Journal article
CONFLATING WOMEN'S BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ROLES: THE IDEAL OF MOTHERHOOD, EQUAL PROTECTION, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE NGUYEN V. INS OPINION
University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, v 5, pp 803-900
01 May 2003
Abstract
Introduction The role of women in our society is shaped in significant part by our legal system, and the legal rights recognized by our courts. When the government creates laws based on traditional notions of what women's roles should be, and the Supreme Court upholds such laws, such stereotypes are legitimized, making it more difficult for women to act in non-traditional roles. One of the most firmly-rooted gender stereotypes in our society is that of the ideal mother. Not surprisingly, this stereotype can most seriously impede women's advancement in society. 1 Recently, the Supreme Court addressed concepts of motherhood in the context of a citizenship case, Nguyen v. INS. 2 In that case, it was argued that the statute governing the process for naturalized citizenship of children born to a citizen father and non-citizen mother violated the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. In this paper, I will examine the Nguyen decision; specifically, I will look at the language used in the opinion to demonstrate that the traditional ideas of women's proper roles have continued to subtly and not so subtly influence our legal system's highest court. I will then discuss the possible implications of "motherhood" language such as that used by the Nguyen Court. In particular, I will explore the potentially adverse effects of presuming that, because a woman is a mother in the biological sense, she is also a mother in the sociological sense. I will also address the concept of the "ideal mother" and ...
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Details
- Title
- CONFLATING WOMEN'S BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL ROLES: THE IDEAL OF MOTHERHOOD, EQUAL PROTECTION, AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE NGUYEN V. INS OPINION
- Creators
- Caroline Rogus
- Publication Details
- University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, v 5, pp 803-900
- Publisher
- Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Thomas R. Kline School of Law
- Other Identifier
- 991022138674704721