Empowering Women: Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Feminist Impact

Learn more about the former Associate Justice of the U.S Supreme Court.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg monumental impact on women's rights has rightfully earned her place as a household name. During her 27 years as a Supreme Court Justice she constantly and tirelessly fought against gender discrimination and inequalities. But before her time as one of the most well known Justices, she was still a model for the feminist lifestyle.

In Justice Ginsburg’s early life, she faced endless struggles but never gave up on her education. The day before her high school graduation she lost her mother to cancer. She continued on to Cornell University that autumn, stating her mother to be one of the most influential people to her pursuing her education. Shortly after graduating from college she married her husband, Martin. During this period of her life, Justice Ginsburg focused her time on starting and raising her family. Though some may say this goes against the contemporary ideas of feminism to put a family before a women's education, Justice Ginsburg single-handedly became one of the most successful and impactful women in history while having a young family. After giving birth to the Ginsberg’s first child, Martin was drafted into the military. When he returned two years later, Justice Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law.

Justice Ginsburg familial struggles don’t end there. During her first year of law school, Martin was diagnosed with testicular cancer, shortly after he returned from the service. While both of them were in law school, Justice Ginsburg took on the challenge of caring for her husband and young family. Not only did Justice Ginsburg struggle at home, but also in the classroom. She held a position at the top of her class at Harvard yet was constantly doubted by her male classmates. She also was one of nine women in her 500 person class. She was chastised as a young mother in academia, her male counterparts believing her student-ship wasted a man’s spot at the university. When her husband graduated from Harvard after recovering from cancer, the family moved to New York City, where Justice Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law. She graduated top of her class the following year.

Even though Justice Ginsburg’s success was far greater than most of her male counterparts she struggled to find a job once graduating. After many years of low-end salary offers and unequal treatment in the workplace, Justice Ginsburg followed her passion in civil procedure. Justice Ginsburg also directed the influential Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union during the 1970s. In this position she fought against gender discrimination. The severe discrimination the Supreme Court Justice faced while as a tenured Rutgers professor caused her to hide her pregnancy from her peers. In 1993 she was offered the position as supreme court justice by Bill Clinton.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was endlessly an advocate as a justice, fighting for gender rights. As she was calculative and steady in her decisions, she was known to be bold and strong inside and out of the court room, defining the determination of the contemporary feminist fight. She worked constantly on her physical health, being able to lift more than Justice Kagan and Justice Breyer. She never missed a day of oral arguments, not during cancer treatment, surgeries, or the day after her husband’s death, until the 2018 term.

Justice Ginsburg embodied the feminist movement. She never gave up on what she wanted whether that was a family or a successful career. She was a force to be reckoned with; she was not doubted in her effectiveness nor capabilities. She exemplified how strong women can balance family and career success. She fought for other women so that they wouldn’t have to know the struggles she faced as a young educated woman looking to have a family and be career-driven. Her story shows that a women's determination cannot be undermined. It is because of Justice Ginsburg that the publics mindset shifted on the idea of gender inequality and she brought bold attention to the wrongful discrimination occurring in America. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s story is one of hardship but also of the powerfulness of a challenged woman.