily to have the reader answer the question and solve the problem, but rather to realise the nature of the problem and think about possible solutions.

I mention some topics which caught my attention in particular:

• Gender (in)equality – Is reverse discrimination fair? At what stage does it become unfair?
• Who gets what in the post-separation assets split;
• The common law’s labelling of domestic work in the home as non-economic and its consequent failure to compensate injured female plaintiffs for their inability to work in the home by an award of damages for economic loss (as distinct from damages for 'loss of amenity of life’);
• The ongoing debate as to the measure of damages in the undiagnosed pregnancy or wrongful birth cases;
• The notion of foetal rights;
• An exploration and analysis of the rules of evidence and how they affect the course of cross-examination in rape and sexual assault trials; and
• Whether tort law or discrimination law works better for victims of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Overall verdict: the challenge of this book is well worthwhile; strongly recommended."
-- Balance (Law Society NT), August 2002