Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Why she’s an important icon to the modern woman

Inspirational. Innovative. Leader. These are just some of the words used to describe the “Notorious RBG”. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a powerhouse who broke many barriers in her personal and professional life. As a role model, Ruth showed every young girl and adult woman that they are capable of achieving anything they want in life. Throughout her career, Ruth became a legend to so many women as she consistently fought for gender equality, battled sexism in her personal and professional life, juggled motherhood while caring for her sick husband in law school, and so much more! She proved time and time again that she wouldn’t back down and that she would stand her ground.

                One of the many reasons why RBG is such an important figure to modern women everywhere is because she knew exactly what she wanted to change and who she wanted to be due to all of the life trials she had to endure. In every aspect of her life, Ruth showed no signs of backing down and because of that, she was able to accomplish so many achievements. For example, Ruth graduated at the top of her class from Columbia Law School. Growing up in the 40s, Ginsburg expressed how most women weren’t concerned with getting a college education, however, her mother was quite the opposite. Ruth’s mother had encouraged her to pursue education and because of that, she graduated from Cornell University in 1954. Two years later, Ginsburg found herself be 1 out of 9 women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law School, but she didn’t let that stop her from going after what she wanted – to prove that she could do a lawyer’s job better than anyone else - and that she did.

                Another reason why RBG was so important was because she stood up for equality amongst men and women. In 1963, she became the second female law professor at Rutgers and fought for equal pay after she realized that her male counterparts were making more than her. When she confronted the dean of the school about the low pay, Ruth stated that he told her that she had a good job in New York and a husband, whereas her male counterpart had a wife and kids to support. Coincidently, the Equal Pay Act had just passed that same year, so Ruth and the other female employees filed an Equal Pay Act complaint and won! She felt like she and the other female workers deserved to be paid the same as their male counterparts and she took matters into her own hands. Throughout her career, Ginsburg continued to make history and break down walls so women could be treated fairly and equally in this country.

                Arguably one of her most famous points in her career (there are so many, it’s hard to choose just one), was when she became the first justice to officiate a same-sex marriage. Taking her crusade to end sex discrimination even further, she showed her support for same-sex marriage, which was made legal in 2015. In 2013, Ginsburg became the first Supreme Court justice to officiate a same-sex wedding to Michael M. Kaiser, Kennedy Center President, and John Roberts, economist, in Washington DC. Continuing with making history, she was also one of the only four female justices in history. Out of 114 Supreme Court Justices, 110 of those have been men. Ginsburg stated that if there were nine men on the Supreme Court, no one would question it, but after expressing that nine women should be on the Supreme Court she was met with shocked expressions.

There are many things you can say about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and how influential she was in history. She was known to be unapologetic, unstoppable, and strategic in getting what she wanted and paved the way for so many people. On Friday, November 10, follow the journey of the life and trials of the optimistic and powerhouse force of a woman who didn’t let sexism, heartbreak, or ignorance stop her from accomplishing so much and repeatedly breaking history.

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