Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Kavanaugh-Ford Hearing: A Dramatic Lesson on Gender Roles
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
September 28, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — He let his anger flare repeatedly, interrupted his questioners and cried several times during his opening statement. She strived to remain calm and polite, despite her nervousness, and mostly held back her tears.

“Imagine a woman openly weeping like this on a national stage and still getting elected to the Supreme Court. Or any office.” — Joanna Robinson, a senior writer with Vanity Fair
Throughout their riveting, nationally televised testimony on Thursday, Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh served as Exhibits A and B for a tutorial on gender roles and stereotypes. Amid the deluge of reaction on social media, one prominent observation: Ford, as a woman, would have been judged as a far weaker witness had she behaved as Kavanaugh did.
“Imagine a woman openly weeping like this on a national stage and still getting elected to the Supreme Court. Or any office,” tweeted Joanna Robinson, a senior writer with Vanity Fair.
Kavanaugh, nominated to fill a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, mixed tears with fury in his statement forcefully denying Ford’s allegation that he sexually assaulted her in 1982 when they were both in high school. He choked up at several points when referring to how his family has been affected by the tempest surrounding allegations by Ford and other women.
Opponents of Kavanaugh’s nomination said his behavior demonstrated a lack of judicial temperament. Some supporters said they were moved to tears when he broke down.
Later, during questioning by some of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democratic members, Kavanaugh aggressively interrupted his interrogators and even asked sharp questions of his own.
“Have you ever drank so much you didn’t remember what happened?” asked Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat. “Have you?” countered Kavanaugh. He later apologized.

Ford Sought to Present Herself as Cooperative and Respectful

Ford, in contrast, sought to present herself as cooperative and respectful, expressing her wish that “we could collaborate in a way that could get at more information.”

“When women express strong emotions, we judge them to be emotional — or, in the extreme, ‘hysterical.’ When men express strong emotions, we infer that they must be facing extreme situations.”Zoe Chance, a marketing professor at Yale School of Management
“I’m used to being collegial,” she said at one point.At another, she said when asked about her emotional state: “I think that’s a great question.”
Zoe Chance, a marketing professor at Yale School of Management, said that in terms of winning over public opinion, Ford and Kavanaugh “are both doing the right thing.” She cited research indicating that men could seem more influential and competent through shows of anger, and women less so.
“When women express strong emotions, we judge them to be emotional — or, in the extreme, ‘hysterical,'” Chance said in an email. “When men express strong emotions, we infer that they must be facing extreme situations.”
However, Chance was unsure that Kavanaugh’s anger was effective in this case.
“In this particular situation, the emotional display casts doubt on his ability to be dispassionate and objective as a judge,” Chance suggested. “If we value the ability to separate emotion from facts, then Ford has behaved more judge-like than Kavanaugh has. ”

Communications Professor Analyzes Kavanaugh

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communications professor and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said some of Kavanaugh’s statements “were more consistent with one’s expectations of a partisan than a judge or prospective associate justice of the Supreme Court.”

“It is unusual to see a middle aged professional — male or female — experience the range of emotions in public in a formal setting expressed by Judge Kavanaugh.” — Kathleen Hall Jamieson, communications professor and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania
“It is unusual to see a middle aged professional — male or female — experience the range of emotions in public in a formal setting expressed by Judge Kavanaugh,” Jamieson said in an email. “We expect judges to sound and seem dispassionate.”
Michael Cunningham, a psychology professor at the University of Louisville, said he found Ford’s body language and tone of voice to be persuasive.
“Her generally calm and soft-spoken, yet firm, voice seemed consistent with the feminine sex-role,” he said. “At the end, I believe she retained her credibility.”
As for Kavanaugh, Cunningham said the nominee “was successful in conveying the emotions of a man who has convinced himself that he has done nothing wrong.” But the professor had doubts about the impact of Kavanaugh’s show of emotions.
“Judge Kavanaugh tearing up when mentioning his daughter conveyed a man who was feeling sorry for himself,” Cunningham said. “Society wants men to be sympathetic, and even tearful at times, but not for themselves.”

Social-Media Directed at Kavanaugh’s Emotional Displays

Glenn Sacks, a commentator who writes often about men’s issues, expressed dismay at social-media derision being directed at Kavanaugh due to his emotional displays.
“The mocking of his demeanor is indicative of the restraints still upon men — no weakness allowed, suck it up or get laughed at,” Sacks said in an email. “Men are taught this at an early age — when women cry, we sympathize. When a man cries, it’s so unseemly we can barely stand to look at it.”
Jo Langford, a Seattle-based therapist who works with men and boys who have committed sexual offenses, said he was struck by the contrast between Kavanaugh’s anger and Ford’s “stable and straightforward cadence.” He concluded that Ford may have fared better in the court of public opinion.
Among those closely following the hearing was Danielle Campoamor, a New York-based writer and editor who says she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker five years ago.
Ford “was calm in a way every sexual assault victim is asked to be, lest they be written off as ‘unhinged’ and ’emotional’ and, as a result, no longer credible,” Campoamor said. “Kavanaugh, by contrast, was unapologetically angry. … He embodied the anger so many sexual assault victims fear; the anger that keeps so many of us from coming forward.”

DON'T MISS

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

DON'T MISS

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

DON'T MISS

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

DON'T MISS

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

DON'T MISS

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

DON'T MISS

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

DON'T MISS

Police Had About 90 Seconds to Stop Traffic Before Baltimore Bridge Fell. 6 Workers Are Feared Dead

DON'T MISS

NBC Has Cut Ties With Former RNC Head Ronna McDaniel After Employee Objections, Some on the Air

DON'T MISS

Chinese Leader Xi Issues a Positive Message to US Business Leaders as Ties Improve

DON'T MISS

Cargo Ship Lost Power, Issued Mayday Before Hitting Baltimore’s Bridge

No data was found

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

1 hour ago

When Newsom Gives His State of the State, He Should Be Candid About California’s Economy

1 hour ago

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

1 hour ago

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

2 hours ago

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

3 hours ago

Supermom Carmi Is Ready to Be Embraced by Her Forever Family

Animals /

6 hours ago

Ukrainian Navy Says a Third of Russian Warships in the Black Sea Have Been Destroyed or Disabled

14 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: How Going to Work for Trump Turned Devin Nunes Into a Millionaire

18 hours ago

Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, Democrats’ VP Pick in 2000, Dead at 82

19 hours ago

Trump Criticizes Judge and His Daughter After Gag Order in Hush-Money Case

20 hours ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

TORONTO — Four of the largest school boards in the Canadian province of Ontario said Thursday they launched lawsuits against TikTok, Meta an...

7 mins ago

7 mins ago

Canadian School Boards Sue Snapchat, TikTok and Meta for Disrupting Students’ Education

14 mins ago

California Law Enforcement Agencies Obstruct Transparency Efforts in Use-of-Force Cases

58 mins ago

Fresno County Tackles Animal Overpopulation with New Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Program

1 hour ago

Fallen Crypto Mogul Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison

1 hour ago

When Newsom Gives His State of the State, He Should Be Candid About California’s Economy

Photo of Taylor Swift
1 hour ago

No Police Charges for Taylor Swift’s Dad Over Paparazzi Incident in Sydney

2 hours ago

Biden Administration to Lend $1.5B to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant, a First in the US

3 hours ago

Tonight’s Biden Fundraiser With Obama and Clinton Already Nets a Record $25 Million

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend