Not too fast, please.
Joan Ruth Bader was born to an observant Jewish family in New York in 1933. Known as Ruth, she suffered tragedy early in her life – her only sister died at the age of six, and her mother died just before Ruth’s high school graduation. Ruth was clever and talented. She earned top grades at school, and received a full scholarship to the prestigious Cornell University. It was there that she met Martin Ginsburg and they married in 1954. The couple both studied law while raising their family together. But althought she was extremely qualified, Ruth struggled to find work, simple because she was a woman with children. When she visited Sweden in 1962 for a research project, Ruth was inspired by the country’s advances towards gender equality – here she saw women receiving better healthcare and more opportunities to work and study. In the 1970s, Ruth began teaching and writing about equality, and as well as fighting for women’s rights, she argued for equality for male-care givers. She became a judge in 1980, and in 1993, she was appointed to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the US. On its benches, she consistently ruled in favour of gender equality, worker’s rights and equal voting rights. Ruth became known for her powerful disagreements with decisions made by the court, known as ‘dissents’. However, she was good friends with many of her colleagues despite their differences. Ruth continued in her role as a Supreme Court judge until the end of her life in 2020. Her passionate defence of equality made her a hero and a much-loved icon around the world.
