Essay Questions

What binary does Ginsburg seek to deconstruct in “Brief for the Appellant in Reed v. Reed (1971)”?

Ginsburg argues, “Attributable in part to decisions of this Court, women continue to receive disadvantaged treatment by the law. In answer to the compelling claim of women for recognition by the law as full human personalities, this Court, at the very least, should reverse the presumption of a statue’s rationality when the statue accords a preference to males.” Ginsburg aims at deconstructing the Women versus Men binary that guides the Court decisions. A deconstruction of the binaries would ensure that biological sex is not a determinant or an impediment to the dispensation of justice.

Why does Ginsburg cite ‘Reed v. Reed’ in “Brief of the American Civil Liberties Union, Amicua Curiae, in Craig v. Boren (1976)”?

Ginsburg states, “Since Reed v. Reed, 404 U.S. 71 (1971), this Court has instructed consistently that gender-based legislative classification, premised on overboard generalization concerning the behaviour, proclivities and preferences of the two sexes, cannot be tolerated under the Constitution.” The citation is a judicial precedent that strengthens Ginsburg's argument concerning the constitutionalism of gender classes. This citation is pertinent because both the past and current cases relate to gender and its role in perpetuating prejudice.

How do higher education structures perpetuate gender-discrimination in “Majority Opinion in United States v. Virginia (1996)”?

Ginsburg observes, “Virginia describes the current absence of public single sex higher education for women as “an historical anomaly.” But the historical record indicates action more deliberate than anomalous: First, protection of women against higher education; next, schools for women far from equal in resources and stature to schools for men; finally, conversation of the separate schools to coeducation.” Virginia's current framework is not favorable for women because it hinders them from getting admitted in some institutions. The separation of schools imperils women and advantage's men whose schools are well-equipped. An interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment demonstrates that the statutes that govern the schools in Virginia and envisioned to reduce the number of women who access high quality education; thus, it is not merely an anomaly.