blog 29

Who knew so many well educated people could be so stupid?
An Asian woman lawyer reported:
"They gave me a document in Korean and said, 'Can you read this?' And I said, 'This is Korean. I'm Chinese.' And they couldn't understand why I couldn't read it."
I believe I was 4 or 5 when I was told about different ethnicities and races and was told that all Asian Americans are not Chinese that there are all sorts of different ethnicities that make up the American population. It is truly stunning the way minorities are treated in any profession, but in Law you would assume, incorrectly that they would be sensitive to race. Gender is another obvious issue in large firms and it isn’t a surprise that white women and minority women get passed over more often than any race of man. Minority women switching to different law firms after racist or sexist issues, is also no surprise no one wants to stay somewhere that they feel oppressed and unwanted or harassed.
Minorities get passed over more frequently for events, promotions and various other opportunities but women of every race get passed over more than any man. So minority women literally have to claw and fight tooth and nail to make it in any firm. They have to be from better schools to even get a job due to their race, they have to work three times as hard, put in more hours and more effort to get scraps. Putting in so much effort only to be passed over for say a white male who is friendlier with the partners is a slap in the face and its upsetting because it’s a cycle. Women aren’t going to be invited to the country club to talk about sports or smoke cigars so they won’t get that face time that is required to get favoritism even more so older partners probably have very strict gender roles in their minds and having a woman of a different race is probably even more bizarre in their minds. It’s a shame that race mixed with gender makes it almost impossible to break down barriers and progress within a law firm.

Blog 28

"She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue." Second circuit judge
It is about darn time a women had an inflated opinion of herself, because no one in politics will. Even though this is a ‘negative’, good for Judge Sotomayor. I find this terribly amusing since most men even ones with no career have a high opinion of oneself. Is it wrong to be confident, to be domineering? I don’t think so and these traits would be a positive for a man and even sought after they wouldn’t come as a judgment. This is also interesting since Antonin Scalia, is dominating downright aggressive when defending his thoughts and opinions (especially textualism) yeah he might get flack for being a huge conservative but no one would call him on his domineering attitude.
“A persistent and ubiquitous gender stereotype portrays smart and aggressive women as domineering, mean, nasty bitches. This stereotype explains much of the negative treatment that Hillary Clinton received during her presidential campaign.”
This stereotype happens every where every day in every profession and it is annoying! Hillary is no more aggressive then McCain was and the way several media outlets portrayed the female candidates made me feel ill. I find the opinions of several male commentators unbelievable sexist and out of line. I don’t think Sotomayor helped herself with the ‘wise Latina’ comments but I don’t think she deserved to ripped apart on David Letterman either, can we portray a white male politician as a domineering, possibly adulterous, and loud mouthed instead of just focusing on minority politicians? At least even things out a little bit. It is easy to go after politicians since they are in the forfront of the media but it seems like I heard more about how much of a ball buster Hillary Clinton was or the Wise Latina crack or even what the first lady was wearing more then I heard about several different sex scandals or Edwards cheating on his cancer striken wife. If we are going to poke fun at todays politicians at least give a hard time to those who really deserve it and I would think it was easy to make fun of a closeted conservative southern white man then it would be to make fun of a well educated aggressive women who graduated from Princeton.

Blog 27

The case Schaffer is bringing to GE seems a little off, she got demoted after a meeting and all she says is it is because she’s a female. True, GE is a male based corporation it deals with male based industry and in general is prominently run by men. I feel like we are not getting a full story, so she has a good work record but when they demoted her surely they had to give a reason no huge corporation would just keep the door wide open for a sexism suit.

I don’t believe men understand what it is like to be a minority or a underdog in their profession, the stresses and annoyances they had to endure during their internships and first years are not even close to what women deal with. Women in firms even those who are highly esteemed have to constantly fight for attention and recognition that they are thoroughly competent. This can make some women feel uncomfortable if they need to be aggressive, condescending, or in general act in a more negative manner. Perhaps men are more relaxed with female partners, and feel less threatened by their presence than they would a male partner but many men do not give the attention or recognition that is deserved to a female partner. This is condescending and stressful hurting work relationships and burdening the staff. It can also harm a client, if a female is underestimated by a male lawyer the male lawyers client may end up paying for it in the long run. By not believing that a female is a worthy opponent in the court room they are not doing their jobs to the fullest. Male attorneys who do find themselves ‘superior’ are out of line a lot of the time and play games of aggression with female associates this turns into unprofessional behavior all around which is a slap in the face of the law the justice department.

Blog 26

Female lawyers have always had to prove themselves more then their male colleagues. They still do not usually get paid the same amount and are still looked upon as being incompetent or if they aren’t they have negative stereotypes about being masculine or vicious. The American bar association polls show a leap in how many women find that they have to work harder to prove themselves in the workplace. It is strange since women are suppose to be more liberated now than they were in 1983 maybe more women are hungrier for success than their predecessors but I also think expectations are raised because of the rise in females in law. It is always good to have someone in your corner at work and more females are finding men to back them up especially in law. Men that are already accomplished and recognize good work in their female colleagues are backing them up because they realize that they can help their new co worker achieve more than they could by themselves and they know their colleague will watch out for them in return. Everyone has a need fulfilled, but it is saddening that women need the help of their male coworkers to be taken serious by other males in their field. Clients as well do not always value females so getting a male to be on their side helps them get their clients to do what is necessary. Also some females in law find it impossible to get what they need done so they ask a man to step in. As one women put ‘society isn’t gender neutral and if a man can get what you want done who cares?’ Many male lawyers do not have faith in others to see their female colleagues so the women tend to be the work horses and the males the presenters this is not helpful because no one sees how determined and dedicated the women in the work place are.

Blog 25

Seriously now, do you take a woman (or a man for that matter) in a mini skirt seriously? How about if she’s leaning over a desk? Are you listening to her speaking or is your mind wandering off? If you’re a man your probably not looking her in the eye and if your another female your mocking her in your mind. Women should not rely on sexual manipulation of their colleagues to get where they want because it isn’t effective and its degrading. Find some that works and you can be proud of, using sexualized behavior doesn’t flaunt how kick ass (excuse me) you are at your job. Ms Brockovich would have looked awesome in a well tailored pant suit.

I have never seen a man use his sexuality as a weapon, he doesn’t need to in the work place. Men have a confidence at work that many women do not have simply because they are the minority. Reverting back to sexual behavior to get what they want out of their career isn’t going to help in the big times they’ll hit a glass ceiling because when it comes down to it men will not remember that she closed that deal with a huge company they’ll remember her ‘pretty women’ boots and women who have made it far in the business without sexualizing themselves wont promote someone they find unprofessional. Being a firm believer in not mixing business with pleasure the idea of using ones body to advance makes me feel ill. Women doing this are only setting back others, women are smart, tactical, articulate, and clever and in whole great assets to companies we need to be seen for that and not what we are wearing. Like female politicians it isn’t necessary to focus on what we are wearing or how we look but what we say and do. So Ms Brockovich you look some much classier and your new wardrobe reflects you better. Lara Croft put on a bra, Britney and Lindsey put on some pants and be proud of your talent (?) you don’t need to be super sexualized all the time give us normal women a break!

Blog 24

Maria is a cute and tiny 24 year old with now dyed brown hair and some plastic surgery. She was in a sorority and looks like a cheerleader but she is a law student at University of Arizona. She comes from a family of lawyers and that is all she has wanted to become since a child. She has to be one of the most well read people I have met and her less then serious looks throw people off when she opens her mouth to speak. She dyed her natural blonde hair brown before her first year in law school because she thought it reflected her personality better and would make her look more serious.

Maria had to deal with a lot of issues her first year, she was home sick for one and she was dealing with several male professors. She was an English major at Arizona State University and had more female professors then men. Dealing with mostly men was new to her and she was no longer a big fish in a small pond. She experienced some sexism with other students and professors but that wasn’t really what bothered her. She was surprised that she didn’t have many other females in classes and the women that were there were very competitive and had no real sense of camaraderie. Through the years she’s been there she noticed the women in her classes have settled more and are more friendly. It seems that being a female in this field carries the burden of having to watch your back and having to figure out what works for you because of your gender and you need to figure it out fast. The levels of stress Maria deals with are outrageous and I have read articles that alcoholism and depression runs rampant in people in the law profession. Women, I believe have it worse because they have to deal with stresses of their job trying to break ground and get taken seriously as well as the normal issues of the job then they have family stresses like children and husbands. The article I attached is about female lawyers and the stresses they have to handle in daily life, how it affects them emotionally and how it affects their relationships with their families.

http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article6732234.ece

How to be a fashionable politician….blog 23

A former beauty queen turned governor triggered a nation of updos, maybe even her most memorable contribution to the 2009 presidential campaign. Sarah Palin, is not just any old politician in fact I barely heard of her or what she had done in her political career I just heard she was a moose hunting mama with a knocked up teenage daughter. Why do we tend to focus on the woman instead of her actions?
I cannot remember a time when I heard what President Obama was wearing, was it an Armani suit or a Ralph Lauren? Who cares! Female politicians are given grief over their choices of clothing they can’t be too dressy or too pretty because then they aren’t taking seriously but if they are ugly or dress poorly they are depicted unfavorably in political cartoons. In general women are supposed to be pretty, dressed well, and they are supposed to be quiet! So what does society do when they want to belittle a woman and her opinion? Pick on her appearance. Janet Napolitano and Hillary Clinton come to mind when I think female politicians getting roasted for their appearance. No they might not be the most conventionally attractive women, but they are darn good politicians in any case. You may not like their policies but they got to the top of the heap and they’re still going pant suit or not. Of course everyone should take pride in their appearance but the fact that Michelle Obama is now a fashion icon and people aren’t focusing on her good causes (families of troops etc.) is never a good thing. Issues not head bands are what is important and the fact that no one cares what Joe Bidden was wearing makes a true statement. We still view all women and objectify them; we make fun of their appearance to put them down when in fact we have had some awful looking presidents. Either way being dressed well or being ugly, or pretty, or frumpy if you are a female in politics you’ll still be attacked one way or another it makes no difference. It is easiest to attack females for what they wear then what they say.

blog 22

I was so excited to see that Obama had nominated Sotomayor for the Supreme Court of the United States. Not just because she is a woman, not because she was of Puerto Rican decent, and not because she was a catholic more because I like seeing all hell break loose when the majority of the United States is over taken by votes and support. It’s great to see not one (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) but two women involved in high ranking politics, it means our voice have more of a chance to be heard and the issues like abortion, equal pay, and education for low income neighborhoods won’t be left up to super conservative Scalia.
Although it is great to see a woman on board, I am not her biggest fan. I did not agree with her on many of her rulings and thought the her Wise Latina remark was way off base but she is qualified to be a member of the supreme court. The media acts any politician whether it is conservative to a fault George W Bush or Liberal Joe Biden. You cannot please everyone, but women are viewed as especially threatening in politics to the majority of America (men and women). Hillary Clinton wasn’t called Senator Clinton even though she served for about 8 years that’s about 4 years more then President Obama served yet he commanded more respect as a politician. Yes President Obama is a minority but he is also a man, he isn’t as much of anomaly as a woman is in politics. Women in politics is almost bizarre and doesn’t happen frequently because they are still viewed as subservient and lower class then men in most cases. Sotomayor is no exception if she had been a he I doubt that Sotomayor would have been attacked so thoroughly in the media. Her gender played a bigger part in the situation then her race or religion, many did not believe a woman could hold her own in the supreme court and I truly think a large reason of this is because there haven’t been enough women in politics. With every woman that becomes involved with politics and makes a career for herself it will become a little easier for the next.

blog 21

Holy Moly, so after reading their legislation a lot of it sounds like it shouldn’t need to be written out it should just be a priority. Like zero tolerance of rape and sexual harassment of female officers, it is so sad to see a ‘gender neutral’ work place that allows this to happen enough that a organization needs to push for it. Violence towards females is not widely accepted in the real work and rapist go to prison (not as often as they should) so why is it ok that a correctional facility is allowing such atrocities to happen to their own employees?
Training should be number one priority for all officers’ not just new ones. Continuing education should be mandated for officers to keep themselves safe learn how to deal with situations violent and non violent alike, and how to treat females co workers, as well as how to deal with inmates of both sexes. By making procedures in training less gender neutral or geared towards males it would bring female officers and inmates more onto the surface and more noticeable. The more females are recognized in the system the more likely they will be such an anomaly and they will not be penalized for being a minority as often. Workers that are being penalized for their race or gender are effected in several ways due to these reason, their emotional stability and stress levels are higher because they can’t make as much money as they need to. They have to see how their white co workers are treated as compared to how they are and this brings on a poor sense of self worth. Their mental health is compromised as well as their physical well being if their co workers do not see them as being as important. If a predominant officer sees another as less then there isn’t much doubt that they will not come to their aid in a violent situation.Female officers are still a marginal but their numbers (As well as female inmates) are growing rapidly. More women are finding themselves outside of traditional roles in the work place and that is a fact that needs to be accepted and brought up more.

blog 20

I have a new female role model, her name is Dora Schriro. I have heard of her before but since this is my first class that really takes a look at prisons in depth I am finally getting to know about her and other females in corrections. The article about her in Phoenix Magazine defiantly fixates on her being female; it almost plays second fiddle to the amazing things she has accomplished. Several times they say she had to fight against the old cowboy way of the Arizona corrections department and that many thought she was too soft. Schriro has restorative justice beliefs which do not sit well with many Arizona residences since we are a south west state with the death penalty. Schriro is a woman in a male dominated field and she faces the same prejudices most women face especially Janet Napolitano.
The hostage situation defiantly showed what many female officers fear, the male guard held hostage was beaten but then let go*. Whereas Lois Fraley was raped and held hostage for fifteen days not only was her ordeal more horrific but she suffers mentally and emotionally from it as well. The crisis confirmed that women can be put in more dangerous situations while working in prisons but also that officers need more training and that the prisons need to be run professionally. I do not think the situation would have played out better for the officers if Fraley was a man in fact I think it would have been worse. Men feel more intimidated by other men and would have more than likely shot a male officer. The ‘John Wayne’ approach with inmates would have made the hostage situation more violent and probably more of a disaster.
Male and female prisons have different rules and structures due to gender differences and sexuality. Men the more aggressive, violent, tactical inmates have no privacy, stricter rules and policies, and are not given exception to a female officer. Female inmates are usually treated with a little bit more dignity (sometimes) when it comes to privacy from male guards. These are another example of why training should not be gender neutral gearing towards male inmates/guards. Men sexuality is not seen as a problem and have had rules, regulations, and even job duties geared to help them avoid the least desirable duty of pat downs and stationary positions in the prisons. Female sexuality is a huge issue in prisons because they are seen for their gender or sex. Male inmates are more likely to sexually harass them this is seen not as a problem for the female officer but a problem because the female officer, these issues and ways of dealing with them are sexist and prevent women from moving up in the correctional field. Even when female officers earn their promotions it is seen in the eyes of their co workers as favoritism, it seems that no matter what women do in this field supervisors and colleagues seem to have a negative explanation for it.
It does not supervise me that African American male officers are the least satisfied with their work environment. Officers use derogatory language with inmates frequently usually using words ‘describing’ their race. Who makes up a obscene amount of inmates in the United States prison system? African Americans. Female African American women deal with the most job stress that also is not surprising; they are hit with sexism and racism every day at work. The environment they are in daily to provide for themselves and family is toxic and stressful in general they have to deal with harassment from inmates and fellow employees as well as trying to erase her gender and race as much as possible while on the job. Since many ‘white’ male officers feel that affirmative action makes for poor employees I wonder would they still feel that way about qualified employees of different races, or do they believe that ‘filling quota’ is just a numbers game. White male officers still have the best picks for promotions and positions at the prison and still make up more than half f the employees. I can see why it is more stressful being a women or a minority, it is extremely hard to get anywhere in the system if you aren’t the majority. Sadly, that is how it is with a lot of minority inmates that cannot afford representation and racism plays a part in their sentencing. Co workers that have the upper hand are usually already under the impression that they have a unspoken right, they treat inmates poorly because of their status and also I believe race/sex plays a part in that and they treat their co workers poorly, because they can. The system does not do enough for women and men to compete fairly with one another in the prison work place.

Blog 19

People love a fight; I’ve seen quite a few fights on Mill Ave watching men fight and women fight. There are only few differences in female and male fights. Females seem to be more vicious they don’t really care about seeming cool or impressing anyone. That’s probably because females are trained to be fighters they are not suppose to be tough. That being said, are female officers more efficient when it comes to physical violence? Do they know how to step in, stop a fight, and also how much force to use? I do not think women have an inability to deal with physical violence, I think we don’t see a lot of women using physical violence because it is ‘unlady’ like and we don’t want our little girls using force.
The media depicts women in male dominated professions are tough, masculine, and neutralizes their femininity. Take for instance SVU, the female detective Olivia Benson is great with children she has a mothering role even to her hyper masculine partner and she is attractive though it is rare to see her with a romantic interest or even be thought of in that way whereas the men on the show all have wives or romance problems. She isn’t hyper masculine, although several women on the shows (SVU/ Criminal Intent) are they also show that all of the women have had some sort of abuse to explain why they are in the field most of the men on the show just ‘wanted to be a cop’. The media doesn’t show beautiful level headed women as police officers, corrections, firemen, EMT’s they show them as wives, mothers, care takers, and teachers. This sends a message to girls but also to boys who become men and then treat female coworkers differently and see them as less. Media sexism doesn’t only damage girls and their career choices it damages society as a whole because they don’t show women kicking butt and taking names. They are a back drop, a minority and women will stay that way until something changes and people take notice.

blog 18

Christine, a 26 year old female friend of mine was telling me about the differences in testing to be a police officer. Some argue that it is sexist, but when they make it gender neutral there are more complaints that it is impossible for females to pass saying that they are weeding them out. On the other hand Christine probably could kick most men’s behinds. She has been doing extremely well in her exams but she does admit its hard to find her place in the classes as a female. She is a minority already, but all the films, training, and most of the educators are males. It will be hard for her to relate to females in her field once she is done with training, although her knowing how to do her job the way supervisors would is a great plus for her.

Correctional officers, that have watched the films have very low understanding of how female prisons work, how to speak with female inmates, and how they should interact with male inmates if they are female. By establishing these policies it leave a lot to be determined while on the job, training should include female based programs as well so that there is an understanding in all respects of the job. Women’s prisons seem to be a lot less strict and more comforting (not gender neutral) so after watching male based programming and training a lot of officers are thrown off by the extra ‘comforts’ the women have and the different procedures. Being in full understanding of procedures and what is expected and needed on the job should be part of the training but since it is male based/gender neutral it is not. It is interesting how the training becomes male oriented when it is being ‘gender neutral’ because many times being race neutral is being white. Stereotypes about the job and inmates become what is the ‘norm’ maybe they do this because it is easier for educators they do not have to go into the details and possible situations that could happen when females or minorities are involved. The job is predominantly male but women are growing into the field also the rise of female inmates should determine how officers are trained.

blog 17

Working within a prison is dangerous, not only are you exposed to dangerous people but you are also in danger of contracting disease, your exposed to mental illness and you deal with a great amount of stress due to your job and these dangers specifically. Building any sort of relationship builds trust, the power dynamic in a correctional officer and inmate relationship is almost impossible to build and trust is not something that should be involved in this work situation. The officers talk about how some inmates are experts in constructing weapons out of random items, examples like this make for a good argument that you cannot trust an inmate.
The officers assumed the worst a lot of the time; in the video some female officers used gloves so they wouldn’t have any skin to skin contact. This was for various reasons including sexual arousal and disease. I also think that the lack of enthusiasm or the prominence of negativity is also the conditions in which these officers work. It’s an aggressive, sometimes very unpleasant environment, they are dealing with people who obviously don’t want to be in prison and they are on constant alert. Not to mention prisons themselves are usually dirty, or they have harsh conditions. When explain why they were in corrections a white man, a white woman, and a African American man all had different but similar answers. They stumbled upon it, it had benefits and decent pay plus they didn’t have any other education after high school. Correctional officers are in demand and since they do not have high qualifications it is safe to say that many officers may not be the best fit for prisons.
Hearing that inmates are the ones that actually a help ‘train’ officer is very upsetting, I would suspect that inmates do know how to do the job since they observe it all the time but it says something for the amount of training these officers get. It also says something about the safety they are providing for themselves other employees and even the inmates. The training deals with a lot of physical aspects for the officers, but what many reported was the mental issues they had on the job. Seeing as the job can be tedious or violent any given day they should offer more training in all areas. Also they need to make training more specific and let women know what they are getting themselves into with male and female inmates. Britton mentions that many officers being trained only knew what to expect in male prisons because the women’s prisons are so different, their assumptions were that all prison and prison systems are alike.
Officers of color see more of their race on any given day then a white officer. There seems to be more of solidarity among minorities a feeling of brother/sisterhood so not acknowledging you own race must be extremely difficult. Also seeing an inmate as a human being and not as a dog is hard for some people, it has to be astonishing when inmates show humanity and become a ‘friend’ to an officer. You don’t always want to see people locked up and maybe they even disagree with their sentence depending on their crime but the job is to be something like a care giver. They make sure that the inmates aren’t sick, dying, or hurting one another or themselves. Some talk about the inmates having it too easy some talk about how inmates don’t have enough rights. There isn’t a single mentality of the correctional officers in Britton’s book because in different prisons there are different standards and different guidelines. Different officers of different races have mixed feelings, not so much based on just race or their race but differences in the crimes and the individual inmate. Which looking at people as individuals even inmates is helpful in the long run because an officer can determine what that inmate needs and how much of a risk they are to the prison and to the officer. Correctional officers, have a lot going on not only physically and dealing with convicts but how to determine what is appropriate when it comes to interaction with the inmates both male and female. They aren’t necessarily trained well, but they learn along the way which can be expected to a certain degree. Mentally this job is exhausting because of the constant stress, influx of prisoners, and changing technology.

Blog 16

I never really thought about how the capacity of jails affecting the people who work there. It is obvious, but it is something that doesn’t automatically come to mind. I never really thought about the imminently danger of the job either I thought more of prisoners like animals at the zoo. Docile and behind bars but these officers have a lot of contact with them on a day to day basis. Women officers were referred to as a ‘steak you can’t eat’ if that isn’t rattling to hear from a convicted murder I have no idea what is. I think male officers have to deal with more hostility from male inmates but females have to be more vigilant more by the book because many will not be able to simply over power the inmates. Females also have to be more aware of their surroundings since many of the inmates are convicted sex offenders.
Coming from a gender based society and the women who are officers probably have help more female based jobs this can be a total culture shock which may have harm on their mental and emotional well being. The need for guards is high and since many of these workers are becoming officers as a last resort (in today’s economy many are taking last resort jobs). I feel like females are more in this category whereas their male counter parts had similar jobs (police, military) and decided that becoming a correctional officer had more to offer them or they winded up in the jobs. Many young boys want to become a police officer because their fathers or other male role models where and they make most male cops look so appealing on television and in movies, women are not portrayed very often or in a flattering aspect making a lot of females shy away from corrections and police work. I feel that gender norms are a huge part of recruiting and then the danger levels and the on the job hazards count more for the amount of people that stay in the field of corrections.

Blog 15

The United States is one of the very few modernized countries with such a high incarceration rate; most of the offenders are there for non violent crimes such as drug possession. Back when the United States first started incarceration men and women were there for multitudes of crimes, they were different ethnicities and had different occupations. This is interesting since now most prisoners are minority males on drug and possession charges. You could say there was more diversity in the prison system back in the late 1800’s.

Prisons now are flooded with minorities’ not just men but also women. The prison rates have sky rocketed looking at just the difference between now and the 70s. Each year the rate of women in prison grows, although they still make up the smaller percentage of inmates. The number is made only more obvious with the number of male prisons and the number of female prisons a couple thousand more for the men. The growth of women in prison can be blamed on a multitude of societal ills like amped up aggression and violence in the media, bad economic times, but also the fact that sentencing used to be a lot lighter for females. They could get away with a lot more, with judges going lightly on the females, now with laws in place that are (more) gender blind that has stopped and the rates of imprisonment go up. What is very interesting is that the rate of females incarcerated are highest in states like Montana, Arizona, Idaho and Oklahoma these aren’t ‘podunk’ states but I expected New York and California to be on that list. They have high violence and crime rates, (so does AZ) but maybe more women are getting arrested on other charges then violence and drugs? I also think that female incarceration rates have increased because of the lack of programs to rehabilitate, women seem to do better in these programs that don’t have much place in the prison systems in the U.S. but since they have been cut out no one male or female can benefit.