Women jurors

I received this question in an e-mail:

審員の１２人は全員男性でしたが、あれは当時のアメリカの風潮のようなものなのか(男性優位のような)、脚本上の理由なのかが気になって仕方がありません。

Good question!  Here's a simple answer that I found on Answers.com:

Q: Why is the jury all men in 12 Angry men?
A: Because the times dictated that women were not included in juries. Women did not start playing a role in juries until the late 60's.

The movie was made in 1957, before women began to serve on juries.  For more detail about women on juries in America, click here.