In recent years, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has gained celebrity status with a strong fan base of young women. Throughout her life and career, she has fought gracefully and unapologetically to gain important rights for women, despite all of the challenges in her way. She continues to be an incredible model for young women and feminists looking to make real change. Affectionately known as RBG, the Justice will participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony for American University’s new law school Friday, February 12. In addition to being a feminist idol and all-around badass, here are 14 more reasons to love the notorious RBG.
1. She’s a two time cancer survivor, having overcome colon cancer in 2000 and pancreatic cancer in 2009. During her treatment, she did not miss a day on the bench.
2. In 1972, she became the first ever female tenured professor at Columbia University, where she taught in the Law School.
3. She graduated first in her class from Cornell University, where she completed her undergraduate education.
4. On August 31, 2013, Ginsburg officiated at the same-sex wedding of Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser and John Roberts, a government economist, which was a first for a Supreme Court Justice.
5. She became the first female to be on the Harvard Law Review and the Columbia Law Review, two prestigious legal review journals.
6. She was named one of Forbes Most Powerful 100 Women for seven consecutive years (2004-2011).
7. She co-founded Women’s Rights Law Reporter, the first law journal in the U.S. to focus exclusively on women’s rights.
8. She stars in her own comic book! “Female Force: Ruth Bader Ginsburg”, an illustrated comic detailing Ginsburg’s many accomplishments.
9. She co-founded the Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that seeks for systematic reform for discrimination against women in the workforce.
10. She briefed and argued numerous pivotal Supreme Court cases, such as Reed v. Reed, where the Court extended the protections of the Equal Protection Clause to women for the first time.
11. She is the second woman ever to earn the title of Supreme Court Justice.
12. She’s spoken up about gender discrimination in the workplace: Ginsburg has spoken about her difficulty finding a job after graduation, during which time she was denied from a clerkship from a professor who requested a male for the role.
13. She still works out twice a week in the Supreme Court gym with her personal trainer.
14. She became “notorious” for reading her liberal dissents directly from the bench in the wake of conservative rulings like Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby that allowed corporations to refuse contraceptive coverage for employees on religious grounds.
To keep up with Ruth Bader Ginsberg, check out this cool blog that is also being turned into a book!