Blog #25

Using sexualized behavior as “a weapon in the arsenal” can have negative and positive effects on women lawyers. Women have more room to express their sexuality positively without automatically being labeled as incompetent. A con is that sexual harassment keeps negative sexual stereotypes about women alive and it remains an issue for younger women who have to constantly fend off advances. Men are more prone to leave women out for this reason; they do not want to be accused of harassment. Some women flirt to advance their careers. Many women do this instead of using their academic and professional credibility to get a job advance, which negatively affects the whole of women attorneys. Some women even dress in “riskier” clothing in order to get what they want from a judge or boss. However, at the same time, some women dress attractively to simply project confidence and professionalism. This strategy is presented in the media through law films. In most law films that star females as attorneys, they are typically always romantically or strictly sexually involved with a make colleague. Even when the women are credible, they often are second to the male attorney. In “Erin Brockovich”, Julia Roberts plays a strong, independent paralegal who uses her sexuality to get what she wants. She is able to obtain records that she would not have been able to access had she been male. She also does not let male colleagues push her around. In “Sex and the City”, one episode shows how Miranda, the attorney, has to pretend that she is a lesbian in order to fit in with the partners of her firm in hopes for a promotion because the firm wants to add a female couple to their group. Instead of earning the promotion on her own merit, Miranda is convinced this fake relationship will help her, until she decides it is not worth it and she does not care. For the most part, women are not necessarily viewed as incompetent attorneys in media, but they do often come second to male actors or end up being devious in some way, which ultimately negatively contributes to stereotypes of women lawyers.