August 8, 2009 marks the historic swearing-in of Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice.  AAUW, along with a variety of other groups and organizations applaud the confirmation of this talented, well-qualified woman. What did you think of the vetting process that preceded Judge Sotomayor’s confirmation?

 A few weeks ago, during the Senate hearings, Marie Wilson, initiator of The White House Project wrote an article published online by the Huffington Post entitled “Our Children Are Watching.”  I think her words are profound, and worth reprinting, in part, for the consideration of AAUW members.

Marie Wilson refers to those long-ago days before the success of the Take Our Daughters to Work Day campaign.  The organizers of that event said to themselves, “A girl is watching.  What is she learning about  being a woman?”  Their hope was that posing the question “would force women and men alike to view their surroundings in a completely different light, and reexamine the subtle and overt messages which girls interact with on a daily basis.”

As Marie watched the Sotomayor hearings she returned to the question of what girls are learning from the images they are seeing on the screen.  She writes:

The knowledge we are imparting to girls is this:  you may work really hard and make it to the top of your class. You may get distinguished degrees from princeton and Yale, have a successful career, and even be hand-picked by the President of the United States for the highest court in the land.  yet people on TV will call you “domineering” because you’re an outspoken woman.  They will bring up your menstruation and call it “really bad” for the decisions you make.  if you’re a woman of color, they may even joke about sending you vacuum cleaners to clean up after meetings.  At the very least, you will be asked to cut off the parts of yourself that reflect your race or gender in exchange for a seat at the tables of power.

While there are those who see Justice Sotomayor as a role model for young women, particularly women of color, who may choose to follow in her footsteps, the proceedings may also serve to discourage them from following her example, precisely because of the treatment they witnessed during the hearings.  Will young boys believe this treatment is acceptable and deserved?  Senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, described the questioning as fair and evenhanded, with no acknowledgement of bias or lack of sensitivity.  What does that say about the highest levels of leadership in the country?

In her conclusion Marie Wilson writes:  “I implore our congressional leaders and our talking heads to take this weighty concept into account the next time they judge Sotomayor on anything but her record and merits - and to remember, our children are watching.”

Barbara Bonsignore

Posted under Equity in the News