RBG

The story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is framed by her strength in adversity. The latter chapters in her life have turned her into a pop culture icon and a symbol of certain political movements, especially gender equality. The only thing left to question would be how her amazing story will conclude. Two of the biggest questions in her final chapter are, when will the end of her tenure in the U.S. Supreme Court be and who will be the president in office to determine who replaces her? The weight of vacating her Supreme Court seat during a Trump presidency means she would be replaced with a conservative judge, and that would heavily shift the majority in the court to the conservative side, 6-3. That makes her determination to stay on the bench that much stronger in order to reach a democrat’s presidency and be replaced with a like-minded judge. She says, “four more years!”, a lot in reference to how much time she needs to stay on the court in order to beat out Trump’s time in office. Staying healthy is now a top priority, and working out is a crucial part of that. I came across Ginsburg’s workout regimen when it became news that she continues to work out with her instructor in the Supreme Court’s gym during the pandemic. It was surprising to hear of the 87-year-old’s determination to maintain her routine as much as possible, and the more I learned about her past, the less surprising this level of determination became.

Born Joan Ruth Bader, Ruth was a part of a working-class family in Brooklyn, NY. Growing up, her mother stressed the importance of education and became a big influence on her life. Her mother took jobs in order to help pay for the children’s schooling. Sadly, Ruth lost her mother to cancer the day before her high school graduation. Ruth did not, however, lose sight of what her mother wanted her to strive for. Ruth went on to get her undergraduate degree from Cornell, where she graduated at the top of her class. While at Cornell she met Martin Ginsburg, and soon after graduating they married. While pregnant with their daughter Jane, Ruth’s employer caught wind of her pregnancy and fired her. She turned back to academia and she and her husband enrolled at Harvard Law. While at Harvard, the odds weren’t exactly in her favor. She was 1 of 9 girls in a class of 500. The dean of the law school made comments about how the women were taking the place of more qualified men. Despite the misogyny, she carried on. Not long after starting law school, she got the news that her husband had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. It would be an honorable decision to leave school to take care of Martin and raise their daughter, but she didn’t use that as an excuse. She continued her studies as well as took notes for Martin so that he could study at home. She would later transfer to Columbia, where she graduated first in her class. She would become the first tenured female professor at Columbia before starting to practice law. Ruth argued landmark cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, many of which fought for gender equality. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Ruth Ginsburg to become a U.S. Supreme Court judge. She was confirmed by Congress in a nearly-unanimous vote, 96-3, and became the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court. Having faced many challenges to make it this far in life she would soon be facing a new challenge when she got word of cancer in her own body. Completing chemotherapy treatment left her feeling weak and depleted. It was then that she decided to start working out in order to rebuild what body mass she had lost during cancer treatment, and help her to enjoy a higher quality of life. That’s when she met Bryant Johnson.

Ruth Ginsburg works out twice a week usually around 7 p.m. at the Supreme Court gym with her trainer Bryant Johnson. There will usually be PBS NewsHour playing in the background while she’s hitting the weights. The workout itself has gotten some notoriety and there was even a book written about it. Being a four-time cancer survivor, Ginsburg understands the importance of maintaining a healthy routine. But when I heard that she was working out when most of the nation is under a shelter-in-place order, I’ll be honest, I thought that it was irresponsible. Of what I know about COVID-19, she falls well within the range of people that are susceptible to the disease. One of the social media trends nowadays is to add a person, most times a celebrity that’s adored, to the phrase, “We must protect _______ at all costs.” So naturally, Ginsburg is trending in this category. Jimmy Kimmel joked on his show that they created an isolation bubble named ‘Ruth Bader Gins-bubble’ to keep her safe. When we add the weight of a very influential person to the stakes, I believe that more people take the situation seriously. The irony is that Ginsburg never asked for protection. RBG has always taken the bull by the horns and this pandemic is no different.

So, what have I learned from Justice Ginsburg? I’ve learned that living a healthy lifestyle is important in any set of circumstances. I have learned that if you’re fighting for something that you believe in, don’t pay attention to the odds. And lastly, in uncertain times, hold tighter to your convictions.