The battle for gender equality will be won or lost in the family. Family Law in the United States analyzes recent changes in state family law codes from three different feminist perspectives. Because these codes regulate marriage, property control, and reproduction, they help determine whether or not men and women are social equals; they make the personal, political. This text integrates gender politics and policy analysis in order to determine which of the changes in family law are most likely to give women control over their private lives.
"This book is ambitious in scope, but succinct in presentation. It does nothing less than survey the 50 different sets of family law present in the states. Yet, this ground is covered in a lively, approachable, and engaging style. Readers will surely be drawn into the debate over how to define equality as well as how best to achieve it. Using an analytic framework that highlights the roles that both ideology and federalism play in marriage, property, and reproductive law, Crotty gives life to the feminist slogan, 'the personal is political'. An important addition for 'Women and Politics' courses." (Susan M. Behuniak, Professor of Political Science, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, New York)