The Captain has uncovered a perfect example of the feminist approach to sexism: "Men and women are both perfectly competent, perfectly equal, perfectly capable -- except that women are better." From a speech by Ruth Bader Ginsberg (who bemoans the fact that she's the only woman on the Supreme Court):
Of herself and O'Connor, the court's first female justice, Ginsburg said: "We have very different backgrounds. We divide on a lot of important questions, but we have had the experience of growing up women and we have certain sensitivities that our male colleagues lack."
The Captain makes the excellent point that judges are not called to be "sensitive" but to interpret the law, which is a rather precise craft. Is it possible that such "sensitivities" would inhibit women, making them less objective in the practice of judging cases? She assumes that any differences are to be celebrated, but by promoting the "feminine" in this way is to give a back-handed slap to men -- is that "sensitive?" If she revels in the application of empathy and emotion to the interpretation of the Constitution, she may actually be counter-productive.
Women like this may think themselves cutting edge and working for the sisterhood, but they do all of us a disservice. They add weight to the notions that women don't operate on the same playing field as men, may resort to unorthodox rules of engagement, and don't bring solidarity to the efforts to govern -- but an elitist notion that their experiential wisdom trumps masculine professionalism. Wrong and bad.
Catholics always fall back on the notion of complimentarity of the sexes, which means that men and women are fundamentally equal in dignity and yet unique in vocation. Women may bring distinct gifts into the public sphere, but there is a time to cherish the differences and a time to stick to the rules so that we don't corrupt them. Ruth may be a marvelous mother and grandmother, but her ovaries have to be kept in check on the Bench so that the law remains the law. If she wanted to live by her "senses," then perhaps a different vocation should have been pursued.
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