That's what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said when she was asked how it felt being the only woman on the Supreme Court. In a recent email from Senator Boxer (as a former Californian, I am on her mailing list) she states that we all need to strongly encourage President Obama to nominate a woman to the Supreme Court.
I have heard some people say that gender does not matter(these people are mostly men, I have noticed). I disagree. Research shows that when there is a mix of men and women in a group, the decisions they make as a group are less extreme than when men are deciding alone.(Bill Bishop makes a similar argument in his book The Big Sort ) More women on the court would have made a difference when they made the completely wrong-headed decision in the case regarding the 13 year old girl who was strip searched in Junior High School. (I know how I would have felt if that had happened to me as a teenager. And if it had happened to my daughter I would have been down at the school with a flaming torch and a pitchfork. Allowing school authorities to strip search a child is creating a situation ripe for abuse.)
Women make up 51% of the population. It is reasonable to argue that we would all be better served if women made up 51% of the representation in the courts, in Congress and in local governments. If you would like to Join Senator Boxer in urging the President to appoint a woman, here is a link to send an email. Or send an email on your own by going to whitehouse.gov and expressing your opinion. Even if you disagree with me - it's important for your voice to be heard.
It is only by participating fully in our government that we keep it a government that is by the people and for the people. Fifty-one percent of those people are women.
As Abigail Adams argued, "Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could."
