Women and the Law

Paper Summary:

The paper explores how the French and Cuban governments have worked towards eliminating obstacles to women's opportunities. The paper shows how both nations possess a mindset in which there is no real distinction between the overall group of the nation on the one hand and the citizen on the other and both have tried to remake their societies through revolutionary changes. The paper relates that in France gender equality laws are being slowly introduced, while in Cuba, although Fidel Castro attempted to eliminate every possible trace of discrimination, the overriding emphasis on Marxist economic development has failed to create the prosperity necessary to eliminate many traditional assumptions about gender.

From the Paper:

"Centuries of inequality and oppression have made many modern societies and governments acutely aware of the way laws and political and social structures govern the relations between different groups of individuals. One of the group distinctions that has received most attention in is that which is based on gender. Whether in France, or in Cuba, women have a long history of being treated as second-class citizens; denied equal opportunities in education, employment, and public life. Both the French and Cuban governments have worked toward eliminating these obstacles to women's success and happiness. Yet, they have approached the problem in notably different ways."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Choudhury, Nusrat. "From the Stasi Commission to the European Court of Human Rights: L'affaire Du Foulard and the Challenge of Protecting the Rights of Muslim Girls." Columbia Journal of Gender and Law 16.1 (2007): 199+.
• Cross, Mdire Fedelma. "4 Women and Politics." Women in Contemporary France /. Ed. Abigail Gregory and Ursula Tidd. New York: Berg, 2000. 89-106.
• Eckstein, Susan Eva. Back from the Future: Cuba under Castro. New York: Routledge, 2003.
• Hunt, Barbara C. "WORLD VIEW - A Look at Cuban Schools: What Is Cuba Doing Right?." Phi Delta Kappan 85.3 (2003): 246.
• Keen, Benjamin, ed. Latin American Civilization: History and Society, 1492 to the Present. 7th ed. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2000.

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