A Kaleidoscope View of Law and Culture: The Australian Sex Discrimination Act 1984

When looking at the various ways that law and culture intersect it is essentialthat we become sensitized to two dynamic (and intertwining) concepts orprocesses that a°ect their interactions. The ¢rst is that culture, including thelegal system and women, must be regarded holistically. Neither the law norattempts to reform it exist in isolation. They correlate with and contribute tomyriad cultural structures, processes and institutions including gender rolesand gender strati¢cation. All the pieces are inter-connected with a complexfeedback system. Thus, a sexual division of labour, such as occurs in Australia,with women identi¢ed more with the private sphere, has been found to corre-late with a relatively low status of women which in turn a°ects and is a°ectedby the substantive and procedural legal system.