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2 Comm. L. & Pol'y 105 (1997)
Patterns of Harm: An Analysis of Gender and Defamation

handle is hein.journals/comulp2 and id is 107 raw text is: 2 COMM. L. & POL'Y 105-141 (1997) Copyright © 1997, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. PATTERNS OF HARM: AN ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND DEFAMATION Diane L. Borden* This article explores whether the law of defamation is gender-specific. Through a quantitative and historical analysis of libel and slander cases, the study indicates that when women brought actions against those who assaulted their reputations their likelihood of being awarded judicial remedy was unalterably linked to their sexual identity. The study examined 278 appellate cases brought by both male and female plaintiffs during two decades in United States history when emergent women's rights movements were pronounced, the late 19th century and the mid-2Oth century. Law is one of several clusters of belief' which persuade people that the often-constraining and sometimes-destructive institutional relationships in their lives are natural and necessary.' Like other cultural institutions, such as religion, the mass media, politics, commerce and education, the law is defined by and structured as a hierarchy, driven by power and maintained through its own adap- tation of hegemonic processes. At the same time, it appears to be uncontroversial, neutral, acceptable.2 While belief systems certainly are necessary in order to help make sense of the world, they are no more natural or neutral than traffic signals or income-tax brackets. They are based on the social practices and cultural assumptions-usually defined by the dominant culture-which people collectively value and promulgate. *Assistant professor, Department of Communication, George Mason University. 1Robert W. Gordon, New Developments in Legal Theory, in THE POLITICS OF LAW: A PROGRESSIVE CRITIQUE 413, 418 (David Kairys ed., rev. ed. 1990). 21d.