Papke, David Ray. “Peace Between the Sexes: Law and Gender in Kramer vs. Kramer.”
University of San Francisco Law Review 30.4 (1996) 1199-1208. (available at http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/lpop/etext/usf/papke30.htm)

    “Peace Between the Sexes: Law and Gender in Kramer vs. Kramer,” Papke focuses on the legal intricacies of divorce in America from colonization to the time of Kramer vs. Kramer. He identifies the criteria used to determine child custody by American courts and how this criteria has changed dramatically several times over the past few hundred years. Contemporary to the release of Kramer vs. Kramer, child custody laws were being radically overhauled. In 1979, New York changed it criteria for child custody, moving away from maternal preference to accounting for which situation would be in the “best interest” of the child. Papke identifies the dramatic inaccuracy of Kramer vs. Kramer’s depiction of standard legal proceedings in a child custody case. He demonstrates, however, how these inaccuracies are purposeful and meant to underline the important of gender and gender roles in the movie. An example of this lies in the depiction of a lackadaisical judge who allows Joanna’s attorney to slander him in court without factual basis. Although inaccurate, such actions are derived from common divorce attorney stereotypes and do serve the purpose of eliciting sympathy for Ted Kramer. These mistakes also demonstrate the public resentment towards many figures involved with child custody judicial processes. Papke also discusses the appearance of the “male gaze” in the movie as it relates to the movie’s plot and feminist theory.
    This article is very relevant due to the number of unique views on Kramer vs. Kramer. The article gives a history of the judicial processes handling divorce and child custody, but in addition discusses general public opinion regarding these events and how these attitudes surface in Kramer vs. Kramer. In addition, the article incorporates a prominent idea in feminist cinematic theory, that of the “male gaze,” and it discusses how this element presents bias as truth.