Holding Up Half the Sky, But for Whose Benefit?

  • Dianne Otto

Abstract

This paper provides a brief background to the Fourth World Conference on Women and develops a critique of the formal outcomes from the conference. It argues that the language associated with the theme of equality dominates and prevents transformative outcomes while also resisting fundamentalist forces. The paper also examines the documents’ representation of women, concluding that women are represented within a slightly expanded conception of the traditional ‘woman’ of international legal discourse.

Citation

Otto, Dianne. “Holding Up Half the Sky But for Whose Beneft?: A Critical Analysis of the Fourth World Conference on Women.” Australian Feminist Law Journal 6 (1996): 7–30.

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