The New Professional Dress: Ladies, Leave Your Feminine Charms at Home
By Anonymous • February 01, 2007 •Other Issues
By a Third-Year Law Student In the ongoing skirmish to redefine the parameters of professional dress for women, the old battlefields were permission to go without nylons and abandon the skirt. Today, barelegged women in pantsuits are fighting a more internal battle for the freedom to act like something other than a female man and still be taken seriously. Perhaps with the exception of Martha Stewart, whose empire is, after all, built around the concept of creating a warm and welcoming home, the top female professionals often maintain their queen of the mountain status only by ruling like a king.…
High Heels
By Kalo Kagathia • February 01, 2007 •Other Issues
Although it may seem a bit random - lately I can’t seem to get something off my mind: HIGH HEELS... No, I am not harboring some sort of fetish (although I do love shoe shopping). There are actually a few reasons the epitome of feminine footwear has been a thought provoking topic. It started as I prepared to start my summer job. I have never had a job that required more than a t-shirt and jeans. I have only donned a suit when forced to (ahem, oral arguments) and worn dress shoes only for fun. I am not very comfortable…
Maybe It’s Us
By Anonymous • February 01, 2007 •Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
By a 2L at the University of Michigan Law School Maybe the problem with gender inequality in the legal profession is that we, women, continue to insist that there is a problem with gender inequality in the legal profession. Many of the women’s law club meetings or legal symposia or even lunchtime conversations I have attended have focused on the obstacles facing women in the law – the differential pay, the less-stimulating and prestigious case assignments, the stigma that comes along with being a lawyer-mother. Perhaps it is our own obsession with emphasizing stigmas or prejudices that has led women…
Why am I afraid to volunteer in class even when I know the answer?
By Anonymous • February 01, 2007 •Curriculum and Classroom Dynamics
By a 2L at the University of Michigan Law School Why am I afraid to volunteer in class even when I know the answer? Sometimes our most insightful realizations come to us randomly. Or at least mine seem to. This weekend I had a run in with a peeping Tom, the details of which are irrelevant, however, the important thing was that I knew that it was a situation in which I should call the police, but, instead, I clutched my phone and debated. In the aftermath of filing a police report, I began wondering about why I hesitated. As…
Is Money the Solution?
By Yes, Virginia • February 01, 2007 •Firms and the Private Sector
The Wall Street Journal’s newish blog “The Juggle” recently posted about an email sent by a Big Law associate, who commented that the recent salary raise she’s received made a big difference in her motivation to work and in her ability to provide for her young child What sparked my interest is that it has a post about the salary bump topic as seen through the work-life lens. The point being that perhaps money does make things easier, and perhaps it is a factor worth ratcheting up on the list (as in: what would you do with $15k more per…