Feminist Perspectives on Child Law

This groundbreaking legal text challenges the persistent gender neutrality in child law scholarship, bringing feminist theory to bear on how we understand and legislate childhood. Bridgeman meticulously explores the often-ignored reality that children are not pre-gender beings, but are shaped by and exist within gendered social structures from birth. The book dissects how this legal fiction of the genderless child obscures critical issues affecting young people's lives and rights, moving beyond abstract theory to examine concrete legal frameworks.

What makes this work so vital is its refusal to treat feminist legal theory and children's rights as separate domains, instead revealing their profound interconnection. Legal scholars, family law practitioners, and advanced students of gender studies will find this an indispensable critique that fundamentally reorients how we approach child protection, education law, and juvenile justice. By insisting we see the gendered child in full dimension, Bridgeman provides the analytical tools to build more equitable and responsive legal systems for all young people.