Equality With a Vengeance

Dragiewicz (criminology, justice and policy studies, U. of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada) examines efforts by fathers' rights groups to undermine battered women's shelters and services in the lawsuit Booth v. Hvass (2000), in which three antifeminist groups in the state of Minnesota attempted to use an equal protection claim to argue that funding emergency services for battered women discriminates against men. She reviews the claims of the case (which was eventually dismissed) in the context of research indicating that violence is gendered, examines arguments of these groups to undermine the laws and resources abused women use, and explores the relationship of these efforts to a general backlash against feminism in the US. She explains how misuse of equal protection can impact policies affecting battered women negatively; makes connections between the case, other antifeminist discourses on woman abuse, and batterer narratives to illustrate how the failure to account for patriarchal gender norms and structures is pervasive and problematic; and describes the differences between sex, gender, and patriarchy and how each is important to understanding woman abuse. An imprint of Univ. Press of New England. Annotation c2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

MOLLY DRAGIEWICZ is Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Criminology, Justice and Policy Studies at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.