Saturday, December 12, 2009

post 32

In the year of 2000, 64.5 percent of women lawyers believed that combing the “roles of a lawyer with that of a wife and mother” (Gender on Trail, pg. 222). Women are more likely to serve as primary caregivers rather than the spouse or father. However, when both parties are working full time hours they are “unable to focus” (pg.223). The traditional values of motherhood for women lawyers can conflict with management styles at work. For an example, there was a successful attorney who found out that she was pregnant. However, she did not say anything to no one about her pregnancy until she was about seven months pregnant. Once she finally said and gave the news, the “head of the management committee” responded by stating how she “seemed so professional” (Gender on Trial, pg. 228). Her type of management style was the aggressive (man) style however, once she became pregnant and gave birth her management style conflicted with the “nurturing mother” style. Men who have children most of their wives don’t work. Therefore, they are able to work long full time hours. However, for the mother she is sometimes pushed to work part time to nurture her child. Women who are high in power with children are “viewed as suspect parents” (Gender on Trial, pg. 230) more then men. Women who are high in power with children experience “hurtful assumptions” from her co workers. Women high in power either down play her position to “maximize her “good mother” role. Or she is pushed to down play her “mother role” to maximize her “position” (Gender on Trial, pg. 231). Women lawyers try not to show their “motherly type” in the workplace. For an example, a mother who was a lawyer tried not to talk about her kids and show pictures of her children. She did this little test to see if she would advance in the direction she was planning.

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