Publication Date
2026
Document Type
Article
Abstract
This article explores scientific evidence that societies care more about the welfare and safety of females than that of males, and that this dynamic of "male disposability" is deeply entrenched in culture, and thus in law. The recognition and integration of male disposability theory would mean an evolutionary leap in modern theorizing about gender and the law, but it is ignored. Why? Feminist theory dominates current academic gender discourse. Far from appreciating the explanatory power of male disposability theory, feminist theorists are often invested in theorizing gendered problems in ways that mischannel compassion away from men and toward women. The possibility arises, then, that feminist theory is animated by the psychological distortions and biases that give rise to male disposability, and therefore that feminism exacerbates the problem. This article is a call for further exploration of this often-neglected topic, as well as for the mainstreaming of a gender theory that takes seriously the reasons for men's historical and current situation.
Recommended Citation
Edward Cantu,
Male Disposability, Law, And Feminism,
(2026).
Available at:
https://irlaw.umkc.edu/faculty_works/1059
Included in
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