In the past, it was challenging for women to work in fields that were dominated by men. Although things have changed in the modern day, it has taken us a while to reach to this point.
The majority of you know Judy Sheindlin as “Judge Judy,” and she never hesitated to pursue a legal profession. Despite the fact that some people thought she didn’t belong in the profession, she always knew she would end up becoming one. In her class of 126 students at the American University in Washington, DC, in 1963, she was the sole female graduate.
In her hometown of New York City, where she was born and reared, Judge Judy completed her legal education at the New York Law School.
She noted how some of her teachers at the time struggled to comprehend why she would choose a profession in law. One of her teachers asked her, “Why are you taking up the seat of a man who is going to have to support a family?” But she was adamant about realizing her goals, and her parents—particularly her father—played a significant influence in shaping who she was.
“When I returned from college, my father had some concerns about some of my scores. I started making up all kinds of justifications for why I hadn’t done as he had anticipated. Don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining, darling, he said as he stared at me, she recalled.
Judge Judy afterwards graduated to the practice of corporate law. Despite getting married and having two kids, she never gave up her job. She subsequently carried on working in family court for another ten years as a prosecutor.
She was named a criminal court judge by then-New York Mayor Ed Koch after he was impressed by her tenacity and expertise. She received a promotion to supervisory family court judge a few years later.