Reviews and Comments on Equal: Women Reshape American Law
Here are few words from the detailed comments that follow (see below):
"magnificent achievement" -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"wonderful" and "thrilling" -- Anthony Lewis
"monumental" and "indispensable"-- The Nation
"wonderful" -- Dahlia Lithwick
"a great read and a major contribution" -- Professor Deborah Rhode
"a wonderful writer [and] historian" -- Professor Susan Deller Ross
"smart, accessible" -- Carlin Romano
"crack investigative reporting [and] gripping narrative" -- Samantha Power
"fantastic, sensational" -- Naomi Wolf
"compassionate and engrossing" -- Wendy Kaminer
"really the story of an insurgency" -- Publishers Weekly
"I love Fred's book" -- Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon
American Bar Association Honor to Equal:
The America Bar Association has honored Equal as one of the two best books of the year in its 2010 Gavel Awards for "outstanding efforts to foster public understanding of the law."
From Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
Fred Strebeigh's Equal is a "magnificent achievement. His book contains far and away the most accurate account of my endeavors in the 1970s of any published work to date." -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court. [For full text, click here for full text on the website of the Supreme Court <https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/speeches/viewspeech/sp_02-13-09>.]
From Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Supreme Court:
Fred Strebeigh's book is wonderful. It reminds us that the advance toward treating women as equal human beings in this country has been astonishing--and it didn't just happen. Concerned, creative lawyers made it happen. Strebeigh tells us how by the dramatic story of individuals: women, men and their cases. I found it thrilling. -- Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Supreme Court reporting in the New York Times
From Professor Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School:
Equal offers a compelling account of America’s leading women’s rights cases. Through painstaking research, Strebeigh gives us the "story behind the story" of the lawyers, litigants, and judges who made history. With its sharp insight, telling details, and humorous commentary, this book belongs both in law school curricula and on bedside tables. It is a great read and a major contribution to our understanding of women’s rights and constitutional law. -- Professor Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School; past president of the Association of American Law Schools
From Dahlia Lithwick, May 2009 (and in Slate, 4/11/09):
The surprise at the heart of Equal is the extent to which well-meaning males tended to see women as fighting against their own interests, and themselves as protectors. As Ginsburg would later put it, these men genuinely believed, "What is this sex discrimination? What are you talking about? I'm so good to my wife and my daughter." And how do you explain the family resemblance between chivalry and bigotry to some of the most chivalrous men on earth? This is why Equal is really the story of subversive women. -- Dahlia Lithwick, "Subversive Women," Yale Alumni Magazine, May/June 2009. (And see also Dahlia Lithwick in Slate, 4/11/09: A wonderful new book by Fred Strebeigh called Equal: Women Reshape American Law, is full of stories about well-meaning men who thought they knew what women needed and the women who showed them they were wrong. -- Dahlia Lithwick, "The Fairer Sex: What do we mean when we say we need more female justices?", Slate, April 11, 2009)
From Professor Samantha Power, Harvard University:
We can't really understand where law and society are going unless we understand where they have been. Fred Strebeigh brings us that history, combining crack investigative reporting, gripping narrative, and moving character portraits. In so doing, he shows us how the law has influenced the lives of women, and how women have shaped the law of the land. Strebeigh gives us heroes and villains, and above all he shows us the price -- and the human stakes -- of the struggle for equality. -- Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, author of A Problem from Hell, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction; nominated U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by President Barack Obama
From Ruth Conniff in The Progressive, 6/16/09:
"For all the outrage and umbrage generated by Judge Sonia Sotomayor's comment from a 2001 speech "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," there has been precious little analysis of her conclusions. . . . To those who decried this point of view as racist, sexist, and patently false, there is no better rebuttal than Fred Strebeigh's new book, Equal: Women Reshape American Law." -- Ruth Conniff, "Radical Feminists on the Court," The Progressive, 6/16/2009
From Professor Susan Deller Ross, Georgetown University Law Center:
Kudos for a wonderful writer, historian, and promoter of women's rights. Fred Strebeigh brilliantly weaves together the stories of the people who fought against legally-embedded sex discrimination, their lawyers, and the relevant Supreme Court decisions. The book is written in clear prose that will enable the lay reader to understand the decisions, appreciate the complex interactions among all these forces that gained greater equality for women and men, and know that there are still issues to address. -- Susan Deller Ross, Professor of Law and Director, International Women's Human Rights Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center
From Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:
Could America really have been so sexist only four decades ago? In this groundbreaking book, Fred Strebeigh reminds us that from the office to the bedroom to the Supreme Court, the answer is yes. Case by case, character by character, detail by detail, he traces how far we have come. When I reached the last page, I wanted to stand and cheer both the intrepid lawyers who changed our country and the author who has so richly, clearly, and memorably chronicled their achievements. --Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ex Libris, and At Large and at Small; Francis writer in residence at Yale
From Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon, University of Michigan Law School:
"I love Fred's book. I'm not going to steal his thunder [by retelling] a lot of the stories that he tells. And also, I hate talking about myself. It makes me really uncomfortable. I feel like it's a distraction when I do it, but it's history when he does it. What I loved specially about the book is the way he put us all in the context of each other. And, also, he is a phenomenally ethical journalist, let me tell you." -- Catharine A. MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and Special Gender Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, speaking to a gathering including many other attorneys whose work is narrated in Equal, at an all-day symposium, 2/13/09, “Rutgers School of Law–Newark Celebrates Women Reshaping American Law” [with video available at the website of Rutgers School of Law–Newark]
From Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford University:
If women have more equality under the law today than they did in the past--if there is greater gender equity in American society--these changes happened, in large part, because of the women lawyers in this book and the cases they argued during the last quarter of the 20th century. The stories Strebeigh tells in this readable and engaging book are riveting. They are also inspiring. All of us are indebted to the women he profiles for having changed our world for the better--and we are indebted to Strebeigh, as well, for being such a lucid guide to how they did it. -- Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Director of American Studies, Stanford University; past president of the American Studies Association
From Professor Sandra M. Gilbert, University of California, Davis:
Both a compelling read and a meticulously researched history, Fred Strebeigh's book is a deeply inspiring account of the varied cases through which American women have fought to gain equality under the law. It will fascinate general readers and specialists alike. --Sandra M. Gilbert, Distinguished Professor of English Emerita, University of California, Davis; past president of the Modern Languages Association
From Professor Suzanne A. Kim, Rutgers Law School:
Beautifully written and assiduously researched, Fred Strebeigh’s book puts a human face on the movement toward legal recognition of sex discrimination. Equal gives us an unprecedented view into the minds of the plaintiffs, lawyers, and judges who brought about a seismic shift in the law. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how each individual can improve our society through compassion, drive, and creativity. This book is both inspired and inspiring. --Suzanne A. Kim, Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law - Newark
From Lincoln Caplan, author of The Tenth Justice and former editor of Legal Affairs:
Fred Strebeigh is a beloved teacher of nonfiction writing at Yale. Some of today’s most influential American journalists are his former students. With Equal, he has delivered a refresher course for them and the rest of us about a fundamental element of valuable nonfiction: deep, sustained, omnivorous reporting.
This volume reflects a decade of immersion in never-before-examined Supreme Court papers, essential library archives, and lively conversations with the architects of landmark cases that have hastened and impeded progress toward equality between women and men.
Equal is sympathetic to the cause yet even-keeled, steeped in the nuances of the law yet inviting to those unschooled in its arcana. It is an ambitious and admirable contribution to the annals of American justice. The mixture of Strebeigh’s ardent curiosity about his momentous subject and the freshness of the battles that he chronicles make the book a revealing work of living history.
-- Lincoln Caplan, author, The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law and other books about the law; former editor and president, Legal Affairs magazine, and editorial board member, New York Times.
From Michael O'Donnell, The Nation, 4/27/09:
"[Justice Ruth Bader] Ginsburg is one of the central figures of Fred Strebeigh's monumental new book, Equal, which tells the story of women's struggle for equality through the courts and their rise in the legal profession . . . . Remarkably, Ginsburg granted Strebeigh open access to her pre-judgeship files, a decision that turned an excellent book into an indispensable one . . . . Even though Strebeigh tells these litigation histories extraordinarily well, it's his detailed research and knack for piecing together tales of backstage advocacy that make Equal such an outstanding book."
-- Michael O'Donnell, "They Fought the Law: Fred Strebeigh's Equal," in The Nation, 4/27/2009
From Wendy Kaminer, FireDogLake Book Salon, 3/22/09:
Fred Strebeigh’s compassionate and engrossing book celebrates the women who systematically removed historic legal roadblocks from our path. . . . While deftly explaining the legal issues in lay person’s terms, Equal focuses on the personal stories of lawyers and litigants who fought and often won landmark battles for sexual equality in the late 20th century. . . . Fred Strebeigh’s Equal is both a valuable reminder of the primitive sexism confronted by pioneering feminist lawyers and an invitation to consider the complexities of their legacies. -- Wendy Kaminer, "Book Salon Welcomes Fred Strebeigh, Equal: Women Reshape American Law," FireDogLake Book Salon, 3/22/09
From Naomi Wolf, 2/11/2009:
A fantastic, sensational, important book. -- Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, Fire with Fire, and Give Me Liberty
From Ariana Green, The Barnes & Noble Review, 2/09:
More behind-the-scenes and personal than straight legal narrative, Equal: Women Reshape American Law combines the author's interviews and exclusive archival access to create a revealing account of the groundbreaking cases involving women's rights. -- Ariana Green, The Barnes & Noble Review, February 2009
From Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/23/09:
A smart, accessible overview, from a teacher of nonfiction writing at Yale, of how women have transformed American law over the last few decades. -- Carlin Romano, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/23/09
From Publishers Weekly, 12/1/08 [starred review]:
Beyond the hot-button issue of abortion, feminist lawyers and scholars have worked a quieter but equally far-reaching revolution in law and jurisprudence, argues this fascinating history. Strebeigh, a journalist who teaches nonfiction writing at Yale, chronicles 40 years of changing law on employment discrimination, sexual harassment and rape, as a growing movement of women lawyers, professors and judges challenged a primordial legal sexism. (Courts, for example, used to insist that rape victims fight their attackers almost to the death to prove lack of consent.) The author lucidly explains the intricacies of evolving legal doctrine (the federal Violence Against Women Act hung awkwardly from the Constitution's commerce clause) and the devilishly complex litigation strategies lawyers pursued to insinuate new concepts into case law. But his account is really the story of an insurgency—percolating up from consciousness-raising groups and feminist law school seminars; pioneered by theorists like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Catharine Mackinnon; fought out by plucky, underpaid lawyers working in hostile courts; and climaxing in constitutional and political showdowns deep inside the Supreme Court. The result is a keen assessment of how far the law has come—and of the struggle that propelled it. -- Publishers Weekly, 12/1/2008 [starred review]
From Alexandra Vacroux, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009:
Equal is the story of the resolute and plucky lawyers (many female, some male) who tackled one obstacle after another to reverse gender-based discrimination in the United States. -- Alexandra Vacroux, "'Equal: Women Reshape American Law," Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009 [not easily available on web]
From the Norton catalog for Equal:
The dramatic, untold story of how women battled blatant inequities in America's legal system.
As late as 1967, men outnumbered women twenty to one in American law schools. With the loss of deferments from Vietnam, law schools admitted women to avoid plummeting enrollments. As women entered, the law resisted. Judges would not hire women. Law firms asserted a right to discriminate against women. Judges permitted discrimination against pregnant women. Courts viewed sexual harassment as, one judge said, "a game played by the male superiors." Against the odds, women fought to reshape the law. Fred Strebeigh has interviewed litigators, plaintiffs, and judges, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Catharine MacKinnon, and has done research in their private archives as well as those of other attorneys who took cases to the Supreme Court to make the law equal and just for all.
"magnificent achievement" -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
"wonderful" and "thrilling" -- Anthony Lewis
"monumental" and "indispensable"-- The Nation
"wonderful" -- Dahlia Lithwick
"a great read and a major contribution" -- Professor Deborah Rhode
"a wonderful writer [and] historian" -- Professor Susan Deller Ross
"smart, accessible" -- Carlin Romano
"crack investigative reporting [and] gripping narrative" -- Samantha Power
"fantastic, sensational" -- Naomi Wolf
"compassionate and engrossing" -- Wendy Kaminer
"really the story of an insurgency" -- Publishers Weekly
"I love Fred's book" -- Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon
American Bar Association Honor to Equal:
The America Bar Association has honored Equal as one of the two best books of the year in its 2010 Gavel Awards for "outstanding efforts to foster public understanding of the law."
From Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg:
Fred Strebeigh's Equal is a "magnificent achievement. His book contains far and away the most accurate account of my endeavors in the 1970s of any published work to date." -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court. [For full text, click here for full text on the website of the Supreme Court <https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/speeches/viewspeech/sp_02-13-09>.]
From Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Supreme Court:
Fred Strebeigh's book is wonderful. It reminds us that the advance toward treating women as equal human beings in this country has been astonishing--and it didn't just happen. Concerned, creative lawyers made it happen. Strebeigh tells us how by the dramatic story of individuals: women, men and their cases. I found it thrilling. -- Anthony Lewis, author of Gideon's Trumpet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Supreme Court reporting in the New York Times
From Professor Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School:
Equal offers a compelling account of America’s leading women’s rights cases. Through painstaking research, Strebeigh gives us the "story behind the story" of the lawyers, litigants, and judges who made history. With its sharp insight, telling details, and humorous commentary, this book belongs both in law school curricula and on bedside tables. It is a great read and a major contribution to our understanding of women’s rights and constitutional law. -- Professor Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School; past president of the Association of American Law Schools
From Dahlia Lithwick, May 2009 (and in Slate, 4/11/09):
The surprise at the heart of Equal is the extent to which well-meaning males tended to see women as fighting against their own interests, and themselves as protectors. As Ginsburg would later put it, these men genuinely believed, "What is this sex discrimination? What are you talking about? I'm so good to my wife and my daughter." And how do you explain the family resemblance between chivalry and bigotry to some of the most chivalrous men on earth? This is why Equal is really the story of subversive women. -- Dahlia Lithwick, "Subversive Women," Yale Alumni Magazine, May/June 2009. (And see also Dahlia Lithwick in Slate, 4/11/09: A wonderful new book by Fred Strebeigh called Equal: Women Reshape American Law, is full of stories about well-meaning men who thought they knew what women needed and the women who showed them they were wrong. -- Dahlia Lithwick, "The Fairer Sex: What do we mean when we say we need more female justices?", Slate, April 11, 2009)
From Professor Samantha Power, Harvard University:
We can't really understand where law and society are going unless we understand where they have been. Fred Strebeigh brings us that history, combining crack investigative reporting, gripping narrative, and moving character portraits. In so doing, he shows us how the law has influenced the lives of women, and how women have shaped the law of the land. Strebeigh gives us heroes and villains, and above all he shows us the price -- and the human stakes -- of the struggle for equality. -- Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, author of A Problem from Hell, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction; nominated U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by President Barack Obama
From Ruth Conniff in The Progressive, 6/16/09:
"For all the outrage and umbrage generated by Judge Sonia Sotomayor's comment from a 2001 speech "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life," there has been precious little analysis of her conclusions. . . . To those who decried this point of view as racist, sexist, and patently false, there is no better rebuttal than Fred Strebeigh's new book, Equal: Women Reshape American Law." -- Ruth Conniff, "Radical Feminists on the Court," The Progressive, 6/16/2009
From Professor Susan Deller Ross, Georgetown University Law Center:
Kudos for a wonderful writer, historian, and promoter of women's rights. Fred Strebeigh brilliantly weaves together the stories of the people who fought against legally-embedded sex discrimination, their lawyers, and the relevant Supreme Court decisions. The book is written in clear prose that will enable the lay reader to understand the decisions, appreciate the complex interactions among all these forces that gained greater equality for women and men, and know that there are still issues to address. -- Susan Deller Ross, Professor of Law and Director, International Women's Human Rights Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center
From Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down:
Could America really have been so sexist only four decades ago? In this groundbreaking book, Fred Strebeigh reminds us that from the office to the bedroom to the Supreme Court, the answer is yes. Case by case, character by character, detail by detail, he traces how far we have come. When I reached the last page, I wanted to stand and cheer both the intrepid lawyers who changed our country and the author who has so richly, clearly, and memorably chronicled their achievements. --Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ex Libris, and At Large and at Small; Francis writer in residence at Yale
From Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon, University of Michigan Law School:
"I love Fred's book. I'm not going to steal his thunder [by retelling] a lot of the stories that he tells. And also, I hate talking about myself. It makes me really uncomfortable. I feel like it's a distraction when I do it, but it's history when he does it. What I loved specially about the book is the way he put us all in the context of each other. And, also, he is a phenomenally ethical journalist, let me tell you." -- Catharine A. MacKinnon, Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, and Special Gender Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, speaking to a gathering including many other attorneys whose work is narrated in Equal, at an all-day symposium, 2/13/09, “Rutgers School of Law–Newark Celebrates Women Reshaping American Law” [with video available at the website of Rutgers School of Law–Newark]
From Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Stanford University:
If women have more equality under the law today than they did in the past--if there is greater gender equity in American society--these changes happened, in large part, because of the women lawyers in this book and the cases they argued during the last quarter of the 20th century. The stories Strebeigh tells in this readable and engaging book are riveting. They are also inspiring. All of us are indebted to the women he profiles for having changed our world for the better--and we are indebted to Strebeigh, as well, for being such a lucid guide to how they did it. -- Shelley Fisher Fishkin, Director of American Studies, Stanford University; past president of the American Studies Association
From Professor Sandra M. Gilbert, University of California, Davis:
Both a compelling read and a meticulously researched history, Fred Strebeigh's book is a deeply inspiring account of the varied cases through which American women have fought to gain equality under the law. It will fascinate general readers and specialists alike. --Sandra M. Gilbert, Distinguished Professor of English Emerita, University of California, Davis; past president of the Modern Languages Association
From Professor Suzanne A. Kim, Rutgers Law School:
Beautifully written and assiduously researched, Fred Strebeigh’s book puts a human face on the movement toward legal recognition of sex discrimination. Equal gives us an unprecedented view into the minds of the plaintiffs, lawyers, and judges who brought about a seismic shift in the law. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in how each individual can improve our society through compassion, drive, and creativity. This book is both inspired and inspiring. --Suzanne A. Kim, Associate Professor of Law, Rutgers School of Law - Newark
From Lincoln Caplan, author of The Tenth Justice and former editor of Legal Affairs:
Fred Strebeigh is a beloved teacher of nonfiction writing at Yale. Some of today’s most influential American journalists are his former students. With Equal, he has delivered a refresher course for them and the rest of us about a fundamental element of valuable nonfiction: deep, sustained, omnivorous reporting.
This volume reflects a decade of immersion in never-before-examined Supreme Court papers, essential library archives, and lively conversations with the architects of landmark cases that have hastened and impeded progress toward equality between women and men.
Equal is sympathetic to the cause yet even-keeled, steeped in the nuances of the law yet inviting to those unschooled in its arcana. It is an ambitious and admirable contribution to the annals of American justice. The mixture of Strebeigh’s ardent curiosity about his momentous subject and the freshness of the battles that he chronicles make the book a revealing work of living history.
-- Lincoln Caplan, author, The Tenth Justice: The Solicitor General and the Rule of Law and other books about the law; former editor and president, Legal Affairs magazine, and editorial board member, New York Times.
From Michael O'Donnell, The Nation, 4/27/09:
"[Justice Ruth Bader] Ginsburg is one of the central figures of Fred Strebeigh's monumental new book, Equal, which tells the story of women's struggle for equality through the courts and their rise in the legal profession . . . . Remarkably, Ginsburg granted Strebeigh open access to her pre-judgeship files, a decision that turned an excellent book into an indispensable one . . . . Even though Strebeigh tells these litigation histories extraordinarily well, it's his detailed research and knack for piecing together tales of backstage advocacy that make Equal such an outstanding book."
-- Michael O'Donnell, "They Fought the Law: Fred Strebeigh's Equal," in The Nation, 4/27/2009
From Wendy Kaminer, FireDogLake Book Salon, 3/22/09:
Fred Strebeigh’s compassionate and engrossing book celebrates the women who systematically removed historic legal roadblocks from our path. . . . While deftly explaining the legal issues in lay person’s terms, Equal focuses on the personal stories of lawyers and litigants who fought and often won landmark battles for sexual equality in the late 20th century. . . . Fred Strebeigh’s Equal is both a valuable reminder of the primitive sexism confronted by pioneering feminist lawyers and an invitation to consider the complexities of their legacies. -- Wendy Kaminer, "Book Salon Welcomes Fred Strebeigh, Equal: Women Reshape American Law," FireDogLake Book Salon, 3/22/09
From Naomi Wolf, 2/11/2009:
A fantastic, sensational, important book. -- Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, Fire with Fire, and Give Me Liberty
From Ariana Green, The Barnes & Noble Review, 2/09:
More behind-the-scenes and personal than straight legal narrative, Equal: Women Reshape American Law combines the author's interviews and exclusive archival access to create a revealing account of the groundbreaking cases involving women's rights. -- Ariana Green, The Barnes & Noble Review, February 2009
From Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/23/09:
A smart, accessible overview, from a teacher of nonfiction writing at Yale, of how women have transformed American law over the last few decades. -- Carlin Romano, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/23/09
From Publishers Weekly, 12/1/08 [starred review]:
Beyond the hot-button issue of abortion, feminist lawyers and scholars have worked a quieter but equally far-reaching revolution in law and jurisprudence, argues this fascinating history. Strebeigh, a journalist who teaches nonfiction writing at Yale, chronicles 40 years of changing law on employment discrimination, sexual harassment and rape, as a growing movement of women lawyers, professors and judges challenged a primordial legal sexism. (Courts, for example, used to insist that rape victims fight their attackers almost to the death to prove lack of consent.) The author lucidly explains the intricacies of evolving legal doctrine (the federal Violence Against Women Act hung awkwardly from the Constitution's commerce clause) and the devilishly complex litigation strategies lawyers pursued to insinuate new concepts into case law. But his account is really the story of an insurgency—percolating up from consciousness-raising groups and feminist law school seminars; pioneered by theorists like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Catharine Mackinnon; fought out by plucky, underpaid lawyers working in hostile courts; and climaxing in constitutional and political showdowns deep inside the Supreme Court. The result is a keen assessment of how far the law has come—and of the struggle that propelled it. -- Publishers Weekly, 12/1/2008 [starred review]
From Alexandra Vacroux, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009:
Equal is the story of the resolute and plucky lawyers (many female, some male) who tackled one obstacle after another to reverse gender-based discrimination in the United States. -- Alexandra Vacroux, "'Equal: Women Reshape American Law," Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2009 [not easily available on web]
From the Norton catalog for Equal:
The dramatic, untold story of how women battled blatant inequities in America's legal system.
As late as 1967, men outnumbered women twenty to one in American law schools. With the loss of deferments from Vietnam, law schools admitted women to avoid plummeting enrollments. As women entered, the law resisted. Judges would not hire women. Law firms asserted a right to discriminate against women. Judges permitted discrimination against pregnant women. Courts viewed sexual harassment as, one judge said, "a game played by the male superiors." Against the odds, women fought to reshape the law. Fred Strebeigh has interviewed litigators, plaintiffs, and judges, including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Catharine MacKinnon, and has done research in their private archives as well as those of other attorneys who took cases to the Supreme Court to make the law equal and just for all.
A note on this website for Equal: Women Reshape American Law
As of May 2012, Microsoft has ended its long-running website service called Microsoft Office Live, on which I built this site, www.EqualWomen.com. I am now rebuilding the site on a new website service, but for a while this site may remain in progress.
Many apologies, Fred Strebeigh