ABSTRACT
Women’s behaviour, both in the private and public sphere, has been and is regulated, disciplined and controlled by a pervasive system of male definitions of what constitutes a ‘normal’ woman. The constraints which women experience as a consequence of these definitions take both a material and ideological form and restrict their lives in a variety of ways. Similarly, barrister Helena Kennedy has observed that a woman appearing in court in “bovver boots and a spiky hair-do” is likely to be judged more severely than a woman “in a broderie anglaise blouse and M&S skirt.” In other words it is very important for a female defendant to “‘soften’ herself to conform with the judge’s stereotype of appropriate womanhood by presenting an image of docility.” The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
