Three female judges reignite the forced motherhood debate in Spain

Three female judges, one single "with your permission" and the eternal question about their private lives

Three women join the judiciary and the public conversation soon drifts towards what should not matter: when they are going to have children. It is not a hoax nor an exaggeration. It is exactly what has peine after the swearing-in of three anonymous female judges who won their posts, and whose greatest professional achievement has been buried under a shower of comments about their fertility.

There are those who publicly wish them a large brood, as if the judicial robe came with a built-in biological clock. There are those who joke that they should ask "with your permission" before embarking on the maternal path. And there are those who directly demand that they fulfil the social script that begins with childbirth, something that is never raised in the case of men.

The background is not just drawing-room sens. Reproductive pressure on women in positions of authority is a measurable phenomenon: every time a woman accedes to a position of power, the interrogation about her motherhood reappears. The judiciary was not going to be an exception. The fact that three female judges have acceded at the same time has multiplied the dose.

The anecdote of the week, the "trio" that gives the furore its title, reflects a double standard that remains in force. While institutions boast of parity, the public debate remains anchored in the most stale gender roles.

With these tricks, does anyone doubt that work-life balance remains a pending issue?