reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”īorn to an Arizona ranch family, Sandra Day was one of the first women to be educated at Stanford’s school of law. She neatly encapsulated her worldview in her oft-repeated maxim: “A wise old man and a wise old woman reach the same conclusion.” This view set her clearly at odds with later female justices such as Sonia Sotomayor, who famously eschewed such gender and ethnic impartiality as “aspirational” and asserted that “a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would. because it so nearly echoes the Victorian myth of the ‘True Woman’ that kept women out of law for so long,” O’Connor found gender politics to be harmful to both women and society. Just as she disagreed with second wave feminists regarding the cultural symbols of female oppression, she disagreed with third wave feminists arguing that a woman’s experience, and therefore her voice, differed from a man’s. In response, she chose to advance the fight for gender equality within the professional, as opposed to cultural, arena. Furthermore, as a victim of gender discrimination, she was patently aware of the difficulties women faced within the professional world. Intending to disavow herself of feminism, she still savored her role as the FWOTSC, or the First Woman on the Supreme Court. “I come to you tonight wearing my bra and my wedding ring.” So began many of Justice O’Connor’s speeches. She is remembered for her pragmatic jurisprudence, as well as her recognition of the importance of federalism when defining the role of the federal government. The first female to sit on the highest court of the land, Justice O’Connor served a 25-year term, retiring in 2006. ![]() Today is the 40th anniversary of Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s nomination to the Supreme Court. ![]() This month, in the spirit of our Core Document volume Gender and Equality, we are highlighting women’s achievements in American history.
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