What is a feminist?
Feminist is defined as “someone advocating social, political, legal, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.”
Why do I ask this?
I love creating blogs because they are mostly an opportunity for me to muse poetically (or maybe not so much) about whatever random thought comes to mind. (And nobody can interrupt me or tell me I’m wrong so that’s a plus.)
It all started with a potentially offensive remark
Today’s musings come about because a few weeks ago, while interviewing for an open position within our firm, one of the candidates made a comment that in theory could have been offensive to me and Julie.
I digress, as usual.
This comment is one that she is likely still embarrassed about. But it sure has been fun to bring up occasionally, as we ultimately hired her.
This candidate mentioned that when she told her husband it was our firm with which she was interviewing, his immediate reaction was “Oh – really? They seem really mean.”
I don’t recall how exactly this came up in our interview, but I watched her as the words tumbled out of her mouth, and as the realization of what she had just said dawned on her, all color proceeded to drain from her face.
It was amusing for sure. Julie and I are pretty thick-skinned (you genuinely have to be in this field). To us, it was nothing more than a combination of funny and perplexing.
As soon as our unlucky candidate said it she nervously laughed and continued to say “but you guys are so down to earth and friendly!” Nice save, lady.
Upon further questioning, it seems that she and her husband have seen some of our commercials. The impression they had was that we are, I suppose at least potentially, “mean.”
This is where the whole “I’m not a feminist, but …” thing comes into play.
Attention to detail … and then some
The amount of thought that we put into our very simple commercials is insane.
Everything down to the hair, the makeup, and the wardrobe is weighed on a scale of “0 to bi%^hy,” if you know what I mean.
We purposely wear jewel tones so that we look approachable, and not stiff and uptight in suits. We intentionally sit statuesque on a black background so as to come across as serious, educated attorneys who are ready to do what it takes for our clients. We discuss how our hair should be so that it doesn’t say “Suzy homemaker” but so that it also doesn’t say “I have no estrogen.”
It is exhausting. At the end of the day, we have to deal with the boy’s club mentality that’s rampant in our profession. Clients want male attorneys to be “aggressive, tenacious,” and to “play hardball.”
When it comes to hiring a female attorney, however, it’s a double standard.
Double standard creates a fine line
If we are “aggressive and tenacious” to some, we are “bi%^hy” to others. If we are “approachable and kind” to some, we are “weak and pushovers” to others. There IS a line there, but it’s largely invisible and it’s very difficult to find.
The fact is, though, we LOVE getting this sort of feedback. This was honest and raw, and it is information we will use when we plan our next shoot.
If you know us, you know who we are, you know our work ethic, sincerity and aggressiveness. We take our role as your advocates and counselors very, very seriously.
And it is our clients, who so generously sing our praises, that help us to continue to grow and maintain a fantastic relationship within our community.
Want to know about us? ASK!
There is not a phone call we won’t take. There isn’t a person we won’t try to assist, even if there is nothing we can do. Our assistance might be to simply point in the right direction. Don’t judge a jewel-toned attorney by her commercials!