for such aspirations on the part of individual women often remain a puzzle. In relation to France, for example, James Albisetti concluded that explanation for the opening of the French bar to women ‘the best was that it served the interests of one person, But did Chauvin want to become an why Jeanne Chauvin.’ And for the women who never succeeded in gaining admission to the bar, did they experience avocat? how failure and rejection? Even for those who succeeded in becoming members of the legal professions, were their public expressions about equality as (ungendered) different from their ‘lawyers’ ‘private sorrows’ when they experienced exclusion, discrimination and unequal treatment because of their gender? Yet, while all want the answers to these questions may be elusive: as Paula Backscheider argued, while ‘we stories,’ questions of biography are the essential questions about human experience in the ‘the great world,’ biographers must often the that remain engage ‘with “puzzles” unsolved.’ Moreover, telling the stories of the first women lawyers presents challenges because they are As Jill Ker Conway explained, biographies of men have traditionally adopted the women. ‘quest plot’: ‘the story of the epic hero in classical antiquity [whose] achievement comes about through his own agency, … and [whose] successful rite of passage leaves him master of his By contrast, even when fortunes.’ women’s access to education and the professions a new social in the 19th century, Ker Conway ‘provided territory’ argued that societal power remained somewhat muted and that they tended to veil their ambitions women’s and successes: Like the frontiers-women silent about their physical strength and courage, pioneer women professionals were silent about their ambitions and recounted their lives as though their successes just happened to them, rather like the with the tenor in the first act of an soprano’s chance meeting opera. So the woman professional, actually a new and potentially revolutionary social type, told her story as a What are we to make of such silences? … romance…. Ker emphasis on silences in biographies focused on how they explained their success Conway’s women’s as Yet, as Judith Woolf argued, can simply be omission, but it can also be a ‘just happening.’ ‘Silence powerful unspoken presence in the Indeed, such often seem to be present but invisible in text.’ ‘silences’
for such aspirations on the part of individual women often remain a puzzle. In relation to France, for example, James Albisetti concluded that ‘the best explanation for the opening of the French bar to women was that it served the interests of one person, Jeanne Chauvin.’ But why did Chauvin want to become an avocat? And for the women who never succeeded in gaining admission to the bar, how did they experience failure and rejection? Even for those who succeeded in becoming members of the legal professions, were their public expressions about equality as ‘lawyers’ (ungendered) different from their ‘private sorrows’ when they experienced exclusion, discrimination and unequal treatment because of their gender? Yet, while ‘we all want stories,’ the answers to these questions may be elusive: as Paula Backscheider argued, while ‘the great questions of biography are the essential questions about human experience in the world,’ biographers must often engage ‘with the “puzzles” that remain unsolved.’ Moreover, telling the stories of the first women lawyers presents challenges because they are women. As Jill Ker Conway explained, biographies of men have traditionally adopted the ‘quest plot’: ‘the story of the epic hero in classical antiquity … [whose] achievement comes about through his own agency, and [whose] successful rite of passage leaves him master of his fortunes.’ By contrast, even when women’s access to education and the professions ‘provided a new social territory’ in the 19th century, Ker Conway argued that women’s societal power remained somewhat muted and that they tended to veil their ambitions and successes: Like the frontiers-women silent about their physical strength and courage, pioneer women professionals were silent about their ambitions and recounted their lives as though their successes just happened to them, rather like the soprano’s chance meeting with the tenor in the first act of an opera. So the woman professional, actually a new and potentially revolutionary social type, told her story as a … romance…. What are we to make of such silences? Ker Conway’s emphasis on silences in women’s biographies focused on how they explained their success as ‘just happening.’ Yet, as Judith Woolf argued, ‘Silence can simply be omission, but it can also be a powerful unspoken presence in the text.’ Indeed, such ‘silences’ often seem to be present but invisible in
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