Elusive Equality

This text examines how US government institutions - the executive branch, Congress and state legislatures, as well as the federal courts - affect the legal status of women. Surveying the relevant judicial and public policy issues, Mezey traces the developing legal parameters of gender equality.

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All men may be created equal in the United States - but more than 30 years after Congress proposed the Equal Rights Amendment, can the same be said for women? Elusive Equality offers a clear understanding of how government institutions - the executive branch, Congress, and state legislatures, as well as the federal courts - affect the legal status of women. Surveying the judicial and public policy issues central to the identification - and protection - of women's rights, Susan Mezey traces the developing legal parameters of gender equality. From early court rulings that prohibited employment discrimination and sexual harassment through today's decisions on reproductive rights and same-sex relationships, Mezey analyzes the broader political context within which critical judicial decisions have been made.