Anyone who has served on a law school admissions committee, and read the truckload of applications that admissions committee service usually entails, is aware of the fact that letters of reference submitted by aspiring law students often contain accolades about the personal attributes of an applicant that aren’t really relevant to traditional law school admissions criteria. These sometimes include commentary about an applicant’s aptitude for golf or tennis, statements about the “respectedness” of his or her family, or of an illustrious ancestor, plaudits for the regularity of an applicant’s church going, or, quite commonly, complimentary observations about an applicant’s looks.
You don’t need a particularly feminist sensibility to notice that reference letters rife with laudatory exhortations about a candidate’s gorgeous smile, “fit” body, or pretty face are usually submitted on behalf of female law school applicants. Today, however, I read a letter of recommendation (shared with me by a colleague, as I’m not on the Admissions Committee right now, happily) which was written by a self-described “family friend,” who seemed to premise his referential assessment of a male applicant largely upon the physical attractiveness of the candidate’s maternal parent. Seriously, the letter barely mentioned the applicant himself, but waxed eloquent about the “great beauty,” “pleasing visage” and “ladylike demeanor” of the candidate’s mother, who, need I add, has not applied to law school. No photos of her were enclosed, though I am sorely tempted to write and request one.
–Ann Bartow
