Imagine being very smart and having much knowledge, but everything is on your way from showing it to the world. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was one of the few women who attended Harvard for law in the 1950s. Sonia Sotomayor is a Latina woman who also faced discrimination and challenges in pursuing her dream. In "Supreme Court Justices Gisburg and Sotomayor," these women face challenges of discrimination, disease, and injustice that they overcame to become greatly successful. Ruth Bader Ginsburg fought discrimination and injustice because of her gender so that she could accomplish her dream of being a lawyer. "Source 1: Ruth Bader Ginsburg" from "Supreme Court Justices Gisburg and Sotomayor" states, "She was one of only nine women in a class of 600 …show more content…
Ginsburg continues her studies and becomes the first female tenured professor at Columbia University later on. The "Source 1: Ruth Bader Ginsburg" also states, "Justice Ginsburg's experiences led her to work toward equal rights for women.... She worked as a lawyer on their [Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union] behalf and argued six cases on gender equality before the Supreme Court. She won five of them." This means that although she was discouraged by many people, Ginsburg didn't let that stop her from becoming an attorney who argued cases for people with the same experiences as her. She helped many people by taking hers and other people's experiences and turning it into something great that would affect many women, and men. The challenges Ginsburg faced impacted her greatly, from discrimination to injustice, these contributed to her success in her dream. Sonia Sotomayor faced many hardships along the way in her dream of becoming a lawyer. Some of these include diseases, hardship, and
Judge Sonia Sotomayor was nominated to replace Supreme Court Justice Souter on June 1, 2009 by President Barack Obama. After extensive Senate hearings by the Committee on the Judiciary, Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed by the United States Senate with a 68 to 31 vote on August 6th, 2009. (Supreme Court) Although it was clear that Republicans had no intention to filibuster the nomination, partisan lines were clearly divided both during the committee hearings and illustrated in the Senate votes. However, due to the Democratic Majority in the Senate, it was clear that Sotomayor would be confirmed. During the hearings, Sotomayor answered the questions honestly, eloquently, and cautiously. During questioning, it was evident which issues were most important to the Senate: impartiality, activism and the ‘wise’ Latina.
After many years of battling for equality among the sexes, people today have no idea of the trails that women went through so that women of future generations could have the same privileges and treatment as men. Several generations have come since the women’s rights movement and the women of these generations have different opportunities in family life, religion, government, employment, and education that women fought for. The Women’s Rights Movement began with a small group of people that questioned why human lives, especially those of women, were unfairly confined. Many women, like Sojourner Truth and Fanny Fern, worked consciously to create a better world by bringing awareness to these inequalities. Sojourner Truth, prominent slave and advocate
The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body in the United States. Since its creation in 1789, 112 justices have served on the Court. Of these 112 justices, four of them are women. President Ronald Reagan appointed the first female justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, in 1981; she served for 25 years. Sandra Day O’Connor changed the face of women in politics. Men dominated the Supreme Court yet Sandra Day O’Connor made strides in feminist politics and women's rights by breaking the glass ceiling in the legal profession. She offered an unbiased point of view on many topics including abortion rights, the death penalty, and affirmative action.
Sonia Sotomayor's My Beloved World was an interesting and a relatable book especially to read in my first semester in college. I learned so much from Sotomayor’s experience and what she went through to come to the conclusion that everything is going to be okay. And as long as I set a personal goal for myself and don’t give up, I can do it. She did such an amazing job in writing this novel that we could imagine what it was like to be in her shoes, every detail and mood she set with each chapter was as if we were going through what she was and being able to see the world from her mind. And the more I read the more I could relate with her from having being the first generation to attend college, the loss of a parent, and how it’s okay to start from somewhere in
Towards the end of the 1960s a new era in equal rights took place. Following the example of the race movement earlier in the decade, women decided they needed the same gender equality as men. Up to this time in history women were known to society as house wives, and homemakers. According to David Farber, almost every decent-paying job was strictly held by men. With the increase of support for equal gender rights, Hon. Shirley Chisholm came to the rescue. Being the first woman in congress, she knew the hardships and troubles faced due to gender. When she delivered her speech to congress, it was a stepping stone for the history of women’s rights. With her help and focus on the Equal Rights amendment, it was later passed in 1972.
Can you envision a period where women were not able to vote, get into the topmost universities in America, and receive an education? For ages women were living underneath the shadows of men because they were not allowed to prosper, the only destiny they had for themselves were mother and wife. However, one lady broke numerous barriers and became the first African American woman in the United States to obtain a PhD in chemistry – Mary Maynard Daly. She was an activist for the African American community and active in several associations, hardworking, and proud fully lived her father’s legacy with her drive and determination.
Women’s equality has made huge advancements in the United States in the past decade. One of the most influential persons to the movement has been a woman named Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth faced gender discrimination many times throughout her career and worked hard to ensure that discrimination based on a person’s gender would be eliminated for future generations. Ginsburg not only worked to fight for women’s equality but fought for the rights of men, as well, in order to show that equality was a human right’s issue and not just a problem that women faced. Though she faced hardships and discrimination, Ruth never stopped working and thanks to her equality is a much closer reality than it was fifty years ago. When Ruth first started her journey in law, women were practically unheard of as lawyers; now three women sit on the bench of the highest court in the nation.
In the speech “Disappointment Is the Lot of Women,” an American Pioneer in the women’s rights movement by the name of Lucy Stone speaks about a significant topic dealing with justice. Lucy Stone focuses her speech on issues relating to gender equality at a Woman’s Rights Convention in Worcester to convince men, women, and those associated with government that women are deserving of their rights. As a well informed orator, Lucy Stone keeps her audience, message, and her own beliefs in mind while using a variety of techniques to justify her cause.
“…when a young woman graduates from college and starts looking for a job, she is likely to have a frustrating and even demeaning experience ahead of her.” (Chrisholm 1969) This was stated in the oral speech Equal Rights for Women given by Shirley Chisholm. As I read the speech it was easy for me to identify where Shirley was coming from and the side she took on the topic of Women’s Rights. The lack of equality, weather that be with women or the African American race, is an issue. As a woman myself in today’s society she brought to my attention some very valid points. I thought the speech did a good job persuading me toward standing up for equality. Shirley successfully used arguments of parallel case, arguments from generalization and the
The tragedies Ruth Ginsburg experienced throughout her upbringing had a lasting contribution to her life today. In 1933, she was born to Russian-Jewish immigrants amidst the Great Depression. In the hardships of the Great Depression, she lost both her older sister and mother as a child. This time was one of great difficulty for Ginsburg; however, she withstood this adversity and gained invaluable life lessons giving her the opportunity to attain unprecedented levels of success. After coping with her losses, she left to attend Harvard Law School and later Columbia Law School, two world-renowned schools of law. At this period in history, however, both men who dominated this field and who ran the schools discriminated Ginsburg based on her gender (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg”). At one point during the school day, the Dean of Harvard Law approached her and said, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?” (Galanes). Despite this prejudice, Ginsburg continued to excel in her schooling where she later graduated as top of her class at Columbia (“Ruth Bader Ginsburg”).
The once male dominated, corporate, "white collar" America has seen a phenomenal influx of women within the last thirty years. Although a female lawyer, physician, or CEO is no longer considered a rarity in our times, women still face quite a deal of oppression in comparison to their male counterparts. In retrospect, some professions have always been controlled by women, and men have not made a noticeable advance in these fields. In 1970, finding a female lawyer to represent you would be a difficult task, since less than five percent of the profession were women. Today, that number has risen to almost thirty percent. The percentage of female doctors has almost tripled in the course of thirty years. African Americans have not made such a conspicuous progression within the last fifty years, while women have made a tremendous impact on the corporate world. One may wonder, how did women make these extraordinary advances? For the most part, it is due to the education they receive. At the present time young girls are encouraged to enroll in classes dealing with math and science, rather than home economics and typing. As pointed out by Nanette Asimov, in her essay "Fewer Teen Girls Enrolling in Technology Classes", school officials are advocating the necessity of advanced placement, and honor classes for teenage girls, in both the arts and sciences. This support and reassurance than carries over onto college, and finds a permanent fixture in a woman’s life. While women are continuing their success in once exclusively male oriented professions, they are still lacking the respect and equality from their peers, coworkers, and society. The average male lawyer, and doctor make twenty-five percent more money than their female equivalent. Women have always lived with the reputation of being intellectually inferior to, and physically submissive to men. This medieval, ignorant notion is far fetched from the truth. In 1999, high school men and women posted similar SAT scores, being separated by a only a few points. In addition to posting similar scores on the SAT, the average males score was a mere two-tenths of a point higher than an average females score on the ACT. Even though a woman maybe as qualified as a male for a certain occupation , women receive unwanted harassment, and are under strict scrutiny. A good illustration of this would be the women represented in "Two Women Cadets Leave the Citadel.
Throughout history, many people have strongly influenced America in various aspects of society. Women have been thought of as subordinate to men since the beginning of time, and the United States has had the privilege to bring up many of the individuals that have changed the perspective of how women are viewed. One of the most notable people in American history has been Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg prodigiously influenced our views on gender equality by assisting women with their college admissions, fighting against pay discrimination for women and working for changes in state voting laws through the Supreme Court. As a consequence of her actions, opportunities for women have tremendously increased.
When I first tried to think of a behavior that I wanted to get rid of, I honestly did not think I had any traits that were really that bad to get rid. But when I started paying more attention to myself, I noticed that I would always constantly tap my foot on the floor, and it did not limit to the floor. Even when I was laying down on my bed doing homework or something, my right leg would always be wiggling. This trait was something that I would always do and I would usually not even notice until my leg feels tired or someone next to tells me to stop because I was shaking the chair and it was really annoying to them. This is a trait that I would actually want to decrease because I myself find it really annoying because it always constantly do it all the time. I even remember when my parents would lecture me during church when I would automatically shake my leg and I would shake the entire chair which really annoyed them. But this trait was something I felt like I had no control over as it was something I subconsciously do all the time. This does not really hinder my everyday life, but my leg does get tired from doing that all the time, but also because I feel a little self-conscious when I shake my leg and annoy the people around me.
received the right to attend schools of higher education, but she hasn?t receive the rights to equal access for career paths, or promotions in careers traditionally filled by males including the fast growing field of computer technology.
One major factor in why women did not reach equality in America in the past century was their underrepresentation in local, state, and federal politics. Between 1917, when Jeanette Rankin became the first woman to serve in the United States Congress, and 2000, only 219 women have been elected as US representatives or senators. Of these, only 28 have been women of color. In contrast, in the 20th century over a thousand men served in Congress, and 132 men of color. In the 106th United States Congress (which met from 1999-2001) only 58 of the 535 legislators were women, and only 18 were women of color. As a result, laws that benefitted women faced heavy opposition before they could be passed. In addition, women made up the minority of Supreme Court justices and presidential cabinet members at every point in the 20th century, and of the 15 presidents...