tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post2873793124234595467..comments2019-05-15T23:59:20.159-07:00Comments on Feminist Legal Theory: The Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings: 20 years laterLisa R. Pruitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469550950363542801noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-9268239152149289292011-12-22T15:22:05.916-08:002011-12-22T15:22:05.916-08:00I agree with both Caitlin and S that I am baffled ...I agree with both Caitlin and S that I am baffled by Clarence Thomas' confirmation. What also baffles me, and makes me angry, is that a Supreme Court justice can get away with sexual harassment while Senators are forced to resign for, essentially, sexting. Isn't sexual harassment more of a concern than who Anthony Weiner sends pictures of his junk to?<br /><br />Take Newt Gingrich. It's not exactly a secret that he is a serial adulterist. He cheated on his first wife, then married the woman he cheated with, then cheated on her, and now THAT woman is his current wife! And according to some polls he is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. What?! The party that consistently runs on family values and slaps a red A on any politician who does anything sexually deviant is behind this guy? <br /><br />Sexual harassment is more of a concern to me than adultery with regard to politicians or those in the judiciary, and every time I read about Clarence Thomas it makes my blood boil.Girl Talkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18146184875173014458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-23528566001987194592011-10-26T00:17:52.078-07:002011-10-26T00:17:52.078-07:00First, I agree with Caitlin: I am shocked that Cla...First, I agree with Caitlin: I am shocked that Clarence Thomas was confirmed.<br /><br />Second, what I find empowering is the support Ms. Hill received from people and the awareness of sexual harrassement in the work place. “According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filings, sexual harassment cases have more than doubled, from 6,127 in 1991 to 15,342 in 1996. Over the same period, awards to victims under federal laws nearly quadrupled, from $7.7 million to $27.8 million.” See http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/hillframe.htm. <br /><br />Equally as uplifting is the fact that Ms. Hill did not hide under a rock after the hearings. She continued having a career and is now a Professor at Brandeis University's Heller School for Social Policy and Management.<br /><br />Regardless of whether the Clarence Thomas hearings have ended or not, http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-anita-hill-the-clarence-thomas-hearings-havent-really-ended/2011/10/05/gIQAy2b5QL_story.html, Ms. Hill certainly has moved on. Her recent, "Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race, and Finding Home," http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807014370?ie=UTF8&tag=washpost-books-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0807014370, is evidence of her resisting the media's desire to place Ms. Hill in a box: the woman that testified against Clarence Thomas. <br /><br />However, it is important to remember the impact she has had on the American people and the way we conceptualize sexual harassment in the workplace. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/july-dec11/anitahill_10-10.htmlShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05881258570100211982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7302245627574027504.post-67231437209807769522011-10-21T14:31:49.569-07:002011-10-21T14:31:49.569-07:00One of the things that still really baffles me is ...One of the things that still really baffles me is the fact that after all of the allegations made by Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas was still confirmed. Recently, I learned via by law-nerd boyfriend that Thomas was known to openly frequent at least one or two pornographic theaters in New Haven every day as his way to take a break from his rigorous Yale Law School education. Perhaps this is one reason why he, and the rest of the primarily male justices have historically had a lot of tolerance for adult pornography.<br /><br />All in all, I am ashamed that someone who clearly mistreated his female employees ended up in a cushy, lifetime appointed, respectable position in which his decisions have tremendous impact on the women he clearly does not respect.Caitlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16992263462510624604noreply@blogger.com