Explore images of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg was growing up in a working-class neighbourhood in Brooklyn during the 1930s, equality was not something that was openly spoken about or challenged throughout society like it does today. Since then, Ginsburg has been influential in helping America become more inclusive and more fair, no matter who you are.
It’s unsurprising that Ginsburg felt compelled to change American law. While studying law and forging her career, she came across many obstacles and discriminatory practices that would be deemed unacceptable today.
Succeeding in a male-dominant environment
At Harvard, she was one of eight women in a class of 500. You might retort that law is simply a male-dominant subject but unfortunately, it’s a little more acrimonious than that. The women were reproached by the school’s dean for taking the place of men.
Despite the hostility, Ginsburg worked diligently and excelled in her studies. In the process, she became the first woman to work as part of the editorial team for the revered Harvard Law Review.
Sadly, the gender inequality followed her into employment too. At first, she struggled to find work simply because she was a women – there were very few female lawyers in America at the time. And when she was hired by Rutgers School of Law in 1963, she was asked to accept a low salary because her husband had a well-paid job.
Winning landmark cases before the Supreme Court
As a result, Ginsburg spent much of her life fighting gender discrimination cases. When she served as director of the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970s, she argued several landmark cases on gender equality before the US Supreme Court.
Equality is always a two-way street though. So Ginsburg also won cases before the Supreme Court where the law was more favourable to women such as correcting parts of the Social Security Act that granted benefits to widows but not widowers.
In 1993, Bill Clinton announced that he had nominated Ruth Bader Ginsburg to replace Justice Byron White. She was confirmed by a vote of 96-3 and became the second woman to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. During her time as Justice, she developed a reputation for wearing jabots that reflected her position on cases.
Ginsburg died on 18 September 2020 battling metastatic pancreas cancer, leaving behind a legacy of social reform that will be felt for generations.
When asked when there will be enough women on the court, her answer was always, “when there are nine [on the Supreme Court]”. This raised eyebrows in certain corners. Ruth would retort: “But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
