A.  How is the legal equality approach limited in dealing with maternity and family issues? You might review the Supreme Court’s ruling in General Electric v. Gilbert in your response.





B.  Read Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale (a caution—the movie is not like the book). How is human reproduction depicted in this novel? What are the roles that women and men play? On what biological basis are the classes of women and men decided? Evaluate whether there are any parallels between the book and current public policy debates on reproductive policy.





C.  Define a "family." Should there be differences in how we culturally define a family and the legal definition used to distribute social benefits and responsibilities? How might differences in how a family is defined impact women’s equality? Coverture made women virtually invisible up until the mid-nineteenth century. Are there any vestiges of coverture in modern marriage and family life?





D.  What are the current public attitudes on abortion? What sorts of events cause a shift in public attitudes on abortion? Why does Wendy Kaminer (p. 267–268) argue that attitudes are negative when the public perceives women opt for an abortion for the "wrong reasons"? What are the "wrong reasons"? What does this say about women, gender, and equality today? How will the approval of RU-486 alter the debate about abortion—if at all?





E.  How might advances in fertility technology change our understanding of gender roles? Since women’s social roles have been so intimately tied to their reproductive role, what changes might we expect if women’s biological role is altered? How might men’s roles change as well?