ABSTRACT
I want to say something about the explicit use of ‘I’ in my writing. One of the most alienating aspects of studying law for me, I think, even more than the assumption that the world is populated by men, is the third person style of writing which is still prevalent in most journals and texts. Owning what I write is important; it reminds me that these are my opinions, distillations and understandings of concepts and ideas, drawn from a huge range of experiences, intellectual and emotional, of which I may or may not be conscious. It also ensures a sense of responsibility, which is liberating and constraining. Autobiographical feminism takes this a step further, by using personal experience to inform more than the style of writing, but also its very content and structure.3 I want to begin this chapter with a story of three
women from the Gurnos estate, who were tried as accomplices. The Gurnos estate is not very far from where I live and work. It is also a million miles from where I live and work.
