Law in Contemporary Society

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WomenInThisBusiness 6 - 21 Apr 2010 - Main.JessicaHallett
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 When we were discussing Cerriere's Answer today, I thought Jessica brought up an interesting point about how women sometimes worry that they come across as "too edgy" when they speak. (Jessica, please correct me if I didn't accurately understand what you were saying). A female friend of mine here has mentioned this very issue to me on a couple occasions. She claims that female students, more often than male students, have a tendency to ask questions instead of make statements, of if they make a statement to soften it with a qualification such as "I feel like...."

Coincidentally, an article posted today on CLS' homepage mentions this as well. Professor Carol Sanger was honored at The Columbia Law Women’s Association annual Myra Bradwell Dinner, and this is a small excerpt from her speech:

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 Back to our conversation yesterday -- I would think that ten or twenty years ago a very successful female attorney would be afforded even more respect than she is now (i.e. because she MADE IT). Our law school class is split almost evenly between men and women. I think the sheer number of women in the profession may make these issues even more difficult, in the sense that there are more women out there with whom to be compared. (eh?)

-- JessicaCohen - 21 Apr 2010

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I'm just realizing the irony in saying "I really don't know how to answer the initial question about why women may answer with less certainty, but..."

Jess, I agree that there's a weirdness to the fact that when women were just entering into a field they may have gotten more support for doing something that seemed unusual, but may still face new difficulties when they are no longer a minority in the field. I wonder if that has to do with (some) men not seeing women as a "real" threat when they're outliers, but then undergoing a shift in attitude when women are a consistent presence and thus persistent competitors in a field that's already very competitive.

-- JessicaHallett - 21 Apr 2010

 
 
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Revision 6r6 - 21 Apr 2010 - 17:02:18 - JessicaHallett
Revision 5r5 - 21 Apr 2010 - 15:02:46 - JessicaCohen
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