Blog #28

The article discussing the harsh criticism of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor from the New Republic is astounding and it puts into perspective the male dominant norm that has been set as a standard particularly for judgeships and it further undermines the competence and intelligence of very brilliant woman. For the New Republic to have purposely left out remarks and cropped quotations in order to advance their own personal attacks, feelings and agenda is preposterous and it further insults the readers as they (the publication makers) assume that the readers are not sufficiently educated on the subject matter to question what is being written about a Latina woman. Rather than focusing on her academic and work related accomplishments which are rather impressive they instead focus on one thing primarily, her temper. According to Holly English, women that she interviewed shared a similar sentiment that when they display emotion and they seem to be “on top of it” in the courtroom and asking the right questions or interrogating a witness firmly, they are criticized for either being too emotional, or to be too into themselves, or even worse, they are considered to be, “difficult, temperamental or as a nasty B$%&*” according to the Media Matters article. It is clear that in the 21st century and in 2009 after having the first person of color elected to the highest position of power, women that are as equally as competent are viewed rather differently. At least President Obama still has the advantage of being a man because if either Hilary Clinton or Sara Palin would have been in office right now, the criticism would continue and perhaps even become harsher. It would of course come from men who have been accustomed to living in a man’s world for so long that having it any other way seems almost impossible to handle.