by Jen M.D. Matos
Just the other day, I was wondering why I haven’t heard anything about my favorite Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor. I noticed that once the vetting process is over and one gets to serve on the nation’s highest court, folks just tend to disappear. I was about to send out a P.R.A. (Puerto Rican Alert) when I read about Justice Sotomayor in the news this morning.
Apparently, she was recently at Northwestern University School of Law where she answered questions from professors and students. According to Yahoo! News , she was most “revealing” when she answered questions from law students and shared that she was “offended” by the questioning from male Senators during her confirmation process. Sotomayor says that she was asked questions that were laden with “male-driven” assumptions and about her dating life. She feels that there is a double-standard when it comes to what is expected of women and what is expected of men.
As a graduate of an all-women’s college, I remember my first “real” interview at a college that was once an “all-male” institution. There I was with about 10 men and one other woman. One question I vividly remember is, “How would you handle working with men since you went to an all-girls school?” I asked my male colleagues who were hired about their questioning, and sure enough, they weren’t asked how they would work with women. My comment to the selection committee was, “I know men; my dad’s a man, in fact.” It drew laughs from the committee, but I was still troubled about the line of questioning that I was receiving.
Honestly, I don’t blame men for these questions. We are socialized to treat men and women differently. I mean everybody knows it is a fact that blue is for boys and pink is for girls, right? What girl doesn’t get giddy in being dipped in Pepto Bismol pink?
I would like to know what you think. Is there any basis for why we would ask a woman about her dating habits and not ask men about theirs? Do you think there is a double standard?
To learn more about Jen, visit Revolutionary Rican.
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There’s definitely a double-standard, but we are different, so there is a fine line that must be respected — questions should be different, but should not be intrusive regardless of which side of the gender line one falls under. Neither gender should be asked about their dating life. And though I don’t believe either gender should be asked about how they would work with the opposite gender, an overall question about people’s way of handling work WITH OTHER PEOPLE is perfectly acceptable and expected.
I’m confused — is the article about Justice Sotomayor, or about gender bias??? In either case, I do certainly think gender bias exists (toward both sexes), and kudos to Sotomayor for speaking about it in an honest manner.
Double standard? Absolutely. and questioning someone about their dating life in a job interview or college is unacceptable whether you’re a woman and a man. that type of personal questions should not be ask if you want to find some prove of personal character. Nor does religion or political views.