In 1972 I had the opportunity to photograph women janitors, judges or jewelry makers. Since juggling was not considered a viable career, I eliminated my friend, Anita who was making money at children's birthday parties. I was able to locate 3 women janitors and an abundance of women earning money designing jewelry. I could not find a female judge [my first choice] without travelling to New York City. In retrospect, I probably could have waited a decade since women nearly tripled their share of the nation's judgeships between 1970 and 1980 from 6 to 17 percent. Currently about 33 percent of state and federal court judges in the U.S. are women, slightly higher than the global average of 27 percent. Interesting but not surprising... most jewelry designers in the 70's were women. Not much has changed over the last 40 years with the exception that men have gained access to this lucrative and artistic career opportunity: today over 40% of jewelry designers are men.
Linda Sherman, Jewelry Designer
Syracuse, New York 1972
