Jane Crow: Pauli Murray's intersections and antidiscrimination law

Citation metadata

Author: Sarah Azaransky
Date: Spring 2013
From: Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion(Vol. 29, Issue 1)
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Document Type: Critical essay
Length: 2,371 words

Main content

Abstract :

In this article, I discuss Pauli Murray's significant contributions to American jurisprudence, including her conceptualization of the category of Jane Crow and her efforts to have "sex" added to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. By considering Jane Crow as a precursor to Kimberle Crenshaw's theory of intersectionality, I argue that Murray's work provides contemporary scholars and democratic activists with resources for thinking about legal subjects as embodied persons at intersections of sexual, gender, and racial identities. While the focus here is on Murray's legal career, I underscore how Murray characterized legal questions as moral and spiritual problems, thus inviting scholars and activists from other disciplines to develop moral and legal analysis that may to help the law respond to embodied realities.

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Gale Document Number: GALE|A333448072