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“I don’t think the same thing is said about a male lawyer, or more importantly when males disagree with each other or are on opposite sides… you’re not viewed as a person who betrays your gender, you’re viewed as people who disagree,” Henein said Tuesday.

And that’s really it, isn’t it?

As much as the patriarchy may play its part, no one is better at cutting down a strong woman than other women.

Whether it’s on Twitter or in newsprint, Henein has been called everything from a gender traitor to a false-flag feminist. Her crime? Being really good at her job while simultaneously, and perhaps even cheekily, adopting all the gendered trappings of her power: the dramatic makeup, designer shoes, and dark suits.

“I’m not about to send myself back into the kitchen because somebody doesn’t like what I do,” she said.

Because it really all does go back to gender, doesn’t it? Would we be parsing Ghomeshi’s lawyer if it were “some old white dude who would of course defend an alleged serial sexual abuser?” What’s the name of the male Crown attorney who so spectacularly lost the case anyway?

Henein is noteworthy not because of how she got to the top of her game — defending doctors accused of the worst or high-profile politicians engaged in deadly crashes — but because she got there while possessing both a vagina and a killer closet.

But instead of celebrating her as a woman who has fought it all and won, she’s being called out. She’s been told she broke some magical bond of sisterhood that only applies until she disagrees, after which they’d like your feminist card back, please.