Eve Was Framed: Women and British Justice

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If I were to discuss the book purely based on its content, I'd reach the harsh conclusion that it could have been better. That's not to say the book is not worth reading since it contains its more than fair share of 'inside stories', analysis and theoretical accounts. Have you ever thought about the reason for the automatic doors at the grocery store? Or the fact that sidewalks have a ramp at the corners instead of a curve? We’re on a mission to help all women learn about our bodies & our health, and dedicated to putting control of our health into our own hands. The biblical creation myth at the beginning of the book of Genesis tells us that in the middle of the primordial Garden of Eden, God planted “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (2:9). And God commanded Adam, the archetypal first man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (2:16-17). We are told as well that God made woman, and “the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (2:25). The text looks at the experience of women in the British justice system, each chapter covering a specific topic including: the experience of female lawyers, rape and domestic violence, the impact of race on the experience of female defendants, and the law of manslaughter and how it’s applied to the different genders.

In my thirties, my mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. It was months before doctors took our concerns seriously because she was so young.

The Tasting Menu is a group of three to four topics each week to learn more about your body and health to get you to know your body better such as learning how to strengthen your pelvic floor, symptoms you might not realize are from menopause, women and heart health. I read this book in the summer before I applied to university because I was hoping to find something that was different to the books that give you a general introduction to law. This was definitely different. Now that I have started studying the subject, I still find myself reflecting on some of the propositions she puts forward. In particular, she often talks about how most judges are completely out of touch with the general population, which can definitely impact their judgement. Particularly when I read old cases, I certainly see what she means!

The Tasting Menu.Topics each week to learn more about your body and health. Remember that Pelvic Floor question?That’s one of the topics we’ll cover.Your time is valuable. We’re doing the reading and sharing the knowledgeEve Was Shamed is an important intervention, particularly on the subject of rape. Unlike Germaine Greer, who recently wrote a provocative and alienating book about it, based in part on a set of assumptions I found particularly hard to recognise, Kennedy brings us cold, hard facts about how women are treated by the criminal justice system, including rape victims still expected to answer questions in the vein of: “whether her vagina was naturally lubricated to enable penetration, thereby encouraging the jury to infer that some gratification was being found”. Similarly, you may have heard of Meg Wolitzer’s 2014 novel The Interestings, which has been getting a lot of buzz. Her earlier 2005 novel The Position, which was also well-reviewed, is about the children of parents, who (before they had children) published a book together about their sex lives. Wolitzer’s novel tells the story of this couple’s four children, ages 6 to 15, stumbling upon this book in 1975 and how it differently effects each of them for the rest of their lives — given the different ages at which they are in 1975 when they encounter the “knowledge” in this age-inappropriate book, which we could think of as a contemporary version of the “forbidden fruit.”

As I moved through my later forties and perimenopause symptoms began, I asked my doctor about ways to alleviate them. Menopause tea, supplements, and cooling sheets. Seriously? And no one I knew was talking about it. As a survivor myself I found the sections about sexual violence particularly illuminating and infuriating. There is still a troubling, largely unconscious, perception that entitlement to a woman's body is something that can be debated. Here is a quote from the House of Lords during the reading debate of the Sexual Offences Act: When you hear Women’s Health, is it only reproductive organs and, maybe, breast health, that come to mind? Defining women’s health solely through the lens of gynecological or reproductive health is too narrow. Embracing a broader definition which includes how diseases impact women differently, how the healthcare system treats women differently, and the pink tax we pay.

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Medical term of the week is a word or phrase we learned recently to expand our vocabulary and knowledge

In particular, I enjoyed Kennedy’s imaginary court procedure: Eve is being tried for causing of the Fall of Man because she ate from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. Kennedy envisages the speech for the prosecution, the defence’s response, and wittily comments “transportation from Paradise is one thing, but a sentence of eternal damnation when the conviction has to be based on the uncorroborated testimony of a co-accused must surely constitute a breach of human rights!” We are big believers that we all deserve to love the bodies we have. We also recognize that body image is a challenge for many folks and that there are health reasons to consider as well.

Next let’s consider the similarly wide range of American religious views about reproductive justice." You ..." Lisa deGruyter