Yes, You Can Be A Supreme Court Justice & Have Six Kids.

• Author: Gochnour, Natalie

The number of children one has is irrelevant when considering male candidates, so why is it relevant when considering female ones? Natalie Gochnour ponders the nature of feminine leadership, and why we need it.

I watched with interest as President Donald Trump made his most recent Supreme Court selection. One of the finalists, federal appellate Judge Amy Barrett, made the short list. In news stories covering Justice Barrett, the media frequently cited her role as the mother of seven children. I don't recall any of the news stories referencing the number of children the male candidates had.

What's going on here?

The answer is simple. In most families, women fulfill the dominant parenting responsibility. When a woman also manages to achieve career success, it's worth noting both roles. There is an interesting subtext to this phenomenon. What if we placed greater value on a male Supreme Court nominee's role as a father? Would society be better if we celebrated, elevated, and esteemed parenting values in both women and men? Would there be more fairness, beauty, and civility if we placed more emphasis on a more holistic skillset in professional life? One that better-balanced masculine and feminine roles and values? These are challenging questions. Let's break them down by considering feminine and masculine values and their presence in both men and women.

FEMININE & MASCULINE VALUES ARE BOTH NECESSARY TO LEAD

Feminine values include attributes like civility, stewardship, cooperation, and fairness. The application of these values builds strong relationships and creates a service mindset. Women possess these values in abundance, but men have them too. Feminine values come from a root of goodness and serve a vital role.

Male values are different. They include competition, power, ambition, and efficiency. These values are abundant in the C-suite and elected office. While dominant in men, these values are also found in women. Male values help build a prosperous world, but without proper balance can create problems--just look at Washington DC, today.

Societies work best when both sets of values combine to form a complementary whole. It takes strength and goodness to build a more perfect union.

BEING A MOTHER IS AN ASSET, NOT A LIABILITY

Justice Barrett graduated summa cum laude from the Notre Dame University Law School and clerked for the late Justice Antonin Scalia. A devout Catholic, she and her husband have seven children, including two...