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WomenInThisBusiness 7 - 21 Apr 2010 - Main.CarolineFerrisWhite
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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: | | | 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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Jess Hallett, that comment makes me want to puke too. I have heard some iteration of it so many times, and it makes me highly uncomfortable. I attended a firm event earlier this semester and realized about ten minutes into a conversation with a partner that he was hitting on me. Talk about gross. To call such treatment undermining is not even to begin to capture the way I felt. I'm not investing time and (gargantuan) sums of money in my education to be treated like a sexual object, especially not in a professional setting. But maybe I'm naive. Even in Lawyerland, female appearance gets a lot of attention. Robinson describes both the DA and the young lawyer he bumps into on the street with reference to their appearance.
Both Jessicas: the playing field has certainly changed. My mom began her law career in the late 70s/early 80s. She is a trial attorney, and has some war stories that I find shocking. Judges would refer to her as "Missy" or "Honey" and call her by her first name rather than "Counsel." She had to wear a skirt or a dress to court, never pants, and these absurd ruffly tie thingies. She fought tooth and nail for respect and to succeed, and she did. I know for a fact that her adversaries have called her "bitch," or worse. But now they are scared to go up against her, and most of her cases settle. I think she was up against far greater gender-related challenges than I am, but those challenges were visible and she wasn't afraid to confront them. How do you tackle the subtle discrimination from a man who treats a professional event like a place to pick up women? Is it even discrimination if it helps you get a job? Ugh. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
I would also like to note that I feel weird and creepy even mentioning that interaction with the partner, even though I know for a fact that I'm not at fault in the situation. I still feel implicated in a troubling way - that's a hard feeling to shake, and I don't know whether it's societal or personal to me.
-- CarolineFerrisWhite - 21 Apr 2010 | | | |
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