Born March 15, 1933, Ruth Bader Ginsburg struggled with gender discrimination throughout her days in academia during the 50's and 60's before finally gaining her current position as Associate Justice for the Supreme Court of the United States. She defied the odds by being at the top of her class at Harvard University as one of nine women in a 500-person class. According to the Oyez archives of the Supreme Court, "She faced gender-discrimination from even the highest authorities there, who chastised her for taking a man's spot at Harvard Law." She became the first female member of the Harvard Law Review, and she later finished her education at Columbia Law School, graduating first in her class.
After struggling to find work, Ginsburg gained employment as a clerk for U.S. District Judge Edmund L. Palmieri only because of a recommendation from a Columbia professor. Having gained experience in the legal realm, she was offered positions at legal firms. These businesses became her first clear confrontation with wage discrimination as she learned she would be paid significantly less than the male employees. After becoming the first tenured female professor at Columbia, she directed the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in the 70's.
Wage discrimination based on gender caught her attention specifically in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in which a female worker sued because of the disparity in wages, claiming a violation of Title VII rights. After the Supreme Court ruled again Ledbetter, Ginsburg wrote a letter of dissent and later worked with President Obama to pass the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 which reestablished protection from wage discrimination.
Ginsburg fought for more than women's rights; she argued gender equality for men in cases such as Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld and Califano v. Goldfarb in which social security benefits were denied for widowers, violating the Due Process Clause. The cases were ruled in favor of the men by an 8-0 and 5-4 majority, respectively.
By continuing to pave the way for gender equality in a position of authority, Ginsburg has become an idol for feminists seeking to change the world. Overcoming difficulties of the poor gender rights in the 50's and 60's and graduating at the top of her class at the prestigious Harvard and Columbia University have earned her the title as the role model she is today. She will undoubtedly continue to argue Supreme Court cases that deal with gender issues in favor of removing the inequality left ambiguous in the current laws. After ruling towards equal gender rights in the cases she has already argued and her passion to enact judicial change outside of the court, as seen with the Fair Pay Act of 2009, she will surely spend her life as a "Woman Warrior" in the feminist war.
Works Cited
Ginsburg, Ruth Bader. "Constitutional Adjudication in the United States as a Means of Advancing the Equal Stature of Men and Women under the Law," Hofstra Law Review vol. 26, no. 2 (Winter 1997):p. 263-272. HeinOnline, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/hoflr26&i=275.
Oyez, Illinois Institute of Technology's Chicago-Kent College of Law, www.oyez.org/.
As a renown figure in the United States for her contributions in the fight for equal rights, Ruth Bader Ginsburg represents a side of feminism that perhaps receives less attention from media outlets. Legislative power grants legal authority to deter gender discrimination/violence, and over the past decades Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been one of the few and loudest of the voices to stand up for the rights of women. I appreciate her even more knowing all the opposition she faced in education and the workforce did not deter her from fighting her way to the top and outperforming her male counterparts.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I cannot believe that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was top of her class at Harvard University. This fight for men and women to get equal pay is such an important topic of discussion because it is still going on today. Men and women are not being paid equal and I really do believe they should. I think this topic should be talked about more often so something can be done about it. If everyone wants to be treated equal we should all be paid equal as well, no matter what gender we are.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing to hear about someone who not only fought for women, but gender equality as well. Although I knew who Ruth Ginsburg was, I didn't know that much about what else she was doing to help others. Seeing that she fought so hard for equal wages and to level the playing field for women was very interesting as well.
ReplyDeleteI love that Ruth Ginsburg really fought for equal pay as I feel as though that is one of the key feminist issues in our current culture. It's good to see that someone who worked her way up to the top fight for other women. I also really like the very last sentence of your blog as it bring the whole blog full circle for me and directly includes the idea of her being a 'warrior woman'.
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