kground to the male foreground of the firm. Lord knows that I was grateful for my chance to work at one of the top firms in Dallas, but the Lord also knew that I did not aspire to be a secretary. I asked Mrs. Brenda when will I go into client meetings and start to do case research and she asked why would I want to do that. She said that “Women don’t do certain things in this firm”. From my observation of the place women sat at cubicles, slaved for male bosses, and were beautiful-and that was their job. I was shocked and I went to the director of the firm and asked if I could be reassigned to research and case work because I had the art in preparing coffee mastered. Mr. McCall laughed for a minute and said, “Well Missy, you sure are aggressive and demanding but it will get you far. I personally think it is more important to be respected than liked.” . I did not know what to do, but did know I was hurt and embarrassed. At the tender age of sixteen I walked into the glass wall. I realized this in my evaluation when one of the associates advised me to stop being so brash and tone down my attitude. Chad was praised for being assertive, committed, and uncompromising. The year Barbra Streisand made this speech was the year of my internship. I respect her bravery and reality. She calls attention to the way we act every time we as a society accept the double standard, it only perpetuates the inequality. Anita Hill’s situation with sexual harassment was a breakthrough, simply because women united for her to be heard. But the fact that there were and still are no women on the Senate judiciary Committee is still a picture of the sad, nonprogressive state of our country. “We are a remarkable breed”, strong and committed to change. It is not enough to change the measure of the yard stick, if the new stick is not equal. I applaud her honesty and her determination to support women’s achievements . S...
