woody@mcnc.ORG (07/31/90)
One of the themes of feminism, as I understand it, has been an effort to dispel the notion of woman as caregiver and man as breadwinner in the family unit. The increased role of women as breadwinners and of men as caregivers in recent years, such as they are, seem to be considered good things by the people involved in the movement. I had always considered that as the role of women in the economic world increased, we would see a coincident increase in custody awards to men as a reflection of the equalization of their roles. I also expected the (expected) rise in single-father households, which ought to be analagous to single-mother households, to be considered a good thing by the feminist movement as a whole. However, in recent months, as I have (sadly) been given the chance to see the system in action first-hand, I am being given the chance to see the deeply-ingrained sexism of our culture first hand. It seems that the vast majority of custody decisions reinforce the notion of woman as caregiver and man as breadwinner. While I am not surprised that the courts are still basing their custody decisions on gender above all other factors, I am surprised that efforts to even the playing field in this area are being resisted by many women who consider themselves feminists. Perhaps I was naive, but I used to expecte feminists to encourage a gender-neutral stance by the courts in custody, as a natual result of the equalization of male and female roles in society. The resistance I've seen has served to disillusion me greatly about the feminist movement. Must I consider feminists to be my enemy, if I wish to advocate remedies to the sexist awarding of custody and visitation? I realize that there are many sub-factions to your movement. I imagine there are women who feel either way. Before my disillusionment of the feminist movement is complete, I'd like to hear some thoughts from the readers of this group on this subject. Why is it that it is alright for courts to consider women caregivers and men breadwinners when it comes to custody and support awards? Or is it? Do you not see this pattern of awards as reinforcing the very notions feminism seeks to dispel? Woody Muller woody@wolves.uucp
bweiss@cs.arizona.edu (Beth Weiss) (08/01/90)
In article <9007290927.AA26920@wolves.UUCP> wolves.uucp!woody@mcnc.ORG writes: >Why is it that it is alright for courts to consider women caregivers and men >breadwinners when it comes to custody and support awards? Or is it? >Do you not see this pattern of awards as reinforcing the very notions >feminism seeks to dispel? I don't think it is all right for courts to consider women caregivers and men breadwinners when it comes to custody and support awards. I have trouble understanding how any rational person _could_ think it is right. Unfortunately, while the articles I've read in various magazines indicate that joint custody is becoming more common, all of the anecdotes I've read on the net show that specific men are not finding that to be true. I would think that it would be illegal discrimination for a judge to base custody solely on sex; are other reasons being given? Perhaps those can be addressed. --beth bweiss@cs.arizona.edu