A friend sent along yesterday the case of In re Gary Ronald Perez, 30 F.3d 1209 (9th Cir., 1994). An appeal from an order approving a Chapter 11 reorganization plan, the case is primarily interesting (at least to me) for this paragraph in Judge Zilly’s dissenting opinion:
I write also to disapprove of the sexist reference in the first sentence of Judge Kozinski's opinion. The term "iron maiden" refers to "a medieval instrument of torture fashioned as a box in the shape of a woman, large enough to hold a human being, and studded with sharp spikes on the inside." Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Ed., Unabridged (1987). The use of the term unnecessarily perpetuates the misogynistic nomenclature of medieval torturers.
The first sentence of Judge Kozinski’s opinion reads: “In this appeal from an order approving a Chapter 11 reorganization plan, we confront the iron maiden of bankruptcy reorganizations--the dreaded cram-down.”
I will leave it to others with more expertise in either etymology, torture devices, feminist theory, or bankruptcy to opine whether the term “iron maiden” has misogynistic origins and whether Kozinski’s use of the phrase is sexist, though Zilly’s characterization of the device as medieval appears incorrect. Wikipedia (which, of course, is always reliable) and several other websites suggest that the iron maiden is actually of much more recent origin and that the “maiden” in question is likely the Virgin Mary. Either way, the exchange sure made my bankruptcy reading for the day more engaging.
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