Biology for Feminists

Feminists and sociobiologists have more in common than many people realize. In this Essay, Baker argues that feminists can use insights from sociobiology to validate feminist theories about patriarchy and to bolster claims for a greater legal commitment to feminist normative agendas. Paying particular attention to the laws regarding rape, marriage, and parenthood, Baker shows how biology helps confirm what feminists have long argued about the law's inadequate protection of women. Moreover, she shows how biology helps demonstrate the keen need for feminist social norms that help alleviate the harms caused by nature's inequities.