Srijita Chakraborty
‘Woman’, a word which is used for an adult female finds its etymological origin from the word ‘wifman’ in old English and often in past, it has been referred to as the wife of a man.
Throughout history, women have been considered to be subordinate to men and often their relevance has been attached to the men in their lives. Women have mostly faced social disadvantages where they have to fight for everything, whether it’s for their rights or equality.
So, in a world that is too caught up in dissenting equality or standing up for Feminism, here we bring to you the life of Ruth Ginsberg who has been an advocate of feminism not only through her words but with her actions too. She was not only the 2nd female US Supreme Court Justice but she became the face of modern-day feminism and became popularly known to be ‘the notorious RBG’ or even the ‘feminist gladiator’.
The foundation laid by women like Ruth Ginsberg has indeed helped today’s youth to build a solid structure of equality where it doesn’t seem a far distant dream anymore for many.
Ruth, born in the 1930s didn’t let the society which still believed and treated women as a second-class citizen decide her fate. Born to a Jewish family in the US, brilliance was considered the only way to success. Her mother, Cilia used to often tell her to be a lady and by that, she didn’t mean to limit her abilities but instead she meant that Ruth should grow up to become her person and define her fate and be independent. But unfortunately, she couldn’t witness Ruth’s success as she died out of cancer just a day before her daughter’s graduation.
Ginsberg was one amongst the 9 females in a class of 500 males in Harvard and she later transferred to Colombia when her husband took up a job in New York. She was denied many opportunities just because she was a woman but she didn’t let that define her and went on striking gender discrimination on the head.
By the opponents, she has been often criticized for picking male clients, but she strategized her path for fighting against gender discrimination differently and took up specific statutes which were discriminatory and went on to show how gender discrimination is not only affecting women but also men.
One such instance was when she argued on behalf of a widower in Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld [i] who lost his wife in childbirth and thus became a sole caregiver to their newborn son and was unable to focus on his work hence he contested that he should also be eligible for the Social Security survivors’ benefits that were only limited to the widows, but not to widowers.
Ginsberg argued that the particular benefit was discriminatory as it didn’t allow Wiesenfeld to take the benefits of Social Security Survivors. Eight out of nine justices declared that Section 402(g) of the Social Security Act was unconstitutional for making gender-based distinctions.
In 1972, she co-founded the Women’s Rights Project under American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and from 1973 to 1976 she argued six women’s rights cases before the Court and won five of them, profoundly changing the law as it affects women.[ii]
In 1996, Ginsberg argued against the gender-exclusive admissions policy of the Virginia Military Institute and said it violated the 14th Amendment of the constitution. Later the case reached the Supreme Court where the court struck down this policy taken up by VMI, thus laying a precedent that gender equality is a constitutional right. [iii]
Duren v Missouri, 1979 was her last case before the Supreme Court as an attorney, in this particular case, she argued that jury duty is a vital governmental duty hence can’t be made voluntary when it comes to women. In the end Justice (now Chief Justice) William H. Rehnquist inclined to vote for Ginsburg — leaned toward his microphone at the end and asked” You won’t settle for putting Susan B. Anthony on the new dollar, then?” To which Ginsberg answered, “We won’t settle for tokens,”.[iv]
Ruth Ginsberg is famous for her notorious dissents from the court’s conservatism. In 2015, the landmark case which finally allowed same-sex marriages in all of the 50 states of the USA was Obergefell v Hodges[v] where Ginsberg popularly said “Marriage today is not what it was under the common law tradition, under the civil law tradition, “while the other luminaries such as Justices Roberts and Kennedy were afraid on whether the court had a right to challenge centuries traditions.[vi]
Another example of her famous dissent which changed the future for women in the U.S. was in the case of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 2007 which was a case of pay disparity rooting out of gender discrimination to which Ginsberg wrote in her dissent that “Pay disparities often occur, as they did in Ledbetter’s case, in small increments; cause to suspect that discrimination is at work develops over time. Comparative pay information, moreover, is often hidden from the employee’s view.” She also made sure that this issue got its due attention and that people in America become aware of the gender pay gap so that next whoever challenges the wage gap has an easier root towards attaining the court’s support. And finally, in 2009 when Barak Obama became the President the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first bill that he signed.[vii]
Her belief in equality and women should get equal rights and opportunities weren’t limited to courtrooms, in her personal life as well she and her husband Marty always believed in sharing duties and that marriages aren’t about one person making all the sacrifices whereas its two people making it work and making sacrifices for each other. Therefore, when her husband got a job in New York she transferred to Colombia from New York and when she was invited by President Clinton to be a justice he shifted to Washington. They truly believed in the concept of partnership and hence divided their duties in the household so both can pursue their dream.
Ruth Ginsberg once said, “I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.” And indeed, she has set her legacy and has proved to be a liberal in the true sense who shattered many glass ceilings and stood up for what she believed was right even when the people around her didn’t agree. She now stands as an inspiration to millions and many are picking up the fight where she left so that her dream along with million others to see an equal world where both the genders share equal rights and opportunities comes true.
[i]420 U.S.636 95 S. Ct. 1225; 43 L. Ed. 2d 514; 1975 U.S. LEXIS 48
[ii]Lewis, Neil A. (June 15, 1993)” THE SUPREME COURT: Woman in the News; Rejected as a Clerk, Chosen as a Justice: Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg”. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331
[iii] United States v Virginia,518 U.S. 515
[iv] Von Drehle, David ( July 19, 1993) “Redefining Fair With a Simple Careful Assault-Step-by-Step Strategy Produced Strides for Equal Protection” The Washington Post
[v] 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
[vi]Dan Roberts (28 April 2018)“Ruth Bader Ginsburg eviscerates same-sex marriage opponents in court”. The Guardian.
[vii]Megan Slack (Jan 30, 2012)“President Obama Signs the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act”.
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