Reply #34: remember at the time there were NO women on the committee [View All]

[bobbieinok]

I assumed that nearly all the men in the hearing room thought of some 'joke' they'd made in the past that could come back to haunt them.

To some extent, I've always thought the vote to confirm was at least 50% 'we guys have to support each other; good grief, can't women take a joke'.

One very interesting aspect was the number of women journalists covering the hearing. That reflected a major change from the 60s when supposedly 'everyone knew about JFK's sexcapades but no guy would report it.'

Another very interesting effect of the hearings was the number of women 50 and older who were apparently empowered by the fact that sexual harassment was being publicly talked about. I heard women 50 and older in church and at the library talk about their earlier working experiences when they just had to 'take it' because 'that's the way it is in the work world.'