After watching Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s most recent biopic, “On the Basis of Sex”, I now understand what forged the iron will of one of our time’s most tenacious and influential Supreme Court Justices. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, long before she was affectionately known as the “Notorious R.B.G.”, was the heroine of her household, facing herculean struggles in her pursuit of a Harvard Law degree in the 1950s. Her firmness of purpose remained relevant throughout her life post-academia, as she learned that sex-based discrimination did not end at graduation, but was in fact embedded in the very fabric of the US Constitution.
The film, written by Ginsburg’s own nephew, Daniel Stiepleman, takes us through the highs and lows of her early years, long preceding her time as an appointed justice. After seeing “On the Basis of Sex”, not once but twice, I feel justified in my belief that it is a formative watch, especially for young women with aspirations of entering the workforce. This film permanently altered my perspective on the contributions and capabilities of important women who came before me, and after watching, I find myself standing up straighter, speaking out more in class, and fearlessly reaching for the stars.
Here are three important lessons to be taken away from “On the Basis of Sex”:
1. What we consider to be world-ending dilemmas in our day-to-day lives are usually minor inconveniences, and it’s time to get over ourselves.
If I took anything away from Ginsburg’s biopic, it’s that we need to stop viewing our daily woes as national crises. For instance, when your alarm fails to go off at the designated time and you are late to class. Or, when the bus shows up four minutes early, and you’re left standing in its dust wondering how you will ever make it to work on time. Or even when you’ve been waiting in the salad bar line for what seems like forever, only to find that they have run out of your favorite dressing. If nothing else, this film has forced me to accept that these “travesties” are in fact easily surmountable.
What isn’t so easily surmountable? Raising a child, nursing your terminally-ill husband, and attending the classes of said husband while also earning your own Harvard law degree, ALL in the face of omnipresent sex-based discrimination that consistently seems to provide roadblocks to your success. Now, doesn’t that put things in perspective?
The tenacity that Ginsburg demonstrated in the face of such obstacles is truly admirable. In general, nothing we face on a daily basis as students can compare to the hurdles surpassed by a woman who was chided by the Dean of Harvard for “taking the place of a qualified man” upon enrollment. We should take this news in stride, and remember the next time we are grumbling over our misfortunes, that a valedictorian of Columbia Law School, and the first female member of the prestigious Harvard Law Review was denied a position at countless law firms throughout New York City, and instead was directed towards secretary positions, solely because was a woman.
2. Your fate is never set in stone. Overcome your inertia, and be assured that you don’t have to accept things as they are.
There was a time in Ginsburg’s life when the chances of fulfilling her dream and becoming a lawyer seemed awfully grim. Following her husband Martin’s miraculous recovery from testicular cancer in 1958, he was able to graduate with a Harvard law degree (largely due to Ruth’s efforts) and accept a position at a New York law firm. Since Martin was a year ahead of Ruth, she had no choice but to leave Cambridge and transfer to Columbia Law School, where she would eventually graduate at the top of her class. Despite an academic record without equal, Ginsburg continued to face gender discrimination in her search for employment.
Fast forward to 1965. Ginsburg had become a professor of civil procedure at Rutgers Law School, and would soon be a mother of two. As one of fewer than 20 female law professors in the entire US, this appointment would not be without its drawbacks. In fact, Ginsburg was informed she would be paid less than her male colleagues because she had a husband with a well-paid job. Nonetheless, she taught there until 1972, becoming the institution’s first female professor to earn tenure in 1969. Justifiably, she was fed up with the culture of discrimination and as portrayed in the movie, her frustration with the lack of opportunity accumulated as the years passed.
Her big break came in 1970 when an important tax case fell into Martin Ginsburg’s lap. He brought the Colorado case, Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, to the attention of Ruth, who discovered in its pages her foundational argument against sex-based discrimination. The case involved a 63-year old bachelor who was denied tax credit for money he laid out to pay for a caregiver to aid his aging mother, simply because he was unmarried. The law assumed that only women could be caregivers. It was within the stipulations of this law that Ginsburg found her ammo; sex-based discrimination against a man. The second half of the film focuses largely on this case, as it was the first time a provision of the Internal Revenue Code had been declared unconstitutional, and in turn, the first time sex-based discrimination had been successfully challenged in court. Given her position, it is no spoiler that Ginsburg clinched the landmark victory, and she would later go on to argue six gender-discrimination cases before the Supreme Court.
As I am typing these words, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now 85 years old, remains an acting Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. She has successfully fought against gender discrimination and unified the liberal block of the court since her appointment by President Bill Clinton in 1993. She is a picture of perseverance, and as women we owe many of our freedoms to her tenaciousness in the cases she argued.
The lesson to be learned? You never know when an opportunity will emerge that may alter the entire course of your life. With determination, resolution, and patience, you will be surprised with where you may end up. Had Ginsburg accepted the barriers of discrimination, it is very possible that we may not have the liberties we enjoy today. Instead, because of her steadfastness in the face of adversity, women finally have a seat at the table. And all we can say is, it’s about damn time.
3. We’ve come a long way, but there is still work to be done.
It may be hard in 2019 to comprehend that so many laws were once set in place to impede the progress of women. At the time of Moritz v. Internal Commissioner, there were 178 laws written into the US Constitution that discriminated against women on the basis of gender. As demonstrated in the film, Ginsburg faced a culture of sexism so horrifyingly blatant, that I found myself questioning the legitimacy of the film’s portrayal. It turns out, I was just incredibly naive about the hardships faced prior to, and during the time of the Feminist Movement.
Largely due to the efforts of Ginsburg herself, among a plethora of other feminists and social-political activists, the majority of these laws have since been overturned, and no longer stand as flagrant obstacles to our success. This demonstrates a significant shift in our culture, and today, Ginsburg has become a role model and icon for young females everywhere. The significance of the film stems from its ability to awaken and inspire those who recognize the importance of the journey to gender equality. It forcibly brings us to the realization that there is still much to be done while driving home an appreciation for how far society has come.
We must not mistake this social progression for the end of the battle. As exemplified by the persistence of the gender wage gap, and the recent crescendo of the #MeToo movement, it is clear that the fight for equality is far from over. We must reject any remaining culture of sex-discrimination as Ginsburg has, and refuse to accept things as they are just because they have always been. If we are to diffuse once and for all the wildfire that is gender discrimination, we have to remain ambitious not only for ourselves but for the good of the cause. Most importantly, we must remember that in unity there is strength, and the unification of an empowered female population would certainly be a force to be reckoned with.
Coming from someone who was profoundly impacted by the message of this film, I recommend, the minute it is available for streaming, that you witness for yourself this story about the resilience of an extraordinary woman and her contributions to the fight for gender equality. You most likely will walk away with a greater appreciation for the rights we routinely take for granted, and discover within yourself a renewed sense of pride in your identity as a woman. I know I did.