Blog #27

The interviews in Holly English’s book explicitly state that a big disadvantage that female attorneys face, particularly attractive ones, is that they are not taken seriously because the field has been dominated by men and now that women are entering it, it is presumed that they are entering a man’s territory. Furthermore, because women are stereotyped as emotional, passive and weak, this too has presented as a challenge for women in attempting to prove that they are competent. Because we live in a gendered society where men are deemed to protect women, men are considered legitimate and competent and therefore their ability to fight a case as an attorney is one that hardly goes unquestioned. But when a woman attempts to argue and fight for a client in court we often say things like “Roar” as though she is a cat taking out her claws. Or we may think that she is a B*&^% for stepping out of her traditional role in attempts to be firm and prove her point. In addition, because we have presumed roles for both men and women, it also makes a difference when it comes to pay and a gap continues to exist in income between men and women. Again, it is because it is a man’s world that women encounter difficulty in proving that they too are capable of performing a job equally as well. Undoubtedly, there are both men and women that exceed in different fields and it is time that we start giving credit where it needs to be given. Throughout my career in public service, particularly in the court system I have come across many competent male and female lawyers and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that women are as capable or in some matters like family law that they may have a greater understanding and more compassion and therefore be able to represent their clients in a better way. Personally, I think that it will be a long-long time before women reach equality and that is simply because we are underrepresented in the field. I would very much like to go to law school but I have two young children to spend time with and I am unwilling to sacrifice that. For women that do wait to have children after becoming lawyers also continue to experience salary gaps because they generally work less hours because they have a second job at home as a homemaker and caregiver. I doubt that roles will change anytime soon but in the mean time I am hopeful that there will be less inequality.