The struggle.

I was reading about Sandra Day O'Connor, and what a fascinating life she has had. She came from about as rural an upbringing you can possibly imagine, on a ranch a thousand miles away from anything in the middle of the Arizona desert, yet she went on to become a pillar of society and a politician and activist who made herself the vital center of everything she got involved in. Of course, as I read her story, I was waiting for the part that we all know about - the part where she becomes the first female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. For some reason I had thought she was appointed in the 1970s, but I learned that it was not until after I was born, during the Reagan administration, that she took the bench. That gave me pause. I started thinking about how, over the past few years in law school, I have met many powerful women in varied positions of influence, yet almost all had one thing in common: they were the "first woman" in their position. First female Supreme Court judge in New York, first female criminal court judge in Albany, first female judge on the New York Court of Appeals and the first to be its Chief Judge. All of these women are still holding their positions right now, or have held them in just the past few years. I ran into a friend yesterday who told me her mother is the only female election law expert in New York.

It just astounds me to hear these anecdotes day after day. This is not the 1970's, this is 2008. Perhaps my particular field, law, is lagging in catching up to gender equality. But I think that the loftiest and most influential positions in our society are still largely out of reach for women. I'll bet that most girls growing up today think that women's rights was their mother's or grandmother's issue. They think that they face no gender discrimination in their lives and are free to pursue any path they choose, and to find success as far along that path as they feel like travelling. And yet, in those positions of greatest power, women are just not equally represented. Maybe there are fewer women choosing to pursue those positions and all the sacrifices they entail, because capable working women are still expected to do the lion's share of the work inside the home, caring for the family as well (don't anyone even try to fight me on this point because it is extremely well-documented - just don't even go there). And maybe there are just fewer women than men with that kind of innate drive and hunger for power. But I do believe that our society would do well to have more women making the kinds of broad policy decisions that have the greatest impact on all of our lives, and there doesn't seem to be much of a push in that direction anymore. Of course, the most powerful position of all, the presidency, is closer than ever to having a woman take the job, but that's looking less and less likely as the days pass. No matter how much I might like that other guy, I am feeling a real loss that this opportunity is probably slipping away. How long will it take? And how many more "firsts" do we still have to achieve?