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Sonia Sotomayor’s behavior was characterized as different then a man in many different ways. She was also characterized as being a minority and not being able to perform as well as white people. According to Jamison Foser and his article, “Where does Sonia Sotomayor go to get her reputation back?”, “Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor has been the subject of the harshest criticism.” She was criticized as not being smart enough and having a temperament. It was also said that she was kind of a bully on the bench. It was also said that she has a reputation for not being a hard worker, but if that were the case, then how did she get to the position she is in now?


Many of these traits that people are pointing out about Sotomayor are traits that if held by men would be acceptable. People are treating her very unfairly one because she is a female and two because she is a minority. In Foser’s article, he states, “As Hutchinson [American University law professor Darren Hutchinson] explains, the descriptions of Sotomayer as too temperamental are quite consistent with a clear double-standard in how men and women are portrayed in the media: A persistent and ubiquitous gender stereotype portrays smart and aggressive women as domineering, mean, nasty bitches. This stereotype explains much of the negative treatment that Hillary Clinton received during her presidential campaign. […] For Sotomayer, being a sharp interrogator and requiring lawyers to be “on top of it” are negative qualities. These traits are not negative in most men, certainly not white men.” The competency between a man and a woman greatly differs in American society and it only differs because people do not think that women can handle what men can handle and it is sad. When compared, Sonia Sotomayor has the same traits as almost all the men in the Supreme Justice Court, the only thing different about her is that she is female, so her traits are looked down upon.