In October 1991, the U.S. Senate readied for a vote to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. The nomination had already moved from the Judiciary Committee to the floor of the Senate when Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, reluctantly accused Mr. Thomas of making unwanted sexual advances toward her when she worked under his supervision at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Forced to conduct additional hearings, several members of the all-male Senate Judiciary Committee criticized Ms. Hill for coming forward so many years after the alleged incidents occurred. Many questioned the validity of her claims. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) even suggested that Ms. Hill committed perjury in her FBI affidavit when recounting her interactions with Mr. Thomas (Miller 1994). Following four days of televised hearings and debates, the 98-percent-male Senate ultimately voted 52–48 to confirm Clarence Thomas.

Angered by the way the Senate handled Thomas' confirmation, a number of Democratic women candidates sought and won seats in the 103rd Congress. As Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) (1994, 39–40) summarized: