This book argues for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the language of judges with respect to the issue of gender discrimination. Drawing its inspiration from Dell Hymes' socially constituted linguistics, the author examines the language of the judicial opinions of four U.S. Supreme Court cases addressing social and legal discrimination against women. Through a linguistic analysis that is informed by a Foucauldian and feminist perspective, this book addresses the complex issues of the power of judges and ideologies, the politics of language use, and feminist contributions to the subject of discrimination and women's rights. This book is most suitable for researchers and students in cultural studies, ethnography, feminist legal studies, forensic linguistics, gender studies, ideology research, pragmatics, semiotics, and social studies.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. From Past to Present: Building on the Foundation of Ideas Chapter 2. Towards Multidisciplinarity: Gendered Discourse, Judicial Ideologies and the Power of Law Chapter 3. Unequal by Law: The Early Years Chapter 4. Women are Persons After All: The Rights of Sally Reed and Jane Roe Chapter 5. Of Equality and Justice: Language, Gender, and Ideology in the American Context Bibliography Appendix I Appendix II Index