Type:	Journal Article
Title:	"As everybody knows": countering myths of gender bias in family law
Other Titles:	Griffith law review
Authors:	Melville, Angela Hunter, Rosemary
Keywords:	Family law
Year:	2001
Publisher:	Griffith Law Review Association
Citation:	10 (1), 2001
Notes:	Conducts an empirical analysis of the popular belief that family law is biased against men, arguing that in the majority of cases, the opposite is true. Suggests that those expounding these propositions form part of a wider backlash against feminism, reflective of the resilience of hegemonic masculinity. A history of the men’s movement is provided and empirical data is used to counter and deconstruct three major myths which have emerged in relation to family law – that allegations of domestic violence are being used by women to deny men contact with children, that the incidence of male violence against women is exaggerated and female violence against men is under reported and that the legal system generally, is biased towards women. Suggests that the tendency for the men’s movement to redefine social problems as psychological has contributed both towards its continued credibility and its ability to maintain and defend the values and beliefs underlying the myths it perpetuates. Advocates for continued critical analysis of ‘common sense’ notions of formal equality and a shift in focus from the individual, to the structural factors that maintain a culture of violence against women.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12932
ISSN:	1038-3441
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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