What is a Woman, Judge Jackson? We’ll See You in Court
Of all the questions that ranged from wise to wacky during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings to the Supreme Court, one sticks out with memorable prominence: What is a woman?
Was Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, reaching for a “gotcha” with that question to President Joe Biden’s nominee to be the high court’s first Black woman justice?
That’s a good question. If you thought it was pretty well settled during your preschool potty training, as I did, you haven’t been paying attention to the moral panic ignited in some quarters about transgender rights.
It includes such roiling controversies as “bathroom bills” to limit bathroom access to the gender one is assigned at birth, and participation by transgender athletes such as Lia Thomas, who recently won a collegiate swimming championship.
In fact, regardless of where one stands on this thorny issue, the increasingly strong possibility that the definition of “woman” under the law might soon reach the Supreme Court is an excellent reason for Jackson to avoid answering the question, which she did.
But that practical consideration didn’t end the matter for Blackburn, who quickly took to Twitter:
“This is a simple question that requires a simple answer,” she tweeted. “It’s a major red flag that a Supreme Court nominee backed by the far left refuses to define the word 'woman.' ”
“Red flag?” Hardly. Blackburn inadvertently suggested a good answer to her own question when she asked in a mocking tweet, “If Judge Jackson does not know what a woman is, how will she be able to resolve sex discrimination claims or rule on Title IX cases?”
Indeed, the real red flag is the possibility that Jackson, once seated on the high court, would be ethically obligated to recuse herself from participating in cases involving gender rights and any other issue on which she has put herself on the record.
What makes the seemingly “simple question” of gender complicated is its grounding in identity, the labeling of what we think we are versus what others think when they see us.
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