It was an amazing moment, and a terrible one for Jackson. You have to be a biologist to know what a woman is? Who would say that? Perhaps Jackson could see, in the seconds she had to consider the question, that the whole topic was a minefield for a nominee backed by the progressive legal community. What about all those transgender activists? What would they say? Better to punt and suggest that only a biologist can really know what a woman is.

Blackburn was ready for Jackson’s dodge. “So you believe the meaning of the word ‘woman’ is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?” she asked. “Senator, in my work as a judge, what I do is I address disputes,” Jackson explained. “If there’s a dispute about a definition, people make arguments, and I look at the law, and I decide, so I’m not — ”

“The fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something so fundamental as what a woman is underscores the danger of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,” Blackburn responded. Her point was made.

Mike Davis, who has taken part in a lot of confirmations, wondered why Jackson didn’t say something like this: “Of course I understand what the word ‘woman’ means in everyday life and meaning, but there are legal issues that could come before the court, Title IX or Title VII cases, so I just have to be careful.” Instead, Jackson balked at giving any definition of “woman” and suggested that only academically trained experts could do so.