Gender Stereotyping

Drawing on domestic and international law, as well as on judgments given by courts and human rights treaty bodies, Gender Stereotyping offers perspectives on how wrongful gender stereotypes can be effectively eliminated through the transnational legal process in order to ensure women's equality and exercise of their human rights.

Drawing on domestic and international law, as well as on judgments given by courts and human rights treaty bodies, Gender Stereotyping offers perspectives on ways gender stereotypes might be eliminated through the transnational legal process in order to ensure women's equality and the full exercise of their human rights.

A leading international framework for debates on the subject of stereotypes, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, was adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and defines what constitutes discrimination against women. It also establishes an agenda to eliminate discrimination in all its forms in order to ensure substantive equality for women. Applying the Convention as the primary framework for analysis, this book provides essential strategies for eradicating gender stereotyping. Its proposed methodology requires naming operative gender stereotypes, identifying how they violate the human rights of women, and articulating states' obligations to eliminate and remedy these violations.

According to Rebecca J. Cook and Simone Cusack, in order to abolish all forms of discrimination against women, priority needs to be given to the elimination of gender stereotypes. While stereotypes affect both men and women, they can have particularly egregious effects on women, often devaluing them and assigning them to subservient roles in society. As the legal perspectives offered in Gender Stereotyping demonstrate, treating women according to restrictive generalizations instead of their individual needs, abilities, and circumstances denies women their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Foreword, by Louise Arbour
Table of Cases
Table of Treaties, Legislation, and Other Relevant Instruments

Introduction
Ch. 1 Understanding Gender Stereotyping
Ch. 2 Naming Gender Stereotyping
Ch. 3 State Obligations to Eliminate Gender Stereotyping
Ch. 4 Gender Stereotyping as a Form of Discrimination
Ch. 5 The Role of the Women's Committee in Eliminating Gender Stereotyping
Ch. 6 Moving Forward with the Elimination of Gender Stereotyping

Appendices
A. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
B. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Notes
Select Bibliography
Annotated List of Websites
Index
Acknowledgments