THE IMPACT OF RUTH BADER GINSBURG'S PASSING
cancer many times then, we were in a very fragile place to begin with,’”said Winfrey. “I think if we learn something from losing her it is that we all need to step up and take responsibility to do that work.”
BY CLARISSA MERSCHMAN Ruther Bader Ginsburg was a feminist icon and a Supreme Court Justice until her death on Sept. 18 due to complications with metastatic pancreas cancer. She lived to the age of 87 and had previous battles with colon and lung cancer for the past 20 years. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is best known for her examples of overcoming oppression, fighting misogyny, patriarchal structures and standing up to everyday sexism. Part of her journey included attending law school as a mother, a student and the wife of a husband with cancer. This journey spoke to many student and working mothers. Rachel Junck, an Iowa State junior majoring in chemical engineering, a member of Ames City Council and the youngest woman elected to any office in state history identifies as a feminist and has been inspired by Bader Ginsburg’s journey. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was definitely an icon of gender equality, she always was fighting for women’s rights and human rights in general and was just a really strong figure in making those decisions that made people’s lives better,” said Junck. Her passing will impact not only the Supreme Court, but the causes she had been fighting for. Kelly Winfrey, assistant professor in the Greenlee school of Journalism and Communications examines impacts that Bader Ginsburg’s passing will have. “One of the things I saw on social media when she first passed was ‘if all of these rights were hanging by a thread by this one very old woman that had beat
Now that Bader Ginsburg is no longer a member of the Supreme Court, her potential replacement, Amy Coney Barrett, who has a more conservative standpoint, will ultimately change the dynamic of the court. This could cause matters like a woman’s right to an abortion and same-sex marriage to be reexamined by the court. Adrienne Lyles, associate Director of Equal Opportunity and associate teaching professor in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, believes that Bader Ginsburg’s passing will impact structures in the United States. “[I feel] terrible sadness because we have lost a genuine national treasure and voice for justice, fairness, and equity,” Lyles said. “Hope that people will carry what she represents into the future and as a beacon for what fairness can look like. Anger because of the way her death has been politicized. Disgust at the way Amy Barrett, with whom I worked at Notre Dame Law School, has been falsely compared to this remarkable scholar, Justice, woman, human being. Unlike Barrett, RBG argued for the equal protection of all sexes/genders. Those who compare Barrett to RBG simply do not know the jurisprudence or lived experience of both of these women.” Even with the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, the ratio of men to women that serve still leaves women in the minority. “I do think that there is a political element to say ‘well, we’re replacing a woman with a woman, so we’re not sexist,’ that’s the way it feels to me,” said Winfrey. “I think feminism isn’t just about supporting women, it is about supporting women’s choices. Feminist values are not necesarily tied to anyone’s sex or gender and I don’t know any feminists that would call Amy Barrett a feminist.”
