tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post5420899400608510984..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: Legal protections for domestic workers (Part 2 of 2): The (disadvantaged) helpLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-61456680127851129912011-09-26T22:49:38.946-07:002011-09-26T22:49:38.946-07:00Caitlin, I am glad you tied in the "The Help....Caitlin, I am glad you tied in the "The Help." I especially appreciate your thoughts on how it creates a false sense of security; that because "we no longer live in a world like the Jim Crow South," the racist and classist stereotypes, interactions and social injustices produced by discrimination are no longer a problem in our world! Those were the problems were addressed in the Civil Rights Movement. <br /><br />If this were true, then AB 899 would be unnecessary. The state would not need to create a cause of action for these individuals, whom, as Caitlin rightfully points out, are people of color. I suggest taking a few minutes and watching the YouTube video below. Like Caitlin, it attempts to use the recent release of "The Help," to raise awareness on the current working conditions of domestic workers. http://www.domesticworkers.org/ca-bill-of-rights<br /><br />I think it is important that look at the intent of the bill when talking about it with other people. There are many who understand the bill to be about "babysitters," and not domestic workers. I wonder if there is a correlation between these individuals and those who believe that racism does not exist anymore. http://www.halfwaytoconcord.com/ab-899-nanny-state-now-regulates-nannies/<br /><br />For those who are interested, AB 899 was kept in suspense in its respective committee, but there is still time to take action. Check out the National Coalition of Domestic Works Alliance for more information. http://www.domesticworkers.org/ca-bill-of-rightsShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05881258570100211982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-49299696742118768762011-09-20T23:23:33.180-07:002011-09-20T23:23:33.180-07:00whoops, spelled your name wrong, sorry!whoops, spelled your name wrong, sorry!tomindavishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05629980736351969410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-24570204627481234912011-09-20T17:16:19.480-07:002011-09-20T17:16:19.480-07:00Caitlyn, this was a thorough and impassioned blog ...Caitlyn, this was a thorough and impassioned blog post. You have a natural writing style. I enjoyed reading the facts behind the CA bill, I also appreciated your individual and subjective take on The Help, especially the not so tenuous connections it makes to our current racially stratified society. I immediately thought of the numerous equal protection cases i have been reading this semester -- where a line of formalist jurists insist that the continued segregation of minorities, and the continued unequal positions held by women in the workplace and in politics, e.g., are outside of the scope of the decades of state-run ineqaulities that came before it. To look at how society is divided socioeconomically (not just on racia lines, but along gendered and class-based ones as well) is to know that these issues should never be outside the reach of a sensitive jurist.<br /><br />On an interesting side note, just a month ago a Mississippi judge dismissed the lawsuit brought against the author of The Help (Kathryn Stockett), brought by the woman (Ablene Cooper) who argued that the character Aibileen was based on her. <br /><br />Ablene was --and I think still is!-- working as "the help" for Stockett's brother, and had claimed in a civil suit that her story was wrongly taken from her without just compensation. She claimed $75,000 in damages. The case was dismissed for running the statute of limitations, and Ablene has asked the judge to reinstate the case. Draw from that parallelism what conclusions you may.<br /><br />Also, and irrelevant to your post, this case formed the foundation of about 1/3 of my property exam last year. <br /><br />Great post. I enjoyed it.tomindavishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05629980736351969410noreply@blogger.com