"Women belong in all places where decisions are being made...
It shouldn't be that women are the exception."
"Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you."
"Reading is the key that opens doors to many good things in life. Reading shaped my dreams, and more reading helped me make my dreams come true."
I was sitting in the parking lot of a gas station waiting for my friend to buy a Mountain Dew and aimlessly scrolling through Facebook when I came across the news that Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died. I don’t know why the death of the notorious RBG feels so heavy and so much like the end of something special. It would be easy to say that her passing is just another crazy moment in a year that has been so topsy-turvy, twisted that it’s hard to know which way is up. Maybe the answer though, the hard-to-put-into-words, need-to-dig-down-deep answer, might have to do with what RBG represented for women around the world. Think of all the young girls wearing black robes and oversized glasses for Halloween. The “No Truth Without Ruth!” bumper stickers and pins. The workout routines that were inspired by her own physical activity as an octogenarian. The Tumblr started by a law student discussing RBG’s fiery dissents, not to mention the overwhelming amount of jewelry, shirts, and other accessories emblazoned with her bejeweled dissent collar. The reason her death feels like such a loss is because Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a real-life Hermione Granger. A Matilda Wormwood. A Jo March, Arya Stark, Katniss Everdeen, Elizabeth Bennett. These strong, passionate female characters from our favorite books are not afraid to voice their thoughts or embrace their intelligence. RBG wasn’t an awesome character on a page, however; she was a real-life role model that paved the way for so many, and she fearlessly dissented and defended the law so that all of us could live in a more just world. When a vibrant spark like RBG leaves our universe, it’s a tremendous loss. If you want to discover more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from her six gender equality cases in front of the United States Supreme Court to her many collars and dissenting opinions as a Supreme Court Justice to her love of opera and books, please check out some of the materials below.
No Truth Without Ruth: The Life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Kathleen Krull
I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Made Her Mark by Debbie Levy
Dissenter on the Bench: Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Life and Work by Victoria Ortiz
Who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg? by Patricia Demuth
My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Conversations with RBG: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty, and Law by Jeffrey Rosen