By Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

Women in Power

November 14, 1990

ITEM DETAILS
Type: Speech
Location: Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri
Occasion: 16th Annual Olin Conference
Notes: Cited in "An Impressive Show: A Tribute to Justice O’Connor," Judith S. Kaye 1996.
Link to original not currently available.

Transcript

Full transcript unavailable. Quotes from a Chicago Tribune article on the talk include:

"Only a short time ago, the subject of this conference ['Women in Power'] would have been considered an oxymoron."

She said women are excluded from the upper reaches of almost every profession. Women make up only 6 percent of all partners in the nation's law firms, only 16 percent of all doctors, only 7 percent of engineers, only 6 percent of news media executives, and historically, only 2 percent of Congress.

The reasons for the "paucity" of women in executive positions stem from "blatant sex discrimination and the widespread belief that women are unfit for power positions."

When she asked [a Denver law firm partner] about hiring women [in 1966], his response was: ''We don't expect to ever hire a woman lawyer. Our clients just would not accept them.''

"I was never one of the boys," she said [regarding her time as an Arizona state legislator in the 1970s].

"There is no doubt that my appointment to the Supreme Court was a signal of hope to women throughout America that their dream of sharing in the power base might be fulfilled."

[Changes like making "Ms." the proper honorific for women and "Mr." for men in court documents] "send an important signal" that sexism will not be tolerated.

"Male judges are more likely to believe the sob story from female defendants," she said, pausing for effect. "Female judges know better."

The U.S. "will have a female president but we are not there yet."

'' . . . We have a long way to go before women are on equal footing with men.''

Additional quote, from Kaye 1996 cited above:

For both men and women the first step in getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show.... As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As
society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we'll all be better off for it.