Fight for the things that you care about. But do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.” “So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.” “I don’t say women’s rights—I say the constitutional principle of the equal citizenship stature of men and women.” “Don’t be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, resentment. These just zap energy and waste time.”
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”
“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.”
“My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.”
Why Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserves a Monument
“You can disagree without being disagreeable.” “If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers.” “A gender line... helps to keep women not on a pedestal, but in a cage.” “The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.” “ If I had any talent that God could give me, I would be a great diva.” “Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office.”
“When a thoughtless or unkind word is spoken, best tune out.”
“I’m a very strong believer in listening and learning from others.”
“Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” “People ask me sometimes… ‘When will there be enough women on the court?’ And my answer is: ‘When there are nine.’” “Feminism [is the] notion that we should each be free to develop our own talents and not be held back by man-made barriers.”
“I will do this job as long as I feel that I can do it full steam.”
“So that’s the dissenter’s hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow.”
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Biography • Ruth Bader Ginsburg (born Joan Ruth Bader; March 15, 1933— September 18, 2020) was the second female justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (She was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States).
Ginsburg was born as Joan Ruth Bader on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. The second daughter of Nathan and Celia Bader, she grew up in a low-income, working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn. Ginsburg’s mother, who was a major influence in her life, taught her the value of independence and a good education.
Celia herself did not attend college, but instead worked in a garment factory to help pay for her brother’s college education, an act of selflessness that forever impressed Ginsburg. At James Madison High School in Brooklyn, Ginsburg worked diligently and excelled in her studies. Sadly, her mother struggled with cancer throughout Ginsburg’s high school years and died the day before Ginsburg’s graduation.
The picture above shows Young Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1953 near/after her Graduation
Biography continued Ginsburg earned her bachelor’s degree in government from Cornell University in 1954, finishing first in her class. She married law student Martin D. Ginsburg that same year. The early years of their marriage were challenging, as their first child, Jane, was born shortly after Martin was drafted into the military in 1954. He served for two years and, after his discharge, the couple returned to Harvard, where Ginsburg also enrolled.
The picture above shows Martin D. Ginsburg (Left) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Right)
The picture above shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s family: Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Right), Jane Ginsburg (Middle) and Martin D. Ginsburg (Left)
The photo above was taken on their wedding day: June 23, 1954
Ginsburg attended Harvard Law School for two years. While there, she was one of only nine women in a class of hundreds—and was told to defend why she deserved a place in the class when a man could’ve had it. During her time there, she became the first woman to join the esteemed Harvard Law Review. At the time, Ginsburg juggled her studies with taking care of both her daughter Jane and Martin, as he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. To help him, Ginsburg would attend classes for him, take notes, and help him with assignments. According to a Harvard Law bulletin, when Ginsburg and her husband moved to New York in 1958 upon his graduation, she requested that she be awarded a degree after successfully completing her third and final year. Harvard denied Ginsburg’s request, ultimately costing them a remarkable alumna. Ginsburg instead enrolled at Columbia Law School.
Biography continued
Then, another challenge: Martin contracted testicular cancer in 1956, requiring intensive treatment and rehabilitation. Ginsburg attended to her young daughter and convalescing husband, taking notes for him in classes while she continued her own law studies. Martin recovered, graduated from law school, and accepted a position at a New York law firm. Ginsburg graduated from Columbia Law School in 1959, but even with her wealth of knowledge and experience, law firms wouldn’t hire her. When she tried to join her husband they refused her. Instead, she then became a law clerk for a U.S. district judge (19591961), a law professor at Rutgers University (1963-1972), and later became the first tenured female professor at Columbia Law School in 1972. Eventually she became a supreme court justice. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ginsburg to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C where she served until she was nominated and appointed to the Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. In the picture above it shows: Ruth Bader Ginsburg teaching in a classroom
Once on the Supreme Court, she served on the Supreme court until she passed away. On the Supreme court, she ruled on many important subjects such as equality and race.
Picture above shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg after being appointed to the Supreme Court.
Contributions and other notable achievements and significance • She was the second woman to ever serve on the court • She spent much of her legal career as an advocate for gender equality and women’s rights, winning many arguments before the Supreme Court • She also advocated as a volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and was a member of its board of directors and one of its general counsel in the 1970s. • She graduated at the top of her class from Columbia University all while raising their daughter and helping her husband when he had cancer. • She became the first person on both Harvard and Columbia Law Review.
• She fought for pay equality for herself and her fellow professors.
• She fought sexbased discrimination
The picture above shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg being confirmed and appointed to be a Supreme Court Justice.
Continued • She co-founded the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project • She passionately fought for the rights of the LGBT community, undocumented people and disabled people • She also fought to expand voting rights. • She fought for equality, freedom and justice • In her more than 27 years of service on the SCOTUS (and more than 40 years as a judge) Ginsburg heard and ruled on cases ranging from gender equality issues in schools, high-stakes presidential elections, marriage equality and, of course, landmark reproductive rights cases.
The picture above shows Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaking to a group of people
Why She deserves a monument I think that she deserves a monument because of what she has done and what she has pioneered. She was a role model for women that wanted to take what was considered “male jobs�. She proved to them that their discrimination and bias towards women is wrong. Her presence in the supreme court helped many people out from abortions to same sex marriage. Supreme court case rulings over the years have always been decided by a singular vote because of partisanship. Her vote counted when it was needed, without a tie breaking vote supreme court case rulings would be in a stalemate never passing a ruling. In her more than 27 years of service on the SCOTUS (and more than 40 years as a judge) Ginsburg heard and ruled on cases ranging from gender equality issues in schools, high-stakes presidential elections, marriage equality and, of course, landmark reproductive rights cases. Her actions along with her supreme court colleagues help shape the future of this country. Their rulings usually helped propel the country forward and more equal.
The photo above is the Notorious RBG Poster made and designed by LGTBIQ
What the monument should look like Right now what I am thinking about for the monument for Ruth Badger Ginsburg is a statue of her with a balance scale. She would be standing on top of a square base that would have some of her important quotes and court rulings. The balance scale would be movable when unscrewed and there would be small figurines that will be on the balance scale. The figurines could be anything and be created with a 3d printer and would be screwed on to the balance scale. For example since she fought for gender equality, you could put the gender signs on each of the scales and move the scales to the appropriate place. This monument could be used to represent where we are on the equality scale. So basically the scale would be like what the doomsday clock is. It would be moved each year depending on the state of equality in our society(The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe while the scale represent how close or how far we are from true equality). The base of the Statue could also be made so it electronically displays her quotes and achievements and if the bast has a screen then you could put like a clock until true equality on it to help the viewer visualize when true equality would be reached.
Location of the monument on campus I haven’t been on campus yet so I really can’t say where to put it. But since this will be a monument dedicated to a supreme court justice I would say to put it somewhere near people studying law at GMU. I googled if there is a dedicated law school for GMU and I found out that the Antonin Scalia Law School is part of GMU and since it is a law school, I would put the monument near the entrance so everyone could see it.
Location of the monument If I could put this monument anywhere in the world, I would put it in a country where there is blatant discrimination/ or rights being violated or suspected to be violated. Some examples are China, Some countries in the middle east, North Korea, etc. By putting this monument in places where their rights are being violated, it will hopefully inspire some to be like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and prove others wrong and change the country.