A strong woman is capable of more than what’s seen by the eye. For far too long and still too often to this day, women can be overlooked when put in a room filled with men. Behind all the discrimination, how can one woman be the face of rebelling against sexist acts? What caused women to be omitted? Who is brave enough to stand up to society’s judgments of women? Ruth Bader Ginsburg is daring enough. Her fearless acts made her the second female to ever serve on the Supreme Court, and not only did Ruth lead the fight against gender discrimination, but she also stood up for men who were facing discrimination as well. She was not a victim but rather a survivor of sexist acts that were intended to harm her.
March is a month dedicated to celebrating women, a time we should use to celebrate women who have played roles that have changed our society in ways we will remember and forever look up to. As a female, Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a name I have continuously heard that holds power and freedom for women worldwide. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ruth was nothing short of loved and well-nurtured by her family. Although, at a very young age, Ruth’s sister, Marilyn, died of meningitis. Years later, Ruth’s mother died just two days before her high school graduation. For RBG, life wasn’t easy, but it’s where she learned her true resilience from. In all of Ruth’s early years, her mother was her biggest supporter and continued to push her to become the most excellent version of herself. Despite Ruth’s struggles, she never let them diminish her determination to succeed in her academic goals. She continued her journey, graduating from Cornell at the top of her class. After graduating, she took those years to herself and started a family, where she went from Ruth Bader to Ruther Bader Ginsburg.
Ruth enrolled in Harvard Law and faced much discrimination from the men around her. The root of this is that she worked in a male-dominated role. Although she had a perfect academic record, she was still looked down upon by her male leaders. Ruth pushed; she pushed through everything, every discriminative comment and sexist act meant to bring her down. While at the Supreme Court, she argued six landmark cases, passing them through the Supreme Court. But she didn’t stop there; she continued to fight for every woman and expressed that every qualified woman should have a chance. One of her cases was the United States Vs. Virginia; she stated that any certified woman could not be rejected from admission to the Virginia Military Institute. When it was time to speak up, she individually attacked each aspect of gender discrimination, making sure that the sexist acts she faced weren’t normalized.
As the second female Supreme Court member, her name is remembered, and Ruth is a role model to young girls like me. Ruth states that you must “Fight for what you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” Ruth led people in a way that they would join her fight. When I hear the initials RBG, I think about a strong leader I will forever admire. As for society, her name deserves to be praised. She set a new, completely different tone that should be repeated and forever cherished. She is a strong female leader whose name deserves to be said not only during Women’s Appreciation Month but also commended every day.
