Few political events in this decade have captured the American public imag­ ination as did the October 1991 confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The hearings brought to the fore a complex of issues of race, gender, sexuality, and power that has profoundly affected the way in which political discourse is now conducted. Before and during the hearings, women voiced a multiplicity of opinions, from indignation to rage to the conviction that the senators "just didn't get it." After the hearings, public action was added to opinion, and in 1992 a record number of female representatives was elected to public office.