Assignment 09
Sally Engle Merry describes the subjective “self” as constantly changing and evolving. We hold multiple different identities at any given moment, and sometimes those identities conflict. Human life is a process of trying on and keeping or shedding different subjectivities. The ability for a woman to take action against an abusive spouse, and to even consider taking on a new legal subjectivity, as an individual with rights, shows that there has been a shift in the way we look at the public and private spheres, and masculinity. However, the way the attempts at this rights-based subjectivity plays out makes evident how far we still have to go in terms of equality. Taking on a legal subjectivity, where the source of her identity is the state, is a big shift for a woman. It will likely be in conflict with powerful subjectivities that are supported by her family and community, for example mother.
Merry describes the way the legal system produces subjectivities as being similar to the way Judith Butler describes gender – it’s the performance that creates it. The interaction with the law creates new modes of power, which produces new subjectivities. I’m frankly having trouble finding the words to explain what Merry was saying here, but I think I understand it. The law produces the the subject, but then it is through the interaction with the law that that subjectivity is confirmed, is I believe what she is getting at.
Merry brings up gender because gender plays so strongly into a person’s legal subjectivity. Gender effects the way a person is treated when calling on law enforcement for help, and as Merry has proven through her study, interactions from that moment forward shape a woman’s subjectivity legal identity as a rights-bearing person. The way law enforcement speaks to her, how seriously her claim is taken, punishment for the offender, whether or not the offender is arrested, all of these things impact the woman’s ability to accept the new subjectivity. Unfortunately gender plays an even stronger role, a woman is not truly a victim in the eyes of the law unless she is practically a perfect person. She can never have done drugs, fought back, or endangered her children in any way. The taking on of the new legal subjectivity also generates a lot of pushback typically, not just from law enforcement but from people in her personal life, especially the man who’s power is challenged.
