Blog #32

Parenthood differs between men and women attorneys. One major example provided in “Gender on Trial” tells of an ideal that when a man has a child, he is pressured to earn more money and become more work harder. When a woman has a child she is expected to be a nurturing mother. A high-powered female attorney is viewed as a suspect parent because other people in the firm automatically assume that she must not be a good parent if she is so dedicated to her career. This type of woman faces hostility from both her male and female coworkers. Tradition values of motherhood impact women and the choices they make immensely because women are more likely to balance the family life than men. Not only does a working woman have to prove herself in her career, but she has to go home and prove herself as an “ideal” mother as well. Many women make choices to work part-time or stop working for an amount of time in order to meet their childrearing societal expectations. Some women prefer this lifestyle and others find it simply too difficult and stressful to balance both successfully. When women leave the workforce to raise their children, it affirms the long held stereotype that the proper place for women is at home. Employers are careful and wary when hiring women for these reasons. Colleagues also have different expectations of women attorneys with kids than those without kids or men. As younger people are entering the legal career, they have a difficult time with the realities of the difficulties in balancing both lives. Young women leave high pressure law firms for the sole reason that they look ahead and already do not see how they could possibly manage life. It is difficult for the female attorney to establish a rewarding balance between their career and life, but hopefully with the issue becoming more aware in law firms, it will change the situation and stereotypes for lawyers.