By Kanishta Naithani
‘As long as I can do the job full steam, I will be here.’
When we talk about women and their careers, there is this glass ceiling that most people like to mention. They say it is difficult for women to break the glass ceiling. Justice RBG has proved that nothing, absolutely nothing can hold women back.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is a judge in the Supreme Court of the United States. She is 87 years old and refuses to retire. On 10th August 2020, she’ll complete 27 years of service. Throughout her career, she has been a voice against gender-based discrimination.
She has shattered the glass ceiling and with it the stereotype that women aren’t meant to work. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has now become not only a legal luminary but a pop culture icon. In pop culture, she is referred to as RBG. Her fan base keeps widening – she has penned seven books, she is the inspiration for five books, a Hollywood movie and a Netflix documentary is also based on her.
She has swayed the hearts of millions by her wit, charm and undying spirit.
Education
Justice RBG graduated top of her class at Cornell University in 1954. During her time at Cornell she met Martin D. Ginsburg, they cultivated a connection so substantial that in they got married the same year she graduated. After her graduation, she had to put her education and career on hold to start a family when her daughter Jane C. Ginsburg was born in 1955. She re-joined law school after two years when Martin D. Ginsburg returned from his military service. This time both Martin D. Ginsburg and her enrolled at Harvard Law. At Harvard, Justice RBG was the first women to serve on the editorial staff of Harvard Law Review. She was also one of only eight women in a class of five hundred.
It so happened that Martin D. Ginsburg was diagnosed with testicular cancer. So, for that period she had to not only care for her infant daughter but for her ailing husband too. Once her husband recovered, he accepted a job with a law firm in New York City. Consequently, she transferred to Columbia law school, to complete her education, she served on the law review even in Columbia. She graduated in 1959 tying for first place.
Thriving In The Face Of Adversity
For anyone with such remarkable credentials, it would be easy to get hired for their dream job, yet Justice RBG had to face immense backlash when it came to putting her legal education to good use. This was primarily due to the gender stereotype that has held women back for centuries. She was unable to find a job for herself until a professor stepped up for her and refused to recommend any other graduates. Consequently, she was hired by U.S. District Judge Edmund L. Palmieri as a clerk. She clerked there for two years. Then she received job offers from a few law firms, but all of the offers were for a lower salary than that of her male peers. This led her to refuse all the offers. Instead, she chose to live abroad to work on a research project for a book on the Swedish Civil Procedure Practices by the Columbia Project on International Civil Procedure.
After returning to the United States Justice RBG in 1963 accepted a position as professor Rutgers University Law School, then in 1972, she left that post to join Columbia where she became the first female professor at Columbia to earn tenure.
Her Crusade For Equality
In her time as a lawyer Justice RBG has extensively argued against gender-based discrimination. She is and has been not only a leading voice for justice for women but also for justice for men who were discriminated against based on gender. She faced gender-based discrimination from the very beginning of her career, she understood that the conversation regarding gender-based discrimination is not limited to women. Women aren’t the only victims of gender-based discrimination. Men also suffer from gender-based discrimination.
Justice RBG in the landmark case of Moritz v. Commissioner (469 F.2d 466 (1972)) represented Charles Moritz. Moritz claimed a tax deduction for the salary of a caregiver he had hired to care for his mother. His claim was rejected by the IRS because he had never married and was not a woman, this made him ineligible for the caregiver deduction. Justice RBG, along with her husband argued that Moritz would have been permitted the deduction if he was female and that there was no judicious reason for the distinction in treatment among people in this case. They contended, the refusal of the deduction by establishing gender-based discrimination and unlawful dismissal of equivalent protection in case of infringement of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
In the famous case of Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld, 420 U.S. 636 (1975) Stephen Wiesenfeld was a widower his wife was the primary bread-winner of the family. Social security contributions were normally deducted from her pay. In 1972, she kicked the bucket during childbirth, which left him with the fathering of their infant child. He applied for social security assistance for himself and his child and was informed that his child could get them but that he was ineligible for the same. The Social Security Act gave benefits dependent on the profit of an expired spouse and father that are accessible to both the children and the widow. The advantages of an expired spouse and mother, be that as it may, are just accessible to the children. Justice RBG made the contention that the Social Security Act differentiated against Wiesenfeld by not furnishing him with alike survivors’ advantages as it would to a widow. Further, she contended that Wiesenfeld’s wife’s contributions to Social Security were not regarded on an equivalent premise to salaried men, so Wiesenfeld’s wife was additionally being discriminated.
In both of the cases, she emerged victorious and changed the course of history.
Becoming Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg
In 1980 she was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by Jimmy Carter the 39th President of the United States. It was in 1993 that Bill Clinton the 42nd President of the United States appointed her to the Supreme Court. On August 10, 1993, she became the second woman and the first Jewish woman to serve on the Supreme court.
I Dissent
Justice RBG is infamous for her liberal dissents. Unlike most United States Supreme Court Justices Justice RBG prefers reading her dissents from the bench this happens when the court is announcing its decision. In a discussion at the Aspen Institute, she states that “I want to announce a dissent from the bench if I think the court not only got it wrong but egregiously wrong and sometimes those DISSENTS are addressed to congress…….if the court is interpreting a statute…….then congress can fix it, but if the court is making a ruling on a constitutional matter congress can’t fix it, only an amendment to the constitution and we have a constitution powerfully hard to amend or the court has to change its mind but there has been a tradition in the United States of DISSENTS becoming the law of the land that we can go back….you are writing for a future age (dissents) and you hope that with time the court will see it the way you do.”
Inspiring, Igniting, Inspiriting And Influencing
The world that we live in today has changed so much in terms of technology, governments, climate and globalization. Yet, one thing remains the same the struggle of women to make it on their own. Women have to try their damnedest to find their place in the world, to make their voice heard. For years women have starved for female role models. Justice RBG is the very embodiment of what women can achieve given.
The most spectacular aspect of her life is her undying spirit. In all the adversities she has faced Justice RBG has not given up once not ever, and today – She is a pop culture icon. She is a feminist icon. She is an inspiration to girls everywhere. Most people would be hesitant to admit that women face more adversities in the workplace as compared to men. Justice RBG proves that no matter how many adversities you face you make the best of it and you thrive. Or simply put when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. A lot of women and young girls give up on their dreams because of such adversities. Ladies, if Justice RBG can you can.
Justice RBG with her dissents inspires not only women and young girls out everyone out there to speak up, even if the majority is against you. Her dissents teach us that the power of voicing our opinions and thoughts. The fear of the majority should not and cannot stop you from voicing your opinion. So, the next time you witness injustice, stand up and say I dissent! Because Justice RBG would want you to.
Many feminist movements have inspired women to go out and get whatever they want. Justice RBG has proved it. She managed to have a family, care for her husband, change the course of history, and become the most celebrated Supreme Court Justice of the United States. She did it all in a day’s work with the utmost grace.
They say women can’t have it all? Well, looks like they can.
