case in the United States Supreme Court in 1873. Justice Bradley had rejected Myra Bradwell’s application on the basis that The civil law, as well as nature herself, has always recognized a wide difference in the respective spheres and destinies of man and The harmony [of family life] is repugnant to the idea woman…. of a woman adopting a distinct and independent career from that of her husband…. Clearly, the fact that was an American precedent that it was more than thirty years old and that Bradwell – French was unmarried did not persuade the New Brunswick court to distinguish this US decision, issues – that arguably reveal the ideology of (male) professionalism. Moreover, a decade later, Justice Saint-Pierre similarly rejected application for admission to the bar in Quebec in 1915. Annie Macdonald Langstaff’s Noting the exceptional contributions being made by women to World War I, he nonetheless suggested that to admit a woman to the bar: that is to say, as … a person who pleads cases at the bar before judges or juries in open court and would be nothing short of a direct infringement upon public order and in the presence of the public, a manifest violation of the law of good morals and public decency. Yet, in spite of this prevalent ideology about male professionalism, some women did succeed in gaining admission to the bar, often as a result of statutes enacted by male legislators. How did these first women lawyers respond to their admission to the legal professions? One American response is particularly telling, in my view. In her letter to other women lawyers in the United States in 1887, Lelia Robinson (a member of the bar in Boston, Massachusetts) stated bluntly: into the be be and recognize no Do not take sex lawyers, practice. Don’t ‘lady lawyers.’ Simply distinction no existence of any distinction between yourselves and other members of the bar. – Such advice suggests that early women lawyers sought to blend in with the traditional ideology of law as a their female gender in the hope that they could achieve acceptance as ‘gentleman’s profession,’ ignoring
case in the United States Supreme Court in 1873. Justice Bradley had rejected Myra Bradwell’s application on the basis that The civil law, as well as nature herself, has always recognized a wide difference in the respective spheres and destinies of man and woman…. The harmony [of family life] is repugnant to the idea of a woman adopting a distinct and independent career from that of her husband…. Clearly, the fact that Bradwell was an American precedent that it was more than thirty years old – and that French was unmarried – did not persuade the New Brunswick court to distinguish this US decision, issues that arguably reveal the ideology of (male) professionalism. Moreover, a decade later, Justice Saint-Pierre similarly rejected Annie Macdonald Langstaff’s application for admission to the bar in Quebec in 1915. Noting the exceptional contributions being made by women to World War I, he nonetheless suggested that to admit a woman to the bar: … that is to say, as a person who pleads cases at the bar before judges or juries in open court and in the presence of the public, would be nothing short of a direct infringement upon public order and a manifest violation of the law of good morals and public decency. Yet, in spite of this prevalent ideology about male professionalism, some women did succeed in gaining admission to the bar, often as a result of statutes enacted by male legislators. How did these first women lawyers respond to their admission to the legal professions? One American response is particularly telling, in my view. In her letter to other women lawyers in the United States in 1887, Lelia Robinson (a member of the bar in Boston, Massachusetts) stated bluntly: Do not take sex into the practice. Don’t be ‘lady lawyers.’ Simply be lawyers, and recognize no distinction – no existence of any distinction between yourselves and other members of the bar. Such advice suggests that early women lawyers sought to blend in with the traditional ideology of law as a ‘gentleman’s profession,’ ignoring their female gender in the hope that they could achieve acceptance as
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