Essay Questions

Whom does Ruth Bader Ginsburg cite as one of her main inspirations?

Ginsburg tells Rosen that one of her main inspirations is the well-known lawyer Thurgood Marshall. Marshall was a key player during the civil rights movement, and famously led the case Brown v. Board of Education, which was about racial segregation in schools. From Marshall, Ginsburg learned to fight for women's legal equality in an incremental way, taking on a number of different cases to slowly reveal the gender biases inherent in the law.

What was Ruth Bader Ginsburg's first Supreme Court case?

Ginsburg's first Supreme Court cased was called Reed v. Reed. In this case, a divorced couple had shared custody of their adopted son. However, when the son was told that he had to stay at his father's house because it was required by law, he committed suicide. Ultimately, this case was about who would be the administrator of the son's estate, but the father was elected by law as he was a man. Ruth challenged the assumption that a man is automatically chosen above a woman.

What name does Ginsburg use to refer to times of gender inequality in the law?

Ginsburg uses the term "the bad old days" to describe the time when the Court repeatedly upheld double standards and distinctions based on sex. She uses this term to show that although many people have nostalgia for the past, using the phrase "the good old days," it wasn't all that good for women as they hadn't yet achieved gender equality.