Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) is one of the most influential feminist icons of our time. Her meticulously laid strategy to lead the American legal system towards gender equality has secured the rights – and the hearts – of many people. Her image is familiar from books, merchandise, documentaries, and the award-winning film, On the Basis of Sex. And the outpouring of respect for the Justice, both during her life and after her passing, reflects the immeasurable advances she brought to people living within the US legal system.
The life of Justice Ginsburg is to be celebrated, but we must also be wary of a particular strand of hero worship that risks placing her on a pedestal as the ideal feminist leader. At a time when America is experiencing a monumental shift towards racial justice, it is essential to critically examine the legacy that Justice Ginsburg adhered to, which was one of incremental change. We must be able to both honor her accomplishments and find ways to advance her goal of equality – even if this requires us to operate outside the institutions she regarded as essential.
Justice Ginsburg is not without her critics. Her incrementalist approach to changing sexist laws was one which she learned from her own hero, Justice Thurgood Marshall. It was Justice Ginsburg’s goal to construct an iron-clad protection of women’s rights through the careful positioning of a series of cases affirming sex-based equality. As the co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the ACLU and while sitting on the Washington D.C. circuit appeals court, Justice Ginsburg presided over many successes advancing this strategy.
