E LAW - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF LAW
ISSN 1321-8247
Volume 4 Number 4 (December 1997)
Copyright E Law and/or authors
File: keat44.txt
ftp://www.murdoch.edu.au/pub/elaw/issues/v4n4/keat44.txt
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v4n4/keat44.html
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Review of Jocelynne A Scutt: The Incredible Woman - Power and Sexual
Politics
(Melbourne: Artemis Publishing, 1997)

Jude Keatley

  1. The Incredible Woman is a two volume work by one of Australia's most
     prolific and accomplished feminist lawyers. As a collection of essays,
     articles and speeches, The Incredible Woman traces the author's
     political activism over the past twenty-five years. The two volumes
     comprise a comprehensive collection of works detailing the impact of
     patriarchy on womenıs lives and the journey of many women, alone and
     together, toward a liberated future.

  2. The two volumes comprise four parts, dealing with, in Volume One,
     women and the judiciary and women and medicine, and in Volume Two,
     women and the economy and women and power. Scutt covers a range of
     issues, from more "traditional" feminist concerns about equal pay and
     industrial rights, through women's "incredibility" in the law and
     medical and reproductive technology issues, to the application of a
     feminist perspective to the contemporary issues of "women's business",
     gun laws, the stolen generations and the republican debate. Each
     chapter includes an introductory passage often describing the
     motivation for the essay and generally providing a personal context.
     Where necessary, the articles have been updated for inclusion in the
     book.

  3. Although Scutt's background is legal in character, the essays display
     a sensitivity to perspectives from outside the legal profession. Many
     of the chapters relate stories of hope and accomplishment rather than
     simply legislative or case analysis from a feminist perspective. In
     this way, The Incredible Woman reflects the author's optimistic view
     of women's struggle for recognition as "credible". At the same time,
     Scutt is able to convey her intimate knowledge of the Australian legal
     system and familiarity with the legal systems of a number of other
     countries.

  4. The Incredible Woman is an eminently readable and excellently
     referenced work. For the "novice" feminist this collection of essays
     gives clue to the breadth of the issues that feminism must address.
     For the "experienced" feminist the book offers an insightful analysis
     of recent Australian case decisions and legislation, while also
     narrating stories of inspiration to encourage the optimistic pursuit
     of change. As Scutt herself notes, women have had an impact,
     "sometimes profound, sometimes less so, but always significant."[1]

  5. Within the feminist movement it is difficult to say that something is
     "for all women" without causing some outcry. Modern feminism attempts
     to include so much "difference" that to many it seems that feminists
     are divided amongst themselves on fundamental issues. Debates within
     the feminist movement will continue to motivate an ever more subtle
     analysis of theory. Meanwhile, Jocelynne Scutt has produced a work,
     not just for "all women", but all persons interested in the impact of
     patriarchy on women's lives and the stories of hope that emerge from
     our struggle for credibility.

     Notes

     [1] Scutt JA, The Incredible Woman - Power and Sexual Politics Volume
     1 (Melbourne: Artemis Publishing) at xiv.