Ruth Bader Ginsburg Tells Women to Grab 2015 By the Horns

By Ellie Shechet  |  June 1, 2015 | 9:50pm
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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg accepted the Radcliffe Medal from Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study on Friday, and in her speech, the always-inspiring 82-year-old badass advised her young female listeners to lead by example.

“Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you,” she said, when asked to offer advice to women today. Ginsberg also spoke about the state of gender discrimination in the 1970’s, when she first started arguing cases in the Supreme Court:

“The object was to get at a stereotype that held women back from doing whatever their talent would allow them to do. The notion was that there were separate spheres for the sexes. Men were the doers in the world and women were the stay-at-home types.”

She added: “Young women today have a great advantage, and it is that there are no more closed doors. That was basically what the 70s was all about. Opening doors that had been closed to women.”

Ginsberg also mentioned that she looks forward to seeing “Scalia/Ginsberg,” the comedic opera based on her longtime friendship with Supreme Court antagonist Antonin Scalia. As do we all.

Image via Getty.

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