Why Does Sotomayor Want Us to Think She Is Ordinary?

Accepting Obama's nomination to replace Justice Souter on the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor said:

I hope that as the Senate and American people learn more about me, they will see that I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences.

Set aside the choice to describe her childhood—growing up with diabetes in a poor, single-family household—as having been "blessed with extraordinary opportunities." What troubles me is the plea from a woman just nominated to fill one of the most powerful, demanding, intellectually challenging positions in the nation to be viewed as "ordinary."

I thought we'd get a break at least until the next election from the attempts of public figures trying their damnedest to seem like plain old Joe-the-Plumbers and hockey moms. (That dance is especially frustrating to watch when performed by people we respect for their extreme intelligence who are, in fact, vying for positions that demand superior brainpower.) Supreme Court justices have the luxury of being appointed rather than elected, which means they should be free from this silly charade-free to let their brilliance shine. And still, Sotomayor asks to be seen as ordinary.

Is this just another example of a woman downplaying her achievements lest she seem too aggressive or egotistical or bitchy or whatever other negative words get thrown at powerful women? Is such self-deprecation harmful to the rest of us, do you think? Sotomayor is already quite the model of success for women, Latinas, and anyone growing up with economic hardship or health problems (she has had diabetes since she was 8). But does calling herself ordinary set a bad example?

Tags: obama's nomination of sotomayor, Sonia Sotomayor, Supreme Court

VIEW THIS CONVERSATION

Samantha Henig is the associate editor of Double X, and can be reached at samantha.henig@doublex.com.

Comments

I don't know how this

By: bananaripe | Tue, 08/25/2009 - 00:57

I don't know how this pregnancy happen , Just knowing that a nice cruise thailand helps me to enjoy a provestra night and carrying my pregnancy for 3 months now.

While she's doing that, I'm

By: acotas548 | Mon, 08/10/2009 - 05:26

While she's doing that, I'm watching our kids - and in many cases, keeping them out of the house (she's never worked in a chaotic newsroom and has a lower tolerance for noise than I do). I also do all the cooking (I took cooking classes in high school because I wanted to be able to eat my homework).
fake degree | free diploma

And I know it's taken me a

By: acotas548 | Mon, 08/10/2009 - 05:25

And I know it's taken me a long time to get to the point, but here it is. My wife works way harder and many more hours than I do - that 50-hour a week total doesn't include her classroom prep time, her time studying to complete that college degree so she can make the jump to college nursing professor when she graduates.
online phd degree | buy degree | online degree program

تحميل برامج برامج

By: emad964 | Sat, 06/27/2009 - 15:02

تحميل برامج
برامج جوالات
العاب
بنات
تكنولوجيا
كتب تعليم
UltraSurf
العاب
برامج نت
Internet Download Manager
ProgDVB
برامج مجانية
أفضل المواقع العربية
مشاهدة محطات مشفرة Online TV Player 3.0.0.940
Internet Download Manager 5.17 Build 4
رقص شرقي anyTV Pro 4.32
OnLineLive 7.1.1
هزي يانواعم ProgDVB 6.06.2
SopCast 3.0.3
Falco Image Studio 3.6
لعبة تزلج على الجليد
UltraSurf 9.4
كاثرين هيغل Katherine Heigl
محطة غنوة FreeZ Online TV 1.0
Free Video to Mp3 Converter 3.1.3.51
Advanced MP3 Converter 2.10
Xilisoft Video to Audio Converter 5.1.23.0515
Blaze Media Pro 8.02
AKRAM Media Creator 1.11
DVD Audio Extractor 4.5.4
Free WMA to MP3 Converter 1.16
لعبة نينجا المتقدم
لعبة قذف كرة
لعبة دراجات البهلوانية
لعبة اعداء الغابة
تحميل برامج
Download DivX Subtitles 2.0
BullGuard 8.5
Google Chrome 2.0.181.1 Dev
Dell Studio XPS Desktop 435T Intel Matrix Storage Manager A00
Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P Bios F9
Ambush
HDConvertToX 1.1.229.1764
MSI Wind Nettop CS 120 Realtek Audio Driver 5.10.0.5618
Biostar T41-A7 6.x Realtek On-Board Audio Driver 5.10.0.5735 for 2000/2003/XP
TweakNow RegCleaner 4.1.1
SpeedItup Free 4.97
برامج العاب -
Internet Download Manager -
برامج جوالات -
العاب -
محطة غنوة -
قنوات فضائية -
بنات -
تكنولوجيا -
كتب تعليم -
UltraSurf -
ق ذ -0

Humility is admirable, but

By: AletaB | Wed, 05/27/2009 - 09:06

Humility is admirable, but I'm deeply troubled by this political climate which seems to demand that public figures - both men and women - carefully downplay their passions and achievements lest they be leveraged by the other party. It saddens me that we don't have a political system in which we can trust in our elected officials to put the law/needs of the many/etc. before their personal beliefs.

I'm not sure this is a gender

By: geml | Tue, 05/26/2009 - 21:17

I'm not sure this is a gender issue. When Alito was undergoing the process, he and everyone around him made sure they were aware that he came from working class roots. When Clarence Thomas was going through the process, we heard much about his childhood.

As others have pointed out, this is more about having people relate to the Supreme Court Justices as people, and it's smart politics, regardless of which party is doing it. This is more in keeping with "All children can grow up to be Supreme Court Justices" than it is putting women down. Think of it as the American Dream personified. It goes to some of the deepest mythos that we share as Americans.

Humble

By: jea | Tue, 05/26/2009 - 20:29

I don't think that she is trying to downplay her success. I think that this was an attempt to appear humble. In addition, I think that she probably wants the individuals in her community to look at her early roots and be able to identify with her. She wants people to relate to her rather than see her as someone distant. I think that women are often caught between a rock and a hard place on this issue because if we tout our achievements we are seen as bragging. I think that a lot of women, in all fields, could use information on how to balance the need for expressing talent while not alienating others.

She might not be running for office but it is likely that she has a really tough fight in front of her. Things are peachy now but she has to be careful not to raise the ire of certain groups (namely the far right) who could pin her as just another arrogant liberal. She might be playing herself down but there is no way that I could compare her to someone calling herself "just a hockey mom".

clearly extraordinary

By: abby | Tue, 05/26/2009 - 20:25

Actually, I was very moved by this line. Among Sotomayor's many extraordinary qualities - and I think she has demonstrated her intellectual and professional abilities beyond question - it put humility front and center. And it seemed an appropriately striking contrast to the elitism (among other biases) behind those anonymous whispers in Jeffrey Rosen's ear.