Thank God At Least Something Changed

Not 20 minutes into the movie and we get a gratuitous stab at women when Justice Holmes tells his wife he's going to have lots of kids, "all of them sons." So excited, he's dancing.

What he is speaking about is his law clerks, who will all be males. Not that there were no female attorneys...in the U.S., women had been graduating from law school since 1869. (Not many eastern law schools, tho...) Yet it would be another 75 years before a U.S. Supreme Court Justice would hire the first female law clerk--in 1944, Justice Wm. O.Douglas hired Lucile Loman. Justice Douglas said he'd hire a woman if an "absolutely first-rate" woman could be found. One was! First in her class at the University of Washington Law School (which had been graduating women since it opened it doors in 1899), editor of her law review, vice president of the law review board, and author of several articles including one which won awards. And note: this was SIX years before this movie was released!

It was another 22 years before the second female law clerk would be hired when Justice Hugo Black hired Margaret Corcoran in 1966. Then one was hired every year or two (in spite of law schools graduating about 40% women) until 1974, when 4 women law clerks were hired. Quite a coup until you realize each Justice hires 4, that's 48 law clerks a year. Even now, nowhwre near half the clerks are women. Sometimes as few as 14 of 48...

I hate for even old movies to remind us of the hideous sexism women face--never would they still show a movie where the word "white" was substituted for "boys!" Did they not even think about how women would feel watching him dance around at the prospect of all boys clerking for him--in a time we know there were qualified women graduating, and even one having served as a clerk, tho it would be another 18 years before another would, thanks to sexist stuff like this.