Greater Success For Fathers In Child Custody Battles

There is data from the 2010 Census that shows a new trend of diminishing gender inequality in family law.  There has been a common outcome in past history regarding child custody battles. Custody of the child has historically been given to the mother far more often than the father.  A big factor in these common historic rulings is the fact that there has been a taboo assigned to separating children from there mother.  This idea can be traced back to a common thought that mothers are the primary care givers of the children while, the fathers are the "breadwinners".  As time as progressed to present day however, this historic sense of the household has changed.  In the common family today, both the mother and the father share these responsibilities.  Ironically enough, the rulings in child custody cases have not begun to reflect this change until now. 


According to the U.S Census, the number of families with single, male heads of households increased by 27.3 percent.  U.S households consisting of single fathers has jumped 6.3 percent since 2000.  These statistics reflect the fact that the changes in cultural norms and legal rules have resulted in a greater number of fathers gaining custody of their children following a divorce.  The first changes in legal rules regarding child custody was seen in 1973 in Indiana.  It became the first state to enact a law declaring that no parent is favored for child custody because of his or her gender.  Over time other states have followed suite by enacting laws similar to that of Indiana.  This problem of gender inequality that has plagued family law for so long is finally "seeing some light at the end of the tunnel".  

Modern Day Segregation

After first being brought up in late 2004 the topic of segregating classrooms or schools based on gender is being brought up again and this time it's hitting close to home. When the topic was first discussed in 2004 only 11 public schools had gender segregated schools in the United States. Now it is a staggering 550 and the number only seems to be growing. In 2008 South Carolina compiled a list of almost 200 public schools with single sex classes. 

The advocates for this single sex education have two major arguments. One being that boys and girls distract each other from their education. Too much time may be spent trying to impress the opposite sex instead of learning. The second argument is that men and women have different learning styles. The founder of the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, Dr. Leonard Sax, is quoted as saying this,

When most young boys are exposed to threat and confrontation, their senses sharpen, and they feel a thrill. When most young girls are exposed to such stimuli, however, they feel dizzy and yucky. With girls [teachers should] speak more softly, use first names, terms of endearment and fewer direct commands

While I wouldn't want any young girls to feel "yucky", I don't believe that separation is the key. This quote is just disgusting on so many levels. Dr. Sax is just enforcing basic gender stereotypes, that girls are delicate little flowers, and boys are rough and tumble. False assumptions based on sex differences usually lead to negative consequences. I don't see how this type of thinking could possibly be good for either sex, or those who are inter-sex for that matter. 

Single sex education can also be seen as problematic. Whether the programs do it purposely or not they will certainly reinforce gender stereotypes, restrict educational opportunities and increase discrimination. The fact that advocates truly believe that in these programs the boys and girls are receiving the same education is unbelievable. Males will undoubtedly be given tools that the girls won't, even if it's just the teacher making them more direct and competitive. This competitiveness that they are learning or embracing is something that the girls won't have a chance to experience in the classroom since it is believed that, that isn't how girls learn, and this directness/competitiveness may give the boys a leg up once they reach the working world. Also seeing that most of the schools are teaching different curriculum is worrisome. The idea of separate but equal was a legal doctrine that justified segregation but as we know from the past separate but equal doesn't really work and isn't plausible. In Brown vs. the Board, the Supreme Court gave a quote that seems extremely pertinent. 

We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment.

 I found some pretty amazing articles talking about this issue:

The Daily Beast

New York Times Article

Feminist.org

Paper done by Cornell Law Student

Gender Inequality: Employment

According to the 2004 United States Census, about 70 percent of women are employed in the labor force. This factor alone suggests that our country is moving towards egalitarian gender norms. However, much gender stratification still occurs.

Occupational stratification is a huge indicator of gender stratification. Women still hold a small portion of high prestige, high paying jobs. Women are still dominating nursing and teaching fields, while men continue to become engineers and physicians (United States Census, 2004.) And even if women do pursue careers in high prestige, high paying areas, they are likely to be paid less than men and have fewer promotional opportunities (Beeghley, Leonard. The Structure of Social Stratification in the United States.) Women make about 77 percent of what men make in similar positions (Beeghley.)

Of course, there are other factors to why women make less than men besides simple gender discrimination. Married women are more likely to follow their spouse, when opportunity arises for him to move up in his career. Traditional gender roles also reinforce the idea that women should be the main child-rearing parent. An option for many working mothers is to only work part-time, in positions that are not geared towards advancement.

At the University of South Carolina in Columbia, there are 11,245 female degree seeking undergraduates and 9,786 male degree seeking undergraduates (USC Office for Institutional Assessment and Compliance.) While I have been at student here, we have had three male student body presidents and one female student body president. Do we inadvertently correlate males with leadership? I hardly ever see males walking around in the red USC scrubs that signal nursing student. Are we just a modicum version of the labor force? Will females and males ever be relatively equal in the labor force?

Does Gender Inequality Exist Here in South Carolina Court System?

      Gender inequality  is one that many have recognized to be a problem within society. Gender inequality could simply be defined as one gender being place above another gender. There are many different categories that gender inequality exists. My main focus is does it exist within the court system.

       Many will agree that gender inequality exists within the court system, just as well disagree. Agreeing that gender inequality does exist in the court system will more commonly be supported by men. There approach will be that men receive more harsher and severe punishments, than the female. Some of these crimes are equal in its severity, but when deciding what should be the punishment, men usually receive harsher, and longer sentences.

       So does this problem exist here in South Carolina? Well many will agree. A group name “Gender Bias in South Carolina Family Court,” is an example. This group consists of men who believe that when it comes to the criminal justice system, they are being discriminated against. They believe this take place in rulings like child support, alimony, and child custody cases. In cases such as these types, the court usually runs in favor with the mother, instead of the father. Their goal is to not to remove any women’s right but to extend the same rights to men just as well, like being allowed custody of the child.

Here are some statistics provided by this group:

In 2002, an estimated 13.4 million parents had custody of 21.5 million children under 21 years of age whose other parent lived somewhere else. About 5 of every 6 custodial parents were mothers (84.4 percent) and 1 in 6 were fathers (15.6 percent).
In 2002, 27.6 percent of all children under 21 living in families had a parent not living in the home.
Of the 13.4 million custodial parents in April 2002:
About 63.0 percent of custodial mothers and 38.6 percent of fathers had child support agreed or awarded to them.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Does these statistics suggest gender inequality in court rulings for child custody?