Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Columbia Journal of Gender & Law
Publication Date
2011
Volume
20.2
First Page
98
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7916/cjgl.v20i2.2623
Abstract
(Excerpt)
CEDAW, signed on July 17, 1980 by sixty-four countries, has as its principal goals the protection and promotion of women's rights and the elimination of discrimination against women. As of March 7, 2011, 186 countries—more than ninety percent of the United Nations' member states—are parties to the Convention. The most notable non-party to the Convention is the United States. In addition, as of May 15, 2010, there are seventy-nine Signatories and ninety-nine Parties to the Optional Protocol, a supplement io CEDAW designed to remedy some of the treaty's shortcomings. Although challenges have hobbled implementation of CEDAW, it remains the central pillar of gender equality norms at the international level.
The Convention, despite its focus on women's rights, is also the preeminent treaty on gender inequality. It cannot succeed, however, in creating gender equality if it continues to focus so narrowly and exclusively on women. As Lady Macbeth gathers the strength to achieve her evil ends, she implores the spirits to "unsex me here.'' She believes that her feminine gender obstructs the ability to commit evil. Only by "unsexing" herself will she be empowered to kill King Duncan. Viewing "unsexing" as part of Lady Macbeth's evil reinforces the objectionable set of ideas I seek to criticize. Although Lady MacBeth's "unsexing" is normatively opposite of what I seek here, CEDAW must also be "unsexed" to realize its potency.
Comments
Available at: https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjgl/article/view/2623