The vision of the self promoted by the law is of an isolated, independent, self-sufficient, autonomous man. Far from the reality of our vulnerable, caring, relational selves. The rights the law tends to protect are well suited for the legal self: those of autonomy, privacy and self-determination. They are unsuited for the reality of our existence in which autonomies are mixed; meaning is found in sharing experiences; and flourishing is discovered in the mingling of our lives. The legal self privileges particular activities, those traditionally seen as the world of men, and downplays the importance of caring, traditionally seen as the world of women. This side-lining of care, and the aggrandising of what is labelled ‘economically productive’, helps sustain and reinforce patriarchal oppression of women.