Redressing the Imbalance of Over Two Millennia: Feminist Legal Theory as a Core Subject of Law School and the use of the Feminist Narrative in Legal Education and Law

Abstract

The foundations of law are fundamentally patriarchal. This means that many of the stories told in courts and legal forums are male stories. To redress over two millennia of patriarchal voices in the law, we need to make proactive normative changes to the law. The key argument in this essay is that we need to make Feminist Legal Theory (FLT) a compulsory core subject in undergraduate legal education. As part of teaching FLT, I promote the use of narrative methodology. By marrying narrative method with FLT, the feminist legal narrative is created. Drawing on feminist narratives from law schools, as well as my experience as an undergraduate, I recount universally unhappy tales with legal education. In developing this subject as a necessary core element of legal training, I seek to have a more feminine voice enter the law. Criminal case outlines are used to illustrate the point of how women’s voice can be obscured or not heard by judges, even when eloquent. By developing skills of listening, narrative methodology and alternatives to adversarial dispute resolution, it is hoped women will be able to have their stories heard in a new way. Once women have created bigger more women-centric spaces in the law, then hopefully they can open up the way for others who feel “outsiders” before the law. Through FLT education the goal is to challenge and educate those who will wield the power of the law and have them consider the law through the ever-present issues of gender and sexuality. Feminist educators are encouraged to inject their personal narratives into their teaching. Finally, I consider the distance between current availability of FLT for students at Victoria University and my goal of compulsory FLT.