Sexism, Women's Issues

Sexism In The Legal Profession: Will It Ever End?

The simple ability to recognize the sexism that women face in this profession is the first step in being able to overcome it.

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gagged woman LF duct tape over mouth shut upEd. note: This column is part of Law School Transparency’s podcast mini-series about women in the law. This week’s theme is sexism in the workplace. Learn more here.

Since women first entered the legal profession, they’ve been forced to grapple with sexism. From often being mistaken as secretaries to constantly being assailed with demeaning and misogynistic terms — running the full gamut from “honey” to “darling” to “sweetie” and sometimes even to “bitch” and “c*nt” — women in the law face a great deal of gender bias that their male colleagues have never endured.

If you’re a woman in the legal profession, it’s highly likely that you’ve experienced some form of sexism during the course of your career. For example, women who zealously and aggressively advocate for their clients in court are “bitchy”; men who do the same are “excellent litigators.” It’s sometimes considered a great inconvenience when women in the law take maternity leave; when male lawyers take paternity leave, they’re selflessly sacrificing for their family. Women still do not receive the respect they deserve.

In a recent post tracking the progress of women in the law over the course of the past 10 years, we made the following observations about some important changes that have been made to help women combat sexism in the practice of law:

In 2006, the legal profession was plagued by sexism and gender bias, and today… it’s still plagued by those problems. In 2016, however, there are far more avenues and opportunities that allow those who have been discriminated against to rectify the wrongs they’ve faced simply by virtue of being women working as lawyers, including, but not limited to, the availability of a new professional conduct rule enacted by the American Bar Association to address discrimination and harassment.

Women in the law are doing their best to break through the glass ceiling in the profession, but it’s especially tough when their own colleagues disrespect them, ignore them, interrupt them, and speak over them. The sooner women in the legal profession own the fact that they’re denigrated on a near daily basis and treated like interlopers in an old boys’ club, the sooner they’ll be able to do something about it.

It’s important to note that not every slight against women in law is sexist — but the ones that truly are sting the worst. The simple ability to recognize the sexism that women face in this profession is the first step in being able to overcome it. We can fight this, together.

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. She’d love to hear from you, so feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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