• Xiaoyuan Li Graduate School of Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo

• Masayuki Tamaruya Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, the University of Tokyo

Stereotypes have long been the topic of social psychological research. In the past three decades, however, stereotypes, particularly gender stereotypes have gradually received attention in legal scholarship. Different from social psychological research which concerns more about the precise causes of stereotype formation, legal scholarship pays more attention to the role that stereotypes play in violating the principle of gender equality. Gender stereotypes not only violate and deny women’s individual rights but also reinforce women’s subordinate position in society and provide justification for further violations and denials of their rights. The presentation will then discuss the following three aspects: (1) what kind of women’s rights have been violated by gender stereotypes in legal practices; (2) particularly, how the United States Supreme Court and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women deal with cases and communications involving gender stereotypes; and (3) what enlightenments can be concluded from current legal practices.

Xiaoyuan Li just obtained her Ph.D. degree at the University of Tokyo in this September and her research focuses on international human rights law, international law and gender studies. Her dissertation examines the relationship between gender stereotypes and its violation of women’s rights in the legal context and how such social psychosocial concept can be embraced into legal framework.