71. Cheated: Every Woman's Story (with Tracey Meares)

71. Cheated: Every Woman’s Story (with Tracey Meares)
2/28/2023
With Guests:



Professor Tracey Meares is the Walton Hale Hamilton professor and a founding director of the Justice collaboratory at Yale Law School, and a former professor at the University of Chicago Law School. She is a nationally recognized expert on policing in urban communities.

In this Episode:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1171226/12348523-cheated-every-woman-s-story-with-tracey-meares.mp3

In this episode, we’re thinking about the many ways in which girls and women in the U.S. are denied, passed over, and even cheated of opportunities they have earned. We note that it happens at school, college, graduate school, the work environment, and even in government. Being denied can be humiliating, embarrassing, and stressful. But, women can and do fight back—often by overachieving. How do we move ahead in light of social, political and other forces that hold women, girls, and those of other marginalized backgrounds back?


Michele Goodwin:

Welcome to “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin” at Ms. magazine, a show where we report, rebel and you know, we tell it just like it is. On this show, we center your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. Join me as we tackle the most compelling issues of our times. On our show history matters. We examine the past as we think about and pivot to the future. And on this show, we are also thinking about histories of being denied, women being denied the positions that they have applied for, the pay that is owed to them. And these are histories that go back to colonialism and slavery and before. But in modern times, what do these concerns mean? And what does it mean to be left outside of the tent, where in fact, you’ve already purchased your ticket for entry.

And there are many examples that we can think about within the American context and broader of girls and women being denied opportunities, platforms, and even more and so I couldn’t be more pleased than to have on this episode with me Professor Tracey Meares. She is the Walton Hale Hamilton professor and a founding director of the Justice collaboratory at Yale Law School. Before joining the faculty at Yale, she was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. And you may have been familiar with her story of being denied the position of valedictorian when she was graduating from high school because of her race.

This is a story that is not unique to Professor Meares. But it is a powerful story that punches one right in the gut, and that demands that we reflect on what do these issues mean, in contemporary times, what does it mean when you’ve been denied an opportunity that was yours? What are the setbacks for women, when that happens? How do we move ahead in light of social, political and other forces that seek to hold women back? And what does this mean, not just for women? What does it mean for girls? What does it mean for other populations of people who are denied simply because of who they are? Being LGBTQ, having a disability, what more? These are really important issues for our time, so I couldn’t be more pleased than for Professor Meares to share her story—which on one hand, has its own inspirations in terms of the fabulous person that she is and the very distinguished position that she holds. And yet it’s also heartbreaking too, to listen to her story and to know that it is a story that has been repeated time and again. I’m just so grateful that she joined us for our “On the Issues” podcast. So sit back and take a listen.

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https://msmagazine.com/podcast/cheated-every-womans-story-with-tracey-meares/