Law school is not just a destination. It is a journey. For me, it is beyond a journey of simply learning legal ease, instead it is a journey of self discovery and fulfillment. There are four more weeks until the fall semester begins. Signing up for classes was a challenge as mentioned by a colleague in this blog. There were many classes to choose from and many students vying for spots in those classes. For my 2L fall semester I managed to enroll in most of the courses that I wanted. I will be taking Evidence, Criminal procedure and practice, administrative law and appellate advocacy (which is required). I am still undecided about a seminar class. The seminar I had signed up for, Women and the Law, was cancelled due to low enrollment. I was surprised at this since at VLS I thought that we had a very active women’s law group. It is a shame but hopefully I can do some sort of self study and perhaps through other means such as this blog encourage thought on the issue.
I had wanted to take this seminar so that I could engage in conversation about issues that women have faced in history. I enjoy studying history, but talking about this type of history is often neglected in our schools. For example, did you know that as late as the 1930s and 40s many companies automatically fired married women from their jobs since companies viewed a married women’s role as a homemaker and mother and not as a member of the workforce. Mainstream companies with recognizeable names had this policy back then. It is amazing to think that our culture at the turn of the 20th century and even beyond had the mindset not only to fire a married women but for the reason that it was wrong for married women to “take employment away from men” since men were considered the only rightful breadwinners of the family. Thus, the culture dictated that a married woman had no right to employment regardless if she was successful in her chosen profession and wanted the fulfillment of employment. Even today, the glass ceiling is still apparent even if cultural mindsets have progressed in the mainstream society.
In any event, I did some fascinating reading this summer surrounding this topic and hope to continue to explore it. I read “The Majesty of the Law” by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and “In Pursuit of Equity” by Alice Kessler-Harris. (Pardon me for the incorrect citation but this is a blog and not a legal article) I highly recommend both books, but if pressed for time, Justice O’Connor’s section on women and the law in her book summarizes the history and her feelings on the future quite well. She also quotes Justice Ginsburg in her book. Justice Ginsburg made the following statement to a California women lawyers group which was also captured in the Pepperdine Law Review 22 (1994) p. 4-5. (Yes, I know this is not proper citation): “Theoretical discussions are ongoing today – particularly in academic circles – about differences in the voices women and men hear, or in their moral perceptions. When asked about such things, I usually abstain. Generalizations about the way women and men are – my life’s experience bears out – cannot guide me reliably in making decisions about particular individuals. At least in the law, I have found no natural superiority or deficiency in either sex. I was a law teacher until I became a judge. In class, or in grading papers over seventeen years, and now in reading briefs and listening to arguments in court for fourteen years, I have detected no reliable indicator of distinctly male or surely female thinking – or even penmanship.”
I am disappointed that this seminar class was cancelled; however, I am excited to study this topic on my own time. Law School is really about finding legal and other related subjects that excite and interest you. Find what you are passionate about and study it! My Con Law professor last semester said something along the same lines. He said to us that this is our learning experience and that he is our guide, but it is up to us to make our own discoveries and challenge our own minds. I take this a step further and say that it is my duty to analyze subject matter and to think critically about what I read and find even if stated by a supposed expert. Look at all views and draw conclusions based on individual study and analysis rather than what is fed to you in a newspaper or on TV or in a lecture or textbook. This is what law school means to me. I am so grateful for a wonderful first year and I am looking forward to continuing my journey at VLS now as a 2L.
