Blog #117 – On the Basis of Sex
So we got to see the movie about Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s first case in her long battle against sex discrimination in federal court, Moritz v. Commissioners of the IRS. I hope you liked it. I enjoyed it, and thought that it did a good job of accurately portraying the justice’s determination, hopes, and fears as she moved from the academic legal world into the real legal world (interestingly enough, the screenplay was written by Ginsburg’s nephew). According to the New York Times movie review, the only thing the movie got wrong, according to RBG herself, was when she was at a loss for words in front of the judges at the end of the movie.
But with regards to other historical accuracy questions, the movie actually gets a lot right. RBG had actually read three different early drafts of the film written by her nephew, and it was also run by the real Jane Ginsburg, a Columbia law professor. RBG’s only requirements of the film were to “get the law right, and get Marty right.” The film’s portrayal of her helpful, supportive husband, Marty Ginsburg, is accurate as well. He really did get cancer while at Harvard and recovered, and Ruth helped him by attending classes and typing up his reports. Marty Ginsburg was also one of the top tax lawyers in the country, and it was him that brought the Moritz case to Ruth’s attention. One added scene, the moot court at the Ginsburg’s apartment with Mel Wulf, Pauli Murray, and Ruth’s old professor, was not real, nor was the suggestion by Murray that Ruth split up her time with Marty. The last minute edits by Ruth’s secretary, substituting the word “gender” for “sex”, was also accurate. One additional scene, the part where she freezes up and cedes her time to the rebuttal, was also invented. There was no rebuttal, nor a freeze-up, like stated earlier. The portrayal of Mel Wulf, her colleague at the ACLU, however was not accurate. He didn’t treat her the way that it was portrayed in the film nor was he reluctant to tackle additional cases that addressed sexism in the law. Also, Wulf didn’t ask her to write the Reed v. Reed brief nor refuse to let her present it to the Supreme Court, RBG volunteered to do both: write the brief and defend it in court. Also, the scene below where Ruth and Jane meet pioneering lawyer Dorothy Kenyon didn’t happen, but that scene, in addition to the one with Civil Rights activist Pauli Murray, according to the filmmakers was a way of showing that the feminist legal revolution did not begin with RBG but that she was continuing their work. However, RBG didn’t feel that the fictional elements of the film detracted from the overall story: “This film is part fact, part imaginative—but what’s wonderful about it is that the imaginative parts fit in with the story so well,” Ginsburg told NPR’s Nina Totenberg following the New York screening.
Questions to answer (PICK 4 OF 6 TO ANSWER):
- How is Marty Ginsburg the “perfect” or ideal husband to RBG? Give specific examples of their relationship.
- Provide at least three sexist slights or dismissals from the many men in the movie, from Ginsburg’s time at Harvard to searching for a legal job to tackling and arguing the case before the Denver Circuit Court. How would you have handled these slights or dismissals over something that you couldn’t control (in this case, RBG being a woman)? Explain why.
- Does it matter that this movie was directed by a woman? Why or why not?
- How does Jane, Ginsburg’s teenage daughter (and for that matter, Ginsburg’s female law students), capture the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s (and in essence, shows a different kind of feminism than her mother represents)?
- What are the potential dangers or pitfalls of heroically portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this? Explain.
- Explain how this movie epitomizes this quote from the movie (as its theme): “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.”
400 words total. Due by Monday, February 4 by class.
Websites consulted:
https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/on-the-basis-of-sex-accuracy-rbg-biopic-fact-fiction.html
1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg married Martin Ginsburg in 1954. Martin was a perfect husband to Ruth for many reasons. Martin and Ruth loved and admired each other very much. They supported each other and maintained balance. After Martin was diagnosed with cancer in Harvard Law School, Ruth attended both her classes and his while Martin was caring for their young girl, Jane. At that conservative time, many husbands would have scorned the fact their wives were more intellectual and had higher achievements than them. Furthermore, most considered it the wife’s job to take care of the children and the husband’s job to go out and work, which was exactly opposite from the case in the Ginsburg house. However, Martin always supported Ruth and encouraged her to not give up. Martin was a loving and caring but also fair and respecting husband to Ruth.
2. Sexism towards women was very profound in the movie. First of all, Harvard didn’t accept female students in the beginning. During RBG’s time in Harvard, there were very few women admitted compared to hundreds of men. Ruth even mentioned in the movie that there were no women’s bathrooms in the university. At a dinner party, the dean of the law school asked the women in a condescending manner why they think they have the right to take the place of a man in the university. Also, despite graduating at the top of her class, RBG was unable to find a good job because no one wanted to hire a woman. These manners and behaviors prove that there were discrimination and sexism towards women at that time. I would have handled these dismissals about something I can’t control (my gender) very similarly to how RBG did.
3. I believe it does matter that the movie was directed by a woman because a woman is more likely to experience the same issues and be able to relate to the story. This movie was directed by Mimi Leder, a 66 years old American film and television director and producer. Leder, specifically, felt a strong connection to the story of Ginsberg’s fight for equality in a male-dominated field because she also encountered the same obstacles in life: She is working hard to be a successful movie director although the profession is traditionally male-dominated. Leder was the first female graduate of the AFI Conservatory, a film school, and became one of few female directors succeed in the action genre. Leder is a feminist who discourages stereotypes through her movies and has used her position to hire many women where not many women were hired. She tries to bring female directors and promote equality. This shows that women, who are more likely to experience this kind of sexism, will probably portray this story from a different point of view.
6. The quote, “the Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era”, is extremely important to the movie and to the morality of the court even today. Weather refers to short term changes in the atmosphere, while climate represents what the weather is like over a long period of time. This relates to the RBG’s claim that things change over time and that needs of today (for women to be equal and have fair opportunities) aren’t the needs of 100 years ago. RBG claimed that the climate changes over time and that you don’t need to let one defeat (or the weather of today) stop you from reaching your goal.
Marty Ginsburg is the perfect husband to Ruth because they compliment each other and barely fight in the movie. In the movie, they both went to law school and could understand each other if there was ever a problem. For example at the end of the movie, when Ruth goes to court debating against how the Constitution discriminates on the basis of sex, Marty is happy to be able to support his wife and isn’t upset because she is the main lawyer. Another example from the movie that shows that Marty is the ideal husband is that when Marty is diagnosed with cancer, Ruth takes on the huge duty of going to classes for him. Ruth doesn’t just go to Marty’s classes but she also attends her classes. Ruth has to race to get from class to class. Also, at the end of the day while Marty was laying on the couch he was telling her what to write on his paper. Even though early into writing the paper Marty fell asleep, Ruth continued to write his paper.
Throughout the movie, there are multiple situations where Ruth is put down because she is a woman. The first person that disregards her is the professor at the beginning of the movie. The professor asked an in-depth question about a previous court case, Ruth immediately knew the answer and her hand shot up first. The professor saw Ruth raise her hand, but he waited until a man raised his hand so he could answer the question. Another person who didn’t have any sympathy for Ruth being a woman in law was the judges at the end of the movie. At first, Marty stepped up to open the case and he was struggling, so then Ruth stepped up. As soon as Ruth stepped up to speak the judges were confused and when she pleaded, they didn’t even consider what he was saying. The last situation about Ruth and her gender is the dean wondering how she can take a spot from a qualified man. Ruth completely goes against what the dean says and takes on the court case. I would have not handled these situations as good as RBG because after all of the people bringing you down I would get annoyed.
I believe that does matter that the movie was written by a woman because they are able to show the real struggle of being a woman in the 1960s. If this movie was to be written by a man, it would not have been as deep because the woman who wrote this could have come from experiences. If a man were to have written this movie, there would not be as many details such as women not having bathrooms on college campuses. Even though I believe that it matters that a woman wrote this, I believe it would still have covered all the points if a man wrote it but, there would not be as many deep details about women’s struggles.
Ruths daughter, Jane Ginsburg and Ruth’s female law students show the spirit of the late 60s and early 70s through their different types of feminism. For example, in the middle of the movie, Ruth, and Marty found out that Jane skipped school to go to a women’s march. Ruth became upset at Jane for skipping school, but Jane didn’t see the big problem with it since it was for women’s equality. Jane is different from Ruth when they are trying to catch a cab and they are running in the rain. Near them, there are construction men and they yell at the girls, making them uncomfortable. After the men yelled at them, Jane didn’t like how they were treating them so she swore at them. This is different because when Ruth was growing up women had very little right to say anything like that to men. Ruths law students show the spirit of the 60s because they are taking on a mans job. SinceRuth became a law student, she was now able to teach future female law students and change gender roles.
1. Martin is the perfect or ideal husband for Ruth because of his love for the law and how he stands with her against sexism. Martin is the one who presented the case that Ruth took to court of right against laws on the basis of sex. He also helped her in court to try and win the case. Martin also supported her decision on going to law school because he knew how smart she was and that she was qualified.
2. One example of a sexist moment that Ginsburg was faced with was when she was at a dinner party with the head of harvard and he made all the woman in the law program stand up and say why they took the spot of a man. Another example is when she was out of school and looking for a job. She was rejected by dozen of places that she was very qualified to work at and one job interviewer even said she was a good fit but still turned her away. Lastly, another example is when she in court and the judges was treating her like she was very stupid and they were trying to tell her how the law works. If i saw any of these happen I would definitely say something to stand up for her because she is being very mistreated for being born a way she could not control.
3. I do not think it matters that the movie was directed by a woman. It was probably better for a woman to direct because she could connect with the film better maybe going through some of the same struggles. I don’t think that she would make the movie an inaccurate or over exaggerate any parts in the movie and she would be perfect to shed light on this topic.
4. Jane, who is Ginsberg’s child, captures the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s by her new wave form of feminism that is different than her mother’s. Jane likes to go to the streets and protest for equal rights and does not want to stay silent. This captures the spirit of the late 60s of how people wanted their voices to be heard and to have rights so many protests took to the streets. Jane also will stand up to feminism like when she yelled at the construction men cat calling her and her mother. This is very different from her mother who wanted to just ignore the men and she is trying to gain rights and equal level in society by going through the courts and changing laws.
1.Marty Ginsburg was a role model husband because he was supportive of Ruth regardless of her opinions, and same with Ruth, she supported him whenever she could. When He was diagnosed with cancer, she attended his classes and took notes for him. He also treated her as an equal and wanted to help her every step of the way. He was perfect for her because he was also experienced in the law and was able to help her perfect her court case that had a lot of opposition to it. Also, while in court if he wasn’t there to present the first half, she wouldn’t have been able to say anything at all.
3.No, I don’t believe that it matters that a woman directed this. Nobody can change history and there isn’t much of a way that you could show what happened in a bad light. If the movie was made biased because of its female director then it would be dismissed as inaccurate and people would look down on it. The gender of the director doesn’t affect what happened with the court case.
5.Portraying such a heroic person that is still alive could cause problems, especially if they portray the person wrong by showing the motives of the person wrong or acting them out uncharacteristically. In this movie however, they showed Ruth as a strong positive person of change in a good light and showed her achievements well. Making a movie out of it could also hold the director back from showing all the important details with time constraints on the movie but I think that all the important details were shown in an amazing way which made the viewer able to connect with the movie.
6.The movie uses that quote to represent that social norms change over time and that the climate of the era was changing in terms of gender equality. The court shouldn’t be affected by things that happen on a day to day basis, they should be affected by the changing times and make correct judgements based on such changes. Basing judgements based of the needs of women a long time ago isn’t helping since they changed. There was a need for change in the court of law and Ruth Ginsburg gave evidence that the climate was changing and that the court of law needed to keep up with it.
1. Marty was very loving and supporting of his wife Ruth. While Marty was under diagnosis of his cancer Ruth went to both her classes and his classes while he took care for their daughter, Jane. During this time period men wouldn’t appreciate their wife working; they always wanted to be better they would make all the money and take care of taxes. Marty and Ruth have a balanced relationship they both work and support each other.Marty is the one who introduced the tax case to Ruth and supported her through the whole process even when she was struggling he always helped her. He wasn’t perfect even though he showed her off, when she was standing there watching him talk to his co-workers they made sexist comments and he just stood and smiled without defending it while Ruth got upset.
3. A woman director can relate to the same issues and can relate to the same experiences as Ruth Ginsburg. The director Mimi Leder, a 66-year old American film director, and producer. Leder could relate to Ginsburg because their fields are male dominated facing sexist comments on their work. Like in the movie, Ruth graduated at the top of her class, RBG was unable to find a good job because no one wanted to hire a woman. These manners and behaviors prove that there were discrimination and sexism towards women at that time. A female director will portray the movie with stronger context than what male would show in a movie. I would have handled these dismissals by saying I can’t control my gender very similarly to how RBG did.
4. Teenagers at that time were more initiative for a change, marches, rallies, and riots because they wanted change. When Jane and her mother, Ruth, were walking across the street and two men hollered at them, Ruth didn’t do anything but stood their in shook but Jane on the other hand yelled at them offended. Teenagers were very ambitious for a change that’s why so many events happened and so many changes happened in that time period.
6. This quote “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era”, is saying that weather of a day is just for that day but climate represents weather over a long period of time. Ruth said that the climate changes over time and that you don’t need to let one defeat stop you from reaching your goal.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the “perfect” or ideal husband to RBG for many reasons. First, he is also a lawyer from harvard law schools, this allows him to help RBG and be at the same intellectual level as her. Marty is also very supportive of RBG’s cause and helps her throughout the way. He was even the one to bring her the case she argued and when Mel Wulf wanted Marty to speak instead of RBG he said he wouldn’t do it, and eventually had to be convinced to do half. Marty is also challenging the sex norms in his daily life, he cooks, looks after the kids, and has a wife, RBG, that works.
3. I don’t think it matters that a woman directed the movie, but a woman could show better how women have to deal with sexist remarks every day. I think the if it was directed by a man it would be pretty similar in the affects of the movie, but I feel the story could’ve been different if the screenplay was written by a women instead of a man. But all in all the story was portrayed very well and most likely RBG had a say in everything which would make the story more realistic and portrayed how she wanted it to be.
4. Jane Ginsburg and RBG’s female students captured the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s and showed a different kind of feminism than RBG represented because they grew up with the laws already being made but justified, where RBG had to fight to get those laws. Another difference is RBG is fighting slowly through the law, with court cases. Jane and the female students fight with immediate action in the streets, with protests and rallies. At one point Jane confronts RBG and says that she says she is fighting for equal rights but she isn’t doing anything because Jane’s used to rallies and calling for action, where RBG is trying her best to find the right court case.
5. The potential dangers or pitfalls of heroically portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this is if she doesn’t meet to RBG’s standards. Most likely, Felicity Jones took the part because she admired RBG and if RBG thought that her portrayal wasn’t good then Felicity Jones would feel awful and could ruin her career. Also people who disagree with RBG’s beliefs could make threats towards Jones depending on how extreme they are.
1. Marty Ginsburg was the ideal husband for RBG. They were both lawyers and had interests in very similar subjects which made them highly compatible. When Ruth first started at Harvard, Marty didn’t act like the typical man who believed that women didn’t deserve a spot in high education. He supported her every step of the way. While they were in school they worked together and helped each other. During the case, they were working together to achieve the same goal.
2.Throughout the movie men were overlooking RBG and her abilities as a lawyer. The first time we see this in the movie, was at a dinner at the dean’s house. The dean invited all the women of the class to dinner. When they introduced themselves, he asked each of them the same question. “Why do you deserve to be here more than a man?”. This question implies that he believes a woman must be better to earn her way in, ultimately setting men and women as unequal. The second instance of sexism was during Ruth’s first few days at Harvard. She was in a lecture, and the professor asked a question. Ruth was very intelligent and obviously knew the answer right away. The camera even zooms into her hand raising to show her confidence. The professor deliberately looks at her but waits until a male student can answer the question. Even after she’s able to speak up, the professor throws away her answer and finds all the flaws in it. Another time she was overlooked was when she was looking for a job as a lawyer in New York. Despite her amazing credentials (a law degree from both Harvard and Columbia), almost 20 law firms turned her down because of her gender.
4. Jane and the law students are a different type of feminist than Ruth. Rut wants to change the law and be technical about getting female rights. On the other hand, Jane and the law students want to be heard as a mass. They go to rallies and speak up about the issues. They would be the ones to send letters, start protests, and take the issue to the streets. They proved to the government that the times had changed. This was realized by ruth when Jane calls out a construction worker for talking to her and her mother without any respect.
5. In our world, everyone has their own opinions. Some people have common opinions and priorities which end up making these people into a group. These groups are splitting our population. Some groups of people believe that decisions made 50 some years ago, shouldn’t have been made. They believe that women are not equal to men and shouldn’t be equal in law. By portraying Ruth Bader-Ginsburg as such a hero, the movie may receive some backlash from these aforementioned people. Real people mean real opinions. By making the movie about a real person, opinions people already have about her can affect the movie’s ratings, but more importantly, they can affect the real Ruth’s life.
1.Marty was the perfect husband for Ruth. he was very supportive of his wife becoming a lawyer especially for his time. He took care of their daughter Jane while ruth and him were in law school. Marty was very supportive for his wife when she could not find a job as a lawyer. He told her to keep applying for jobs instead of telling her to give up and by a housewife like most guys his time would say. He was a great father for Jane and helped her out when she was a teenager and Ruth was busy. Marty also never put himself before Ruth. He never just focused on his cases he always wanted to help Ruth out.
3. Yes, i do think it matters that the movie was directed by a women. The movie is in the point of view of a woman. If the movie was directed by a man i think the movie would have been a little different. With the movie being directed by a women we can see the relationship between Ruth and her husband and daughter through a woman’s perspective. The details of the bathrooms being all men and not having bathrooms for women are the details that would not be in the movie if it was written by a man.
4. Jane and the law students showed the spirit of the feminist spirit of the 1960s and 70s. They are vocal and they have a lot of passion for women to be equal. It is different than Ruth’s generation. Ruth’s generation was nowhere near as vocal as Jane’s generation. Jane’s generation protest and go out on the streets and let their voice by heard. Ruth’s generation was a lot less vocal. They were thankful for any little opportunities they had and they had done little protest and going out on the streets. Jane generation has a do it yourself mentality she shows that when she gets the cab by herself. That is really different than Ruth’s generation who had still relied on men doing things like that.
6. The quote and the theme represents the movie is that even if fail once it does not change all change for woman in America. She wanted to show that. She believed that one defeat was not going to stop her for demanding change. She wanted other people to know that even if she lost it would have an effect on the feminist movement. A lot of people in the movie were worried that if she would lose her case that it would set back the feminist movement back. Still, Ruth did not believe them and took the case.
1. Marty Ginsburg was the “perfect” or ideal husband to RBG. He never treated her as less than him. He always listened to her and made sure she knew how great she was and how much potential she had. He helped her immensely with her case. He wanted to help the fight for gender equality. When the judge didn’t take her seriously, Marty made sure to give her a chance and let her speak. He also supported her dream of becoming a lawyer. He was so upset when she was turned down by every firm she applied to. He recognized the unfairness of the time. Stereotypes of men in the 60s and 70s include them being the provider for the house and go to work while the woman stayed home to care for the kids and cooks and cleans. In the film, he was actually always the one cooking. He was also happy to take care of their daughter Jane. He was the “perfect” husband because he was supportive, loving, and didn’t belittle his wife.
2. In the movie, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not taken seriously because she was a woman. During law school at Harvard, her professor and classmates did not take her seriously. She was always the first person to raise her hand when the professor asked questions, but he never called on her. He waited until another male classmate rose their hand to call on someone. After a male classmate missed a crucial part of an answer, she butted in and corrected him. People laughed and didn’t listen to her like they would’ve if it was a man. I would’ve reacted the same way as Ruth. I would make sure everyone knew how smart I was, and never stop trying to gain respect. Another instance of blatant sexism was when she was looking for a job after school. Even though she excelled at Harvard and Colombia, over 14 firms wouldn’t hire her because she was a woman. She was even turned down once because “the wives of male lawyers get jealous.” If I were in her place at that interview, I would not have bit my tongue. I would call the interviewer out and make sure he knew that was not fair. A third instance of sexism was during the trial. Every time Marty tried to sit down to give Ruth a chance to speak and state her case, the judge stalled. He clearly did not want Ruth to have a fair chance. When Ruth tried to interject, the judge made it known that he was asking Marty, and Marty only. Even though Ruth would’ve been better at answering the questions. I would’ve done the same thing as her and just talked anyway.
3. I do think it matters that this movie was directed by a woman. All women know the struggle of sexism. No matter how many stories they hear, a man can never relate to the things women face everyday. A female director would be best fit to make the film authentic. I’m sure the director of this movie, Mimi Leder, can relate to some of the things Ruth went through. Mimi was the first female graduate of the American Film Institute in 1973. I also think having a female director goes to show how times have changed since Ruth Bader Ginsburg was in school. Women are now taken more seriously and can amount to anything a man can.
4. Ruth’s daughter Jane and her female law students capture the spirit of the 60s and early 70s and show a different kind of feminism than Ruth represented. Jane was very open about her feminism. She expressed herself through clothing similarly to the emerging hippie counterculture at this time. In the 60s and 70s, feminism became huge movement. In 1966, the National Organization for Women was founded. I definitely think that Jane was a feminist and part of the New Left. She wanted change. She attended protests and fought for her rights. During a fight with her mother, Jane had said that she was actually making change while her mother was not. Ruth became a teacher instead of her dream of becoming a lawyer. She realized that her daughter was right, and wanted to be more like her. Jane inspired her mother to take up the Moritz case and fight for women’s rights. When Jane and Ruth were catcalled on the street, while bothered, Ruth stayed silent. Jane spoke up for herself and called the gross men out on their actions. Jane showed a more radical feminism than Ruth. She pushed for more social change while Ruth pushed for more political change. Ruth’s students were feminists too. In class, they discussed social issues. The students helped her with her case as well. They wanted to be able to be lawyers when they were older.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the perfect/ ideal husband for Ruth Bader Ginsburg for many reasons. One being that he was extremely supportive of her career and the paths that she wanted to take. When she was looking for work he kept supporting her and encouraging her to push herself and find better jobs than the ones she was getting. Marty also recognized that women weren’t treated like equals, and wanted to help Ruth take down the many laws that prevented women from having the same opportunities as men. Finally, he treated Ruth as his equal, not lower than him because she was a teacher instead of a lawyer or because she was a woman
3. Yes, it does matter that the movie was directed by a woman. It’s extremely helpful that a woman directed the movie because only a woman could truly capture how difficult it was to be a woman in the time period that the movie took place in, as well as understand the struggle that Ruth went through in the events in the movie. Some slight details that could make all the scenes feel real and right could be the difference between the film that we saw and something vastly different.
4. Ruth’s law students and Jane capture the spirit of the 1960’s and 70’s and a different type of feminism in a big way. For example, protesting became vastly popular during that time, like with the various Vietnam war protests that went on in that era. Some scenes from the movie show and mention protests that are taking place around the city. An example from the movie that shows the difference between the new era of feminism and Ruth’s, was later on in the film where Ruth and Jane get cat called, and they have very different reactions. Ruth tries to ignore them, while Jane stands up for both her and her mother; after she tells Ruth that “you can’t let them talk to you like that”, and proceeds to call a taxi for the two of them. Rather than just sit by and wait for change to occur, these new feminists decided to do something and take action for what they believed in.
5. Some potential dangers and pitfalls of heroically portraying a person who is still alive like Ginsburg in a movie like this is making them seem like a god, rather than a person, like you or me. Some movies will place the person that they were about on a pedestal, and not fully capture the essence of hat that person stood for. Another issue could be wrongfully portraying other real people in the movie, dramatizing their character so that the audience could have someone to hate, which could lead to that person (if they were still alive as well), being harassed for the actions of his or her character on screen.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the perfect husband for RGB for many reasons, each strengthening their relationship as the movie progressed. Firstly, they both seeked the same goal- to be a lawyer. They had both gone to the same school during the same years, which helped them out considerably. This had especially helped the couple out when Marty got sick, as RGB could pick up right where he left off. Another reason Marty was the perfect husband was for his support. All in all, women were not respected as a man would have at the time, taking a huge toll on RGB’s education and case. However, Marty did not stick to the norms of society, being as supportive as he could for RGB’s goals. This was shown many times throughout the movie, from RGB’s education and job offers to help in her important case the movie was centered about.
3. To me, I think that the movie being directed by a woman did matter. I feel that sexism isn’t a concept someone can truly understand until he or she has to go through it. There is more to understand about it than just by a definition, but by unfortunate experiences within. The movie being directed by a woman probably gave the movie another sense of emotion and feeling, as women of the time most likely dealt with sexism in this era. It most likely helped the movie be more relatable to the director, helping the film show how sexism impacted many lives across the country.
4. In this movie, RGB’s daughter and students capture the spirits of the 1960s’ and 1970s’ in many ways. First of all, they all aren’t afraid to speak their mind. Aside from the hearing, RGB usually refrained from this, as gender norms suggested so. Through countless classes and hearings shown throughout the movie, Jane and RGB’s class all show and say what they think, regardless of the norms of the time. Their constant debates show how interested and convinced all of them are to be who they really are, not being hung down by the rest of society. Another way this was shown was through their determination on this matter. As this time period was flooded with movements for change, many were not in favor, giving hatred to those who tried to fight for what they wanted. Both Jane and the class being themselves would have been very difficult because of this.
6. The quote “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” was very important for the movie- showing how many felt the era should be while helping RGB want to change it. As weather usually references the short-period time frame in comparison to the long-term climate, the court should rule by the era as a whole, not through events on a day to day basis. In the movie, this was especially prevalent through many sexist statements and the beginning of a new “climate” with RGB’s win in the courtroom.
1. Marty Ginsburg was the “perfect” or ideal husband to Ruth for many reasons. Despite being the time period, it was, Marty never treated Ruth less than him. He was very supportive of her career path in becoming a lawyer. Marty helped Ruth with her fight for gender equality. When they were preparing for the hearing, Mel Wulf wanted Marty to speak instead of Ruth. Marty was stubborn and didn’t want to take the chance away from Ruth. Marty was there every step of the way while Ruth was on the path to becoming a lawyer. He was devastated when she was turned down by every firm she applied to, and he was able to realize how unfair she was being treated. Marty went against the stereotypes of men in the 60’s and 70’s by cooking and cleaning the house as well as taking care of their daughter Jane. Marty was the “perfect” husband because he was loving, caring and supportive of Ruth’s career even though he knew she was faced with discrimination.
2. In the movie, there were many instances where Ruth, along with other women were mistreated because of their gender. One example of when Ruth was not taken seriously by the many men at Harvard was at the beginning of the movie. Ruth was always the first person to raise her hand when the professor asked the questions, yet she was never called on and was over looked. In this specific instance, Ruth was the only one who raised her hand, but the professor waited until a man raised their hand. He actually got some of the answer wrong, so Ruth interrupted and corrected him. If I was Ruth, I would have done the same thing by showing the other men in the class how smart I was even if I was a girl. Another example of sexism in the movie was when Ruth was looking for a job after college. Ruth was top of her class at college, excelling at Harvard and Columbia, despite being a girl. Although, none of that mattered when more than 14 law firms rejected her. If I was Ruth, I would have stood up to the interviewers and called them out for being sexist. After all my hard work, I would not settle for something below average just because of my gender. A third instance of sexism is portrayed during the trial. Every time Marty tried to sit down to give Ruth a chance to speak, the judge stalled. The judges were being sexist, and clearly didn’t want Ruth to have a fair chance to argue her case. I don’t think I would have been as brave as Ruth by answering anyways when the judge made it clear he was addressing Marty, and Marty only.
3. I do think it matter that the movie is directed by a woman. Women themselves have a better understanding of sexism. A man can never truly relate to the sexism women face because they haven’t faced it first-hand. I think for this movie; a woman director would be the best because it gives a chance for the movie to be authentic. Mimi Leder, the director of the movie was the first female graduate of the American Film Institute in 1973. She can most likely relate to the sexism that Ruth faced in the movie, as well as what the real Ruth struggled with when becoming a female lawyer. I think it matters that the movie was directed by a woman because it gives a sense of reality and authenticity, when the director most likely struggled with the same things Ruth faced.
6. The quote “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day but will be by the climate of the era” was a very important aspect of the movie. This quote means that the weather of the day just effects that particular day, yet the climate of the era has an overall effect for a long period of time. This related to the movie because Ruth was not defeated or put down by one set back “weather of the day”, but she was determined to change gender discrimination in the long run “climate of the era”. In a different perspective, the Court shouldn’t be affected by the things that happen on a day to day basis but should be affected by the changing times and correct things.
1. Martin is the ideal or “perfect” husband because of his support. He always backed up Ruth no matter what she was doing or saying. He was her right-hand man when it came to fighting. They loved each other very much and had a great relationship. He supported every decision she made, whether it was going to court or attending law school. He was also educated in the matter of law and was able to help her with all of her cases. This was somewhat uncommon at the time. Men didn’t support or appreciate their working wives. Marty did a great job of opposing the norm and being a great husband.
3. I think that it does matter that a woman directed this film. Mimi Leder, 66-year-old women created this film and did an excellent job. If a man were to direct this, all of the struggles women faced wouldn’t be shown. The movie may have a different impact because it was directed by someone who didn’t actually face these issues. However, since a women did direct this, there may be too much exaggeration because emotions are involved. Either way, I think a woman director was perfect for this movie, so every aspect of sexism in the past could be shown and brought awareness.
5. Portraying such a heroic person that is still alive could cause serious problems, and I believe it was a bold decision to make this movie. If the impression given off by the movie is negative or false in any way, it could hurt the person very badly. Although this movie was about motivation, support, and talking out, I still believe that it is very risky to make a movie about somebody who is still alive. If this movie didn’t meet RBG’s standards than the movie would be considered a failure. This movie was about bringing awareness but also capturing the life of a heroic, brilliant woman. If that woman did approve of this movie, then it would be a waste of time.
6. The movie focuses upon the quote, “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.” Weather refers to short-term, while climate represents long-term. This quote is saying that the court is not affected by short term evidence, but the circumstances of the era. Back then, women were not treated equally with men. Since that was the case, Ruth had a harder time winning in court and proving her points. She had a greater struggle getting men to listen to her. However, weather is temporary and should not affect your long-term goals. She didn’t let the social norms back then affect her from reaching her goal, equality for men and women.
How is Marty Ginsburg the “perfect” or ideal husband to RBG? Give specific examples of their relationship.
Marty Ginsburg was the ideal husband for Ruth Bader Ginsburg because he clearly loved and supported her. Marty supported Ginsburg’s passion for law and wanted to see her succeed and get a good job. One example of this is when he came home after Ruth had been rejected from another job. Even though his advice wasn’t taken by Ruth he encouraged her to keep trying to find firms that would hire her. He also wanted to give her a chance when others didn’t. One example of this is when Wulf wanted Marty to speak instead of Ruth but he declined. Without the support of husband like Marty, I think Ruth would have found it more difficult to try to move up in the profession of law.
Does it matter that this movie was directed by a woman? Why or why not?
I don’t think it matters who the movie was directed by. If the director was intent on making the movie historically accurate it wouldn’t matter what the gender of the director was.
How does Jane, Ginsburg’s teenage daughter (and for that matter, Ginsburg’s female law students), capture the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s (and in essence, shows a different kind of feminism than her mother represents)?
Jane and Ginsburg’s female law students capture the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s by being more confrontational. Jane and Ginsburg’s students were more willing to go out and protest and raise awareness. One example of Jane doing this is when she got upset with the construction men. The men were catcalling Jane and Ruth and Ruth wanted to just get in the cab and leave. Jane was having none of that and actually called them out on it. This is just an example of how different Jane and Ruth are. Ruth would have rathered left and let the construction workers get away with it but Jane actually spoke up.
What are the potential dangers or pitfalls of heroically portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this? Explain.
I think one major potential danger of portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this is having the person you are portraying dislike the movie. I think that it would be embarrassing and possibly career damaging for an actor if they got everything about the person wrong. I think another pitfall depends on who you are portraying. I think if an actor portrays someone highly controversial that could possibly hurt their career because they are typecasted as that person.
1) Marty is the ideal husband for Ruth for many reasons. They are perfect for each other. They are both hard working and determined and help each other through school. Marty is especially perfect for Ruth because he believes in her more than she does. He believes in overcoming sexism and is willing to do anything for Ruth. He puts his job at risk to help Ruth with a case that will not directly impact anything, but will start a change. He always puts Ruth first and is supportive of everything she does.
2) 1. When Ruth is asking that she be able to transfer her education to a different school so she can be with her husband, the head of the school says no. He says you are lucky enough to even be attending this school, don’t push your luck. Ruth then gives him examples of other men that have done the same thing, but he still won’t let her. I probably would have handled the situation the same way as Ruth, and pointed out the sexism that was happening.
2. When Ruth is looking for a job, it is impossible for her to find one because she is a women. They all say the same thing. “Don’t you need to be at home taking care of the kids? “or “the wives might get jealous”. Ruth finally ends up taking a teaching job, which is not what she had intended, but it was a start. I would not have settled for the teaching job. I would have kept looking for a real lawyer job, no matter how long it took me. If I was able to get a Harvard law degree then I should be able to put it to use.
3. When Ruth and Marty are practicing the trial in their living room, the judges are asking her questions, and she is trying her best, but they still get the best out of her because she has never actually been to court before. They want Marty to do the talking at the trial, but Marty refuses and says this is Ruth case. I would have done the same thing as Ruth and denied at first, because he just has more experience than her.
3) I think it’s good that this movie was directed by a woman, so she can portray her views towards sexism. If a man directed it, they may not know exactly what it was like for Ruth and may show things the wrong way. They might understand what the caretaker was going through, but the movie was mostly directed around Ruth.
4) Ruth is a feminist no doubt, however she is much different than her daughter, Jane, and her students in her class. The “70s kids” are in the era of trying to get rid of sexism, so they know it is possible, where Ruth grew up used to all of it. They are the generation of change. They don’t want to just sit and do research and do things behind the curtain. They want to go out and fight for their rights, even if it puts their lives in danger.
1.Marty Ginsburg the “perfect” or ideal husband for Ruth because they both share the same interests (law) and he supports her throughout everything she fights for or against. Martin is her biggest fan even when she is fighting for a radical idea at the time, equal rights for women. For example, even when Martin’s boss said that the case Ruth was working on could fail and completely ruin Marty’s career, he stuck with Ruth because she full-heartedly believed in the cause she was fighting and he full-heartedly believed in her. Furthermore, when Ruth and Marty were arguing in front of the court, Marty was the first to speak and willing stepped down so Ruth could have her turn, even though the jury seemed to not want to hear Ruth. Marty respected Ruth as an equal person instead of just as a woman of the time period.
2. Ruth was repeatedly dismissed and discredited because of her gender. One of the many instances, where she was viewed as less than because she was a woman, was in class at Harvard. She obviously knew that answer to the question and professor was asking, but the professor didn’t give her the chance to speak until a man answered the question incorrectly and Ruth jumped in to correct him. Even after explaining the differences between her and the man’s answer as well as further explaining her point, the man acted as if she was inferior to him completely based on gender. Another example of this mistreatment of Ruth was when she and Marty were at Marty’s work party. One of the men there told Ruth she was smart because she married a smart man like Marty. The man never said anything about her going to law school and being as if not more qualified than Marty because he did not see her as equal. A third example of sexist behavior towards Ruth was when she was repeatedly turned down by firm after firm because they either did not want a woman working for them or that they had already hired one woman, and they did not need or want a second one. Ruth handled all of these situations very professionally, not once showing her anger in front of these men which is something I don’t think I could ever do.
4. Jane and Ginsburg’s female law students capture the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s and show a different kind of feminism than her mother represents because they are not afraid to protest in a more radical way. Ruth always stuck behind women’s equality in a legal sense, fighting sexism through trying to change the law. Unlike Ruth, Jane and the other students, fight the sexist nature of America by going out and marching and expressing their issues with it out in the open. For example, Ruth never talked back to any of the men that gave her a hard time through law school or her firm search even though she had every right to. Instead of being quite, Jane skips school to attend a march and yells backs at a construction worker who verbally harasses her and Ruth even though Ruth says just to ignore.
6. The movie uses the quote “The Court ought not to be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” as it’s theme and Ruth’s position on gender equality. The weather of the day is forever changing and the weather one day 100 years ago may look nothing like the weather of tomorrow. Therefore, instead of looking at what was true for what women seemed to enjoy or tolerate 100 years ago, the court needs to change it’s thinking based on the climate, or what women are pushing for currently and the changing times of the era.
1. Marty Ginsburg was in many ways the perfect husband for Ruth. With Ruth taking up demanding and controversial roles and cases in her life it required an immensely supportive husband, which could be seen in many occasions as Marty. For one, Marty could be seen as ahead of his time, him and Ruth never cared or worried about the social conventions of women and men’s roles within the house. Henceforth, Marty was the one who cooked for the family, a role which would be been performed by a woman in that time. Another way he was the perfect husband is that he dropped the great position he had in his own law practice to help Ruth with the big case. If they lost, he could’ve been in serious trouble within his job but that didn’t stop him from taking on the job with Ruth. It would have been much harder for Ruth to win that case if she didn’t have Marty’s constant support. Lastly, while this is not shown in the movie, Marty campaigned for Ruth when the time came around to elect a new Supreme Court Justice. He was able to get Ruth an interview with Clinton and also got referral letters from a army of scholars.
3. I think it does matter that the movie is directed by a woman. I think through this it reflects what RBG and other woman pushing for increased rights and status have been able to achieve. A female director can also embrace and relate better to the discrimination Ruth was enduring in the movie because many women have experienced the injustices in their own lives.
4. The second wave of feminism that occurred in the 1960s and 70s was very different than the first. Spurring from the success of the civil rights movement, women in the 1960s were inspired to create their own organized movement for greater rights. In 1966, the national organization for women was formed and set an agenda for the feminist movement. Framed by precedence set by Betty Friedan in The Feminine Mystique. NOW’s goal was to make possible women’s participation in all aspects of American life and to gain equal rights enjoyed by men. While the first wave of feminism can be seen as pushing for women’s legal rights, the second wave of feminism focused on all aspects of a woman’s life from family, to sexuality, and work. This can be reflected in the movie because Ruth’s daughter, Jane can be seen taking direct action for equal rights. She is seen protesting in the streets and fighting for what she and others alike believe is right. To contrast this, Ruth is seen in the courtroom, fighting for equal rights for all in the law. This is a perfect reflection of the differences between the two eras of feminism.
6. The quote is perfectly illustrated in the movie. The period in which this movie and court case took place was an immense period of change within the country. With the civil rights and feminist movements, common norms were being broken down all across the country. This quote is then perfectly reflected because this shows the court siding with change, and reform for the country. If they would’ve decided against RBG then they would’ve been choosing the norm and what has been held and demonstrated in the country forever. But the fact that they didn’t shows how they were reflecting an era of change.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the ideal husband to RBG because he encourages her, believes in her, sticks up for her, and is also a layer. One example of this is when he talks to his boss at his firm to convince his boss to allow him to take the sexual discrimination case that Ruth is passionate about. Another time is when they are practicing for court and Ruth is struggling with her argument, but Marty encourages her to keep going, and gives her pointers, and when she asks for it, he agrees to do part of the argument with her. The last example is after she can’t any law jobs, he encourages her to teach and inspire other young minds.
3. It does matter that this movie was directed by a woman because women can empathize with other women much more than men can. They go through many of the same things in life that men never have to experience. In some scenes, a woman can capture the other woman’s thoughts emotions or actions better because they have lived through a similar situation, where as a man can try to imagine it, but may not be able to do so in the most genuine and accurate way.
4. Jane, Ginsburg’s teenage daughter captures the spirit and the shift of feminism during the 1960s and early 1970s perfectly. That era became a time for women to speak up instead of keeping their head down and doing the action behind the scenes. For example, when Ruth and Jane are catcalled in New York City, Ruth just dismisses it and tries to tell Jane to get into the taxi, but Jane speaks up to the men and says that what they’re doing is wrong. This movement to speak out and fight back, as well as protesting became a big movement in the 1960s/70s, and Jane was very much involved in that; she even skipped school to listen to a feminist speak at a march.
5. A potential danger of heroically portraying a living, breathing person such as Ginsburg in a movie like this is that she is still creating a legacy that could change with her actions and motivations. She could decide to rule a certain way in a court case that may disagree with what she once fought for. Another danger is that along with her still making decisions today, people’s opinions could change about her and they may not believe that she deserves the hero status that is given to her. Also, there are multiple people alive today that have had great feats in their life and it begs the question: Why her and not them? Finally, if the person who is alive doesn’t like how the movie turns out, it could make for an extremely uncomfortable situation on both sides.
1 In the film, Marty Ginsburg is portrayed as being a perfect match for Ruth. Marty and Ruth’s relationship was an equal effort from both parties, both of them took after their children in their family. Marty took over where Ruth could not, specifically with cooking where he managed to learn a wide arrangement of cooking skills from books while he was in Oklahoma. Conversely to Ruth’s skill with cooking food, Marty was able to cook marvelous meals for the Ginsburg family and Ruth’s law clerks. Marty was also a great supplement to Ruth’s work in law, as they both went into the same field during their college years. A scene in the film had Marty be the catalyst for Ruth’s future work on the Moritz v Commissioner case, which was the main case for a majority of the film.
3 I believe that it does matter that this film was created by a female director as this movie focuses on sex-based discrimination in the 20th century, especially one that had grown up around the same time as the cases in the film. This allows for the subject of the film to hit a bit closer to what it was aiming for, in this case the portrayal of civil rights from a female perspective. This is a similar case to Black Panther being directed by a black director, as it allows for scenes that apply to race, like the scenes featuring Oakland, California, to appear a bit more accurate. Miriam Leder, the director of the movie, has been involved in other films where she attempts to improve female characters beyond stereotypes that are common in modern films. Leder, as someone who is trying to change the way that women are portrayed to something stronger, was a great fit as director for this film that covered sex-based civil rights in the last century.
4 Jane and Ruth’s female law students are both embodiments of a new era of society and female civil rights as they a more upfront that women in previous decades. During scenes in the movie, Jane demonstrates that she doesn’t like to be harassed by others. An example of this was the scene in the rain, where both Ruth and Jane were being called over by construction workers in suggestive ways. Jane responds by flipping them off, which of course gesture that she does not want to be messed with and is a contrast against how her mother was ignoring them. Ruth’s law students were also more direct in what they saw of the law cases that were taught in the film from Ruth. As Ruth was on her way up to her class, she had to move through a rally that was occurring outside the building, which is a portrayal of more direct methods of civil rights activism among discriminated groups. In the classroom, her female law student’s reactions to what one of the male students in the room had to say about the law cases directly led to everyone speaking against that male student. The societal changes between Ruth’s era of feminism and feminism in the 60’s and 70’s was a change to more immediate and bolder solutions.
5 By portraying a still living person in a fashion that views them as a hero may spark inaccuracies about the person, or people, portrayed in the film. In order to convince people to watch a film, the film must first grab interest of the target audience, and beyond, of the film. Although watching a biopic about someone who isn’t you can tend to be boring, so some directors may throw in some fictitious event(s) in order to amp the film up or to convey a message. In On the Basis of Sex some events, like Ruth attending Marty’s classes, or Ruth and Jane meeting Dorothy Kenyon, or Melvin Wulf’s Skepticism of supporting the Moritz case were partially or fully falsified in order to give the film a bit more depth to the viewers. This tends to lead to better reviews of the movie, when in reality some of the information will need to be checked by a viewer in order to truly reference Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life.
1. Marty was the perfect/ideal husband for Ruth because he always included her, never belittled her, and switched the “normal” gender roles with her. For example, he would always push her to continue to be productive. He was happily the chef in the family, as well. Additionally, during her practice trial in her living room, when the NCAAP founder asked for him to speak, he exclaimed it was Ruth’s case he did not want to overshadow her.
2. One example of sexism was at Ruth’s dinner at the Dean’s house. Her, along with 3-4 other woman were asked to stand up at the table and explain why they should even be eligible to be allowed in, the former all-male university, Harvard. Another example was Ruth’s first day in law school. She and another man were the only two people raising their hand to answer the question. Ruth raised her hand first, but the professor picked the man. This happened again yet again, but Ruth intervened and proved the professor she was just as capable. Thirdly, sexism was shown when Ruth was searching for a job to work at in New York City. At one particular establishment, as well as others, Ruth was more than qualified to work in the position she wanted; however, no one employed her because she was a woman. In this situation, I don’t believe I would have as much willpower as Ruth. I probably would’ve given up and gotten a job that would 100% accept me. This is because I would just believe it wasn’t time for America to invest time into a better way of thinking.
3. No, it doesn’t matter that the movie was directed by a woman. The film itself is about the abolishment of discrimination about women, so it’s sort of the icing on the cake. Along with this, as long as the director herself was being discriminate against men on set, it shouldn’t really matter.
4. Jane along with Ruth’s law students displayed the spirit of the 1960s-70s because they showed how woman were fed up. Ruth was primarily worried about discrimination in the workforce meanwhile her daughter and students were concerned about getting rid of the inequity of woman altogether.
5. Skeptics would probably say that the producer of the movie was writing Ginsburg out to be better than she needed to be. As well as, if the movie portrayed something the negative public, such as: anti-feminist, controlling men, etc., didn’t like. Ginsburg could’ve been threatened for being the type of ambassador she was while speaking up about women’s rights.
6. This movie exemplifies the quote by saying, that the rulers/judges of the time shouldn’t just be worried about Ginsburg, but should be worried about the backlash of the thousands of women demanding rights. That quote is screaming that Ruth herself is just the calm before the storm.
Marty is the idea husband Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RGB) because even though in those times the ideal wife would be the opposite of RGB Marty loves and supports her any way he can. For example when she entered Harvard instead of criticizing how foolish she was to attempt becoming a lawyer at the prestigious school he didn’t doubt one bit that she could do it. Throughout most of the story, Marty has been supporting RGB for their whole marriage even if it risks his well being. Just like when Marty asked his boss to help him with RGB case and Marty’s boss said if they lose he’s fired. Either he was confident they would win the case or he just didn’t care if he lost his job nevertheless his sacrifice shows how much he’s willing to give in order for RGB to follow her dreams.
One sexist slight from the movie is that women shouldn’t be lawyers or at least not be taken seriously when RGB got into Harvard when they were a the inauguration it seemed like the Dean didn’t seriously acknowledge the fact that the women who got into his school were trying to become lawyers and not the perfect housewife. Another sexist remark from the movie is when RGB is looking for a job but out of the almost 10 businesses she applied for didn’t accept her because she was a woman or they already hired one and “one more would be a little too much” even though she was the highest scoring graduate from her class not to mention where she got her degree from is anything she’s over prepared to get a job. Finally, the last sexist remark is not for women but for men when RGB was taking her first case for the man who became a caretaker for his mom the government wouldn’t give him tax reductions. The law back then made it so that since he is a bachelor he doesn’t count for the tax reduction because the law never thought one would take care of his mom due to the ideology of that was a woman’s job. A women job that can be done just as well as a man but no one thought that a man would ever do it.
In a way, it could matter that the movie was directed by a woman since it could be biased towards women and make men look like vile monsters. Thankfully that wasn’t the case because it showed balanced and fair thinking and not to mention some sexist remarks for men. Hence it can be called the Basis of Sex and not the Basis of Women.
Jane and Mrs. Ginsburg’s students capture the spirit of 1960-1970s of feminism because instead of just sitting and talking about women’s rights like most people would in Ginsburg time, but her daughter is actually taking action and at least attempting to be more productive towards their goal
1. Marty is the ideal husband for RBG because he seems to be an anomaly to the typical husband of the time period. He doesn’t suppress her or make it seem as if her role is simply to be a housewife and care for the children. In fact, it seemed in many scenes throughout the movie as if he was with the children a lot of the time. When it is suggested that Marty is the speaker in court, because he would be more powerful and well spoken, he disagrees and makes it clear that Ruth can and should be the one to do it. In his eyes, she is equally capable and he will not be the one to take that away. Also, throughout the movie he never treated her as simply an object, or an addition of himself. He saw her as her own person, such as when they were at the law dinner with all of their colleagues. Many of the other lawyers there would choose to overlook or “dumb down” what they were saying, but Marty made sure to show that Ruth was an incredible lawyer and was working for something she was extremely passionate about.
2. One instance of sexism in this movie was at the Harvard Law dinner. The Dean asked each women to explain why she was at Harvard and taking away a placement that could have gone to a deserving man. This made each women, who had worked possibly harder to be a female in a male dominated field, very uncomfortable and in some cases it can be hard to answer something like this, just as it was for them. Another example of sexism was when Ruth and her daughter Jane were walking home from meeting with Dorothy Kenyon. They were waiting for a taxi when they were cat-called and harassed. This is inherently sexist because it objectifies and dehumanizes a women to simply something a man can look at and view as a “thing” rather than a person. A third example of sexism in this movie was when Ruth was told she needed to be calmer and more serene when she was addressing the powerful men in court. Women are often told this because in the event of them being seen as equally determined and having an equal amount of power, it can make others feel intimidated. This leads to the issue of women either being “too bossy” and told they’re trying to assert too much dominance, or they are “pushovers” and will never hold authority. I think that most women have experienced some form of sexism or just a slight that was based on the fact that they are female and there are sometimes limited ways you can deal with it. It seems that if you ignore it, you are allowing the concept to linger and persist, however, if you do challenge what a person says, it circles back around to the issue I wrote earlier of being seen as too domineering and they try to play it off as a joke.
3. I think it is nice that the movie was directed by a women because it is a lot more likely for her to understand what Ruth was going through compared to a man that has probably not faced sexism to this extent ever. However, I don’t think it was a requirement and if it had been directed by a man I doubt that it would have made a drastic impact. The fact that it was made by a women doesn’t really change the overall theme of this movie. I think that is another important idea of female equality as well. The gender of the director does not have to be a talking point. Her gender does not impede her ability to do her job and as long as the director of a movie is talented at their work, and is creating good movies, whatever their gender is is not that big of a deal.
4. Jane Ginsburg’s feminism is one of acting on it. She goes to marches and rallies to really show what she supports and why. All of the younger women in this movie wanted to actually make changes and cause a movement that would help them and all women. Ruth’s feminism was more one that acknowledged the problems and realized there needed to be change, but also in a way was resigned to the fact that this was how the world worked. As much as she wanted there to be equality between the sexes, to a lot of the older women, this just didn’t seem possible. However, it was with the younger generation that acted upon this, saw the injustice and made it their mission to reverse them and make the world equal for themselves and all women.
1. Martin Ginsburg is the “perfect” or ideal husband to Ruth because he supports her, understands her, and he doesn’t abide by the everyday gender norms. We see Marty supporting Ruth throughout the entire movie, especially when he sees a struggling RBG trying to find a case to present, so he discovers and researches the Mortiz tax case and brings it to Ruth’s attention. Marty would go to any length to support his wife through her journey. Next, Martin understands RBG because he is also a lawyer. Marty graduated from Harvard law and was also one of the top tax lawyers in the country. Martin understands what Ruth is going through and is the best prepared to help her through her journey. Lastly, I think the most important, is that Martin doesn’t abide by everyday gender norms. Throughout the movie we see Marty cooking for his family and handling the kids, all while he and his wife work.
2. Ruth faced a lot of sexist slights or dismal throughout the movie, but three major instances really stood out. The first was despite Ruth’s flawless track record and graduates from Columbia and Harvard law, she was turned down by numerous firms in New York just because she was a woman. Secondly, occurred when Ruth was in class at Harvard. RBG was the first to know the answer to the question the professor asked, but because she was a woman the professor wouldn’t call on her. Lastly, while at the Dean of Harvard laws dinner party he asked a very rude and disrespectful question to each woman at the table about why they think they deserve to be at Harvard. I would have handled the situation the same as RBG. Ruth proved to all the people that disrespected her for her gender that she was educated, empowered, and capable of winning.
3. I personally don’t think it matters that a woman directed this movie. I think because a woman directed this movie, all of the sexist remarks and events RBG battled through were portrayed better than if a man would have directed, but I feel like a man would have captured those moments as well.
4. On the Basis of Sex epitomizes a quote from the movie “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.” The movie does so by showing that the court shouldn’t make decisions or be affected based on day to day events, but they should make choices and changes based upon the changing times and the “climate” of that time period.
1) Through his support and loyalty, Marty Ginsburg is the perfect husband to Ruth. After Marty is diagnosed with cancer during his first years of law school, Ruth selflessly takes on his classes on top of her own to make sure he pursues his dreams of becoming a lawyer. He ends up getting a great job offer in New York while Ruth still has another year of Harvard Law, but she finds a way to finish at Columbia so she can be with her husband. In return, Marty always encourages Ruth to pursue her dreams, to always take a leap of faith. Even when Ruth seems happy about her job offer to be a professor, Marty hesitates to celebrate just because he wants to make sure that Ruth is doing what she truly wants to be doing. When Ruth decides she wants to take on the male caretaker case that would potentially defy all laws that discriminate on the basis of sex, Marty supports her 100% and helps her with the case. He even participates in the trial, which ends up making Ruth’s argument stronger and could have potentially made or broken the case. He never was threatened by her success, which can be a common problem for men in all couples. They were the perfect spouses for each other, always supportive and never selfish.
3) I think that it does matter that this movie was directed by a woman. If a man were to have directed it, there probably wouldn’t have been as much passion in the scenes because the director would have been less likely to understand the cause. Because the director was a woman, she was able to capture the emotion that Ruth (and other women) truly felt when she was treated unfairly. Most women face sexism everyday. It’s easy for all people to recognize that, but only women really know what that feels like. I don’t think that this movie would have been bad if a man were to have directed it, but I think the message is stronger because a woman directed it.
4) Like her mother, Jane Ginsburg feels the need to stand up for what she believes in. But because she grew up in the spirit of the 70’s, she is willing to go to protests and has a bit more of a rebellious personality than her mother. Ruth wants to change the status quo, but she doesn’t want to risk her life for it; she wants to handle it civilly. Ruth cares more about giving equal opportunities to women, but Jane cares more about how women are treated by men and how they are seen in society. For example, one time when Jane and her mother are walking in the street, a few construction workers yell derogatory comments at the two. Ruth ignores them, but Jane yells back, standing up for her and her mother and putting the men in their place. Jane’s type of feminism is seen more today too.
5) With creating such a powerful movie about an important, living person such as RBG, there come dangers too. If the movie captures the person in a controversial way just one time, the audiences could react in negative ways. For example, with this movie, if the director got something wrong about Ruth’s trial or argument, there could have potentially been backlash and it could have seemed disrespectful to Ruth. Additionally, people who don’t know much about Ruth could have simply disliked the movie and develop strong opinions against her. This would be unfair to Ruth, who worked her entire life to create a positive impact for her cause: gender equality. Directors of movies like these have to be sure to portray the character exactly how they were to protect the legacy that they made for themselves.
1. Ruth’s husband, Martin, was the perfect husband for her in many ways. First of all, he was very different from most men at the time as he was not as sexist and didn’t seem to believe in the common gender roles at the time. For example, when he got cancer in college he stayed home and took care of their daughter while Ruth went out and took notes for him and helped him write his papers. Also, when they were older, they were both out working and Martin was fine with that. He was also alright with helping ruth achieve her goals and with her surpassing him, status-wise.
2. There were many instances in the film where people were sexist towards Ruth. For instance, at the beginning of the film when the Harvard professor asked the class about the details of a court case, Ruth raised her hand to answer. However, the professor proceeded to call on two men before calling on her, with both of the men answering wrong before she answered it correctly. Another example was Ruth was at the dean’s dinner and the dean was going around asking the women why they took a man’s spot at Harvard. This was, of course, an incredibly awkward situation for all the women there. Finally, when Ruth was looking for jobs many of the interviewers denied her for some quite sexist and silly reasons like she would be too busy with bake sales, or they asked when she would have her next baby. If I were in the situations I think I would have gotten madder than Ruth did.
3. I think it does matter that it was directed by a woman, as the movie was over fixing women’s rights. If it had been directed by a man it may have portrayed Ruth differently or it may have focused more on Marty. However because it was Directed by a woman, I think she was able to direct the movie in a way that would show Ruth in a proper light.
5. Making a movie about someone seems like it would be quite difficult. I think it would be hard because you have to get an actor to mimic a specific personality. In a fictitious movie, the actors can impact the personality of their character. You also want to do the person justice while entertaining the audience, so it seems like you might need to add a few things that didn’t really happen. It seems like it would be difficult to find the perfect balance between reality and fantasy.
Blog: Basis of sex
1. Marty Ginsburg represents “the perfect husband” through the support he gives his wife. It was tough for Ruth being a woman and wanting to become a lawyer. Their marriage is filled with love encourage and assistants. However, Marty always stood by her and supported her. They both shared a passion for the law, and helped each other to fulfill their goals. For example, Marty stood with her, during her court case, by splitting the time, as they both stood up against sexism. Ruth did the same when Marty got cancer. Ruth went to his classes for him, while going to her classes also. Not only did she go to the classes but she helped to finish his assignments.
3. Knowing that the movie was directed by a woman, I think it helped the story of the movie. However, a man could do just as the women did. The woman has a better insight of sexist comments made on women because she has gone through it. The movie is based off of Ruth, so a women’s perspective brings the movies emotions, detail and more to life.
4. Ruth’s daughter Jane, gives the movie the growth of feminism through generations of time. Jane doesn’t seem to let a man push her around. She stands up for herself, showing us her generation won’t stand for these sexist comments. There is many seems in the movie where she shows this feminist pride. For example, in one scene Jane and her mother are trying to catch a cab, when construction workers hit on them. Jane quickly reacts and yells at the men to stop, then goes on to tell her mother that she can’t let men push her around like that. Another scene shows Jane and her mother fighting over Jane skipping school to go march for women’s rights. This gives us a sense of 60s and 70s women who protest and stand up for their rights.
6. The quote “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.” seems to be an overall theme of the movie, connecting back to feminism. The term weather represents short changes, while climate represents the major changes during the time period. This quote really means the court should act on the changes of the time period rather than what’s going on day to day. Ruth really shows people the change over time than the everyday basis for standing up against sexism.
1.) Martin Ginsburg married Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1954, and from then on, Martin played the role as a the perfect husband through many aspects. They both loved and supported each other very strongly and made sure to keep the right balance for their relationship. Once Martin was diagnosed with cancer while he was still in Harvard law school, Ruth made sure to take up in his role and go to all of his classes to he could keep up with his work and studies. During this, Martin made sure to take good care of their daughter Jane. Despite the gender stereotypes that were normally followed at this time, Martin was still very supportive of Ruth during her court case at the end of the movie despite her being the main lawyer of the house. Martin was always fair to Ruth and respected who she was.
2.) Throughout the movie, the audience can recognize multiple instances where Ruth experiences put downs for her gender. One example of this was near the start of the movie when Ruth was attending one of her court classes. The professor asks a questions about the case and Ruth immediately knows the answer and puts her hand up, despite this, the professor waits so he can pick a man to raise his hand. Another time in the movie where the audience can see sexism was when she was struggling to find a job. She was rejected from tons of places, one of the places even said that she would be a good fit for the job, but still wasn’t accepted. Finally, near the end of the movie in court, everyone tries and treats her like she doesn’t know what she’s doing. If this was a situation that I saw occuring, I would stand up for her and try to prevent situations like these from happening.
3.) I think that by having this movie directed by a woman, it gets a deeper view of the struggles of a woman. Woman have to face sexism all the time and men have never had to experience it, they just hear the stories. Having a female director makes this more real, and the director Mimi Leder, can most likely relate to some of the things that Ruth experienced. This can also show how now women can be directors of movies and do greaters things that they couldn’t have done in the time period of the movie.
4,)Jane, which is Ginsburg teenage daughter, does a good job of of capturing the spirit of the late 1960s and early 70s through her character and strong belief in the feminism wave. Despite being young, Jane still wants her voice to be heard by attending many protests even though it can be dangerous. Another time where we can see Jane standing up fro her rights and being fearless is when she stands up for her mother, when the construction worker was cat calling to them. Se used her voice in the moment rather than trying to change laws.
1. Martin Ginsburg was the perfect husband to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and was shown on several occasions throughout the movie. The couple supports one another and their actions, have a good relationship, and understand one another and their point of view. Martin doesn’t believe in gender norms, and supports several actions of Ruth that the normal husband at the time wouldn’t have. Martin is shown to disregard the norms through cooking, which was not common at the time for a man, and taking care of his kids. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was attempting to find a case to present, and Martin found the one in which made them victorious, known as the Mortiz case.
3. I think it matters that the movie was directed by a woman, as it shows the evolution of gender rights and norms from the early days of the nation. 200 years ago, women were often labeled to be homekeepers and it wasn’t normal for them to work out of the home. From little to no rights, to producing a movie show the steps taken to solve the issue dealing with gender.
4. Jane Ginsburg captured the new spirit of feminism in the 60s and the 70s. While Ruth was trying to argue her case with legal action and in the court, Jane, along with many other people and different causes at the time, were taking these issues to the streets and important presidential and governmental buildings to protest what was right and best for the nation. Along with the fight for gender rights, other protests occurred as well, such as the Civil rights marches in 1963 and later. Jane also showed new feminism when the men at the construction site commented about Ruth and her. Ruth wanted to walk away and not give any attention to the men; however, Jane wouldn’t stand it, and fought back to the workers. It showed Ruth that change was already taking place, rather than trying to start it.
6. The theme “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” was present in the movie. Weather is short term, and most likely relates to the individual actions by people. Climate is long term, and represents the actions and mood that are committed by a community or a group of people. The “climate” or long term issues of the time were finding solutions, including gender rights. This was also shown by her daughter, as she was living proof that the court and the laws in which they follow were being changed by the general wants and beliefs of the people that live under it.
Marty Ginsburg is the ideal husband for RBG plainly because he believes in her. He is always supportive and knows that she can accomplish big things. When everyone in power is telling her no, she got to go home to Marty who’s faith would give her enough willpower to keep trying. A good example of Marty believing in Ruth is, during the climax of the movie. The two both failed in their opening arguments and one of them had to rebuttal. After her opener, she tells Marty to do the rebuttal. When he begins to stand up, she stops him, they make eye contact and he simply nods in support and sits down, allowing her to make the rebuttal. If he was someone else he may not of let her do it and they may not have won, but because he knew that Ruth could win and so he gave her the opportunity.
Another example of sexist slights in the movie are when she is told by an interviewer that her working in his firm would make the other lawyer’s wives jealous. Another is when she is told that she cannot get a Harvard law degree if she does her last few years of law school at Columbia, even though a man did the same thing a few years before. The third example is when Mel says that Marty should talk the tax part of the argument. If i was faced with these, I would of likely given up many times throughout Ruth’s journey.
I think it does not matter that the movie was directed by a woman very much because a man could have the same vision and of made the same movie . However, I think that it is a better move by the studio to have it by a woman so that it is a woman telling a story that is important for woman. Similar to how Black Panther was directed by an African American director, the story may be more personal if the director has a real connection to the story. It is fitting that a story that is important for one group of people would employ people of that group. Black Panther has an almost all African American cast and introduced audiences to many talented African American actors as well as the director, giving them more opportunities in movies.
Jane Ginsburg represents the type of feminism of taking action. Ruth is from an era where the only way to change people is to change it through the legal process. Jane wants to change things through riots and protests. Instead of waiting and hoping people will notice, feminists from the 70s wanted to make people notice.
Marty Ginsburg was the perfect husband because he supported Ruth, helped her achieve her goals, and made a name for himself as well. Marty supports Ruth’s strong mind even though she is a woman. Many men in this time period would not want a strong wife who had her own goals. They wanted a stay at home mom to take care of the kids. Marty never told her once she could not do something. When she took the major case, he did not hold her back but helped her. He found evidence and got his own law firm in on it. He made a name for himself as well, which help Ruth be taken more seriously. Marty was a very good lawyer, which help people to believe in Ruth’s case because she was a woman and Marty was a man, so she did not has power like he did at the time.
4. I think they capture the spirit of the daughter very well because when the movie starts out Ruth being only one of the few women in Harvard, which was in a way normal for the time period. As the year progressed, Jane came along and really helped to emphasize times changing. She is a very strong woman. An example is when she comes right out and yells at the construction workers. She doesn’t think twice, even if her mom did. Her mom didn’t want her to say anything, but she knew times were changing and it was okay to say something now, compared to her mom’s time, where that would not be allowed. Her bold personality exemplifies the shift in the role of women from the 1960s to 1970s.
3. I think it matters a little that the movie was directed by a woman because I think that a women’s point of view is different than a man’s. Although the director didn’t live through the earlier times in the movie. I still think it’s important that the director was a woman. She gave an insight on women that a man wouldn’t know because he is simply not a woman. As a female director, she showed how women and men are different. She showed Marty as more of a husband and less of an independent man. She showed him for a more female point of view showing how he supported Ruth.
6. The quote “The Court ought not to be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era”, was displayed throughout the entire movie in many ways. The quote shows how the ways of an era change. The court and world should take into consideration that the atmosphere around people is changing and there’s nothing to do about it. The court should not let their decisions be affected by what people used to think, but where the world is going to turn to.
Marty is the ideal husband for Ruth because he doesn’t treat her like she is in his shadow. Marty, throughout the entire movie, supports Ruth and her goals. First off, Marty brings the case to Ruth’s attention and without him caring enough to do so we wouldn’t of had a movie to go see. In addition, Marty does is he talks to his boss and begs him to let them take the Moritz case because he knows how much it means to Ruth. On top of that, he refuses to split the time with Ruth (like Mel suggested) when defending the case (even though that didn’t really happen IRL). All of those examples reflect Marty’s support for Ruth when she really needs it. Ruth, being a woman in a “man’s world” almost has no chance without any outside support. With the support given to her by her established lawyer husband; she is able to show the world what she is made of. Marty supports, loves, and defends Ruth; furthermore, making Marty the perfect husband.
Three examples of sexist slights in the movie are when the law professor asks why the women are at law school and taking up a spot another man could of had, when Ruth is interview for a job at a firm that she is over qualified for and is turned down because the man said she would make their wives jealous, and when she answers a question in her class and is first ignored and then disrespected by her professor. I feel like if I was treated this way because of something I can’t control I wouldn’t be able to control my anger. I would probably engage in arguments with other about how silly it is the way I am treated, but I would also soon probably come to realize that there is nothing I can do about it so I would accept defeat instead of fighting like RBG. I don’t think that I would have thought that I had the power to make a change, so I would be a follower instead of a leader.
I think that it does matter that this movie was directed by a woman because of the overall tone of the movie. A man would have also done a bang up job I’m sure, but I think the women also depicts the strength and ability of a woman to do a “man’s job”. I also think that this movie would mean more to women considering that this is part of what they came from. This is the fight that women before them fought so that she could direct the movie.
Jane represents a new kind of feminism in that she goes to more “radical” almost gatherings then RBG. Jane skips school to go to a women’s rally which RBG views as wrong because rallies were uncommon during her feminism wave. Jane also stands up to the men calling out to them before they got in the cab Jane’s wave of feminism also focused on things like sexuality, family, the workplace, reproductive rights while RBG’s wave of feminism focused more on fixing legal obstacles like voting and property rights.
Marty was an ideal husband to ruth because he wasn’t worried about those womens stereotypes and never thought of ruth of anything less than equal. He was also a contributing factor around the house like a cook and took car of the kids if she was out a work. Marty also fully supported ruth and her work to become a lawyer and pursue her deep interest in law. He always had full trust in ruth knowledge and capabilities as a mother and as a lawyer. With a full trust in each other and with overbearing support they worked together to get ruth a well deserved position as a lawyer and fight for women’s rights and equality as well.
While ruth was searching for law firms to work for they all had some stupid excuse to not hire her even though she was overqualified. They used her gender, her schooling and other random things such as “this is a family run firm” to keep her out of there firms. So she later became a professor and ended teaching other women about sex discrimination. She also frequently got catcalled which is never appropriate and if my girl got cat called i’d go talk to him with her ask him why he did that or just ignore it. She also got harrased and checked out and she and if this happened to a girl i knew we would sue them and get money.
It might, we can never know. Maybe if it was directed by a man he would make the harassment from men less to set a better image for men or give them bigger roles. I think the female director was a great idea and of move, she could highlight things that men would not have. So yes, it definitely does matter that the movie was directed by a women because it opens things up in the movie and adds a true perspective to ruth and her life.
6. The quote is trying to say the the jury/ judges opinion in a court wont change because of lightning or a rain storm but what will affect it is the people and the ideas that fill the time period you live in will affect the thoughts and outcomes of the court. This is constantly the goal of ruth’s actions, to change the judges minds. So when she is fighting for women’s rights, she’s trying to make the new era a better place for everyone to the point where no one is ever discriminated against.
1.Marty Ginsburg was the ideal husband to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in many ways. They both had much support and always believed in each other. For example, when Marty was diagnosed with cancer during Harvard Law School, Ruth decided to attend both her and his classes. Marty was at home caring for Jane, their young daughter at the time, and for himself. Going to Harvard Law School is hard, being a girl at the time attending there was even harder, but taking on the task of two people’s classes is very challenging. Marty was also against the typical family stereotype at the time. Usually the mom does the cleaning, cooking, and taking care of the child, this was not the case in the Ginsburg household. Marty and Ruth were very respectful of each other and as some would say the “perfect” couple.
3. In my opinion, it does matter that this movie was directed by a woman. During this time period, it was very hard for woman to get them same rights as men. Only another woman has the experiences and struggles to recreate that in a movie. If a man wrote it, I think it would still get around to the points of how hard it was for girls, but it would not have gotten the exact perspective that it had with a woman writing it. The story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have been told in two different points of view if a male wrote it vs. a female.
4. Jane Ginsburg with the rest of Ginsburg’s female law students perfectly portray the spirit of the 1960s and early 70s. As a new wave of feminism approaches, more and more women are demanding equal rights. Girls are now marching through streets, chanting for what is right. An example of this is when Jane and her mother were walking to their car and a male construction worker yelled an inappropriate comment at them. Ruth wanted to just walk away and pretend not to hear or care, but instead Jane screamed back at them. Jane, and the rest of Ginsburg’s female law students wanted to gain rights and laws, not ignore the old ones against them.
6. This movie optimizes the quote “The court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” as its main theme. The weather of the day is only for that specific 24 hours only, however the climate of the era is over a long time period. Ruth Bader Ginsburg wanted to make a change to the climate of the era. The court should not be ruling by a couple short hours of a day, but by a period of time that is long enough to make great changes that could be permanent. Ruth had many challenges, these were day to day challenges, only weather permitting. She overcame these by being determined to change gender bias in long run, as the climate of the era.
1. Martin is the perfect husband for Ruth. They both shared the love and dedication for the law. Martin supports and helps Ruth in her battle against sexism, he fights for what she believes in. He is the one who showed Ruth this case and he helped fight for it in court. He helped her with her argument and contributed his area of expertise to help advance the case. He supported Ruth through her dreams because he knew what she was capable of.
2. In many instances throughout the movie, Ruth was not taken seriously because she was a woman. One example comes from the start of the movie. The women going to Harvard for a law degree have a dinner party. The dean has each of the girls stand up and say why they deserved to be at Harvard law over a man. This suggests that women have to earn their way in and they have to work harder. Ruth responds to this question and talks about how smart she is. I probably would have done the same thing. I would have tried to make sure that everyone knew that I was smart enough to be there and that I deserved this place as much as the next person. After Ruth is done with school and is looking for a job is another example of this. She looks at and interviews for many jobs when coming out of college. She is rejected from all of them because she was a woman. The interviewers all tried to mask that and used excuses to cover up this face. I would have probably gotten mad at some of them but I would not stop pushing my way in. The last example comes at the end of the movie when she is arguing her case in court. When she was making her points, the judges kept trying to tell her how the law worked and would not listen to her. Also, when Martin tried to pass off to her because they were now entering her field, the judges kept staling, not letting her talk. When Ruth tried to take over they kept telling her that they weren’t talking to her. I probably would have done the same thing.
3. I don’t think that it matters that it was directed by a woman. The story does not change, you can’t rewrite history. The director also doesn’t write the movie, that’s the writer’s job. The writers create the movie, the director works with the cinematography, artistic and dramatic aspects of the movie.
4. Jane shows the feminist actions of the 60s and early 70s that contrast with her mothers. Jane wants to speak up and be heard. She wants to go to marches and protests and she is not afraid to call people out. Her mother, however, wants to stay quiet in public, not address the people who are the problem. When the construction men were catcalling them Jane went up and said what she was thinking where Ruth just stayed quiet.
1. Marty, in my opinion, is the type of husband everyone dreams of having. He’s sweet, intelligent, charming, and extremely loving and loyal to Ruth. I noticed there was a bit of role reversal when it came to their relationship. Ruth was the headstrong character with the drive to achieve her goal, which is usually a more masculine role in film. Marty supported her every move, but was honest and let her know of any mistakes she made and offered advice when absolutely needed. For example, when Marty made a point to let Ruth know she was being a bit too aggressive with her approach to the judges, he did so in a way that was respectful and made sure to not anger Ruth any further. He also did his best to explain to Jane why Ruth was so aggressive in her parenting methods, and how it was all out of love. He was even the one who brought up the court case that plot of the movie was based off of, knowing Ruth would go crazy for it. All in all, he really, truly loves her, and wants to see her succeed in her goals, and he’s definitely the best husband I’ve seen so far in any Hollywood production.
2. In the movie, there were several evident sexist dismissals and comments made to set the ideologies that Ruth had to deal with in the 60s and 70s. The first that I noticed was definitely when another one of the few women that entered Harvard law school spoke about why she wanted to become a lawyer. After mentioning that she wasn’t interested in becoming a nurse or a teacher and decided to pursue a different career, she was brushed off by the administrator, who promptly instructed her to sit down as that reason was not “good enough”. Something else I noticed was that whenever Ruth eagerly raised her hand to answer a question, the professor would select one of the male students to answer it instead, even after making direct eye contact with Ruth. The final thing I noticed was when Ruth was watching Marty amaze a group of men with his knowledge of tax cases, one of the men in the group let Ruth know that she was extremely lucky to have an intelligent husband, assuming that she was just his loyal wife who was simply there to stand and look pretty. If I was in these types of situations, I would most likely just smile and nod politely, but when I’m in private I’d rant forever about how horrible hat person is. I feel that it is important to act polite, even if dealing with blatant sexism, because then it makes you the better person.
3. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter that the movie is directed by a woman because it is important for women to have allies that are also women for the empathy part but it is also important for women to have male allies as well, as it will raise attention to the injustice and more voices will be heard.
5. There are potential dangers to heroically portraying a real life character such as Ruth because then those people who were opposed to her are treated like major antagonists. It risks potential backlash against those actors who portrayed those people, and even the people themselves. Although they may have had an opposing ideology to that of Ruth, it’s important to treat everyone involved as human beings.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the perfect husband because he is progressive. Ruth loves Marty peacuse he doesn’t tell her to quit her job and get in the kitchen. He wants her to follow her dreams, and he wants her to change the world, he didn’t suffocate her with the thought that she should not be doing this as a women. He’s an ideal husband also because he takes care of the kids, now husbands should be doing this without even being told, because dads are parents too. But back then this was extremely rare for a man to do, but he did do it. He was well rounded, and inspired Ruth to do her best, and never held her back.
3. I do believe that his important that this movie was directed by a women. Did it have to be directed by a women? No, it could’ve been a man or a women, but it wouldn’t have mattered. The movie is sending a message about the early rights to equal gender rights. Being directed by a women was icing on the cake for this movie, it just demonstrated the power of the movie. It demonstrated that what Ruth did back then and now, has changed our America. So yes it does matter.
4. Ruth’s daughter, and her law students had a different idea of getting their rights. They didn’t believe the old method was totally effective, and it wasn’t. It took a long time for things to really kick in. The new generation was feed up at this point, after seeing their mothers struggle, and seeing how they would struggle, the took a stand. They believed that if you wanted to get your rights that you were going to have to fight for it, and protest. Which is true, they did have to protest for their rights, and they still have to protest for their rights. It was just different then Ruth’s generation back then, where they didn’t turn the tides too much.
6. The quote “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” was recurring in the movie a lot. It means that the court will not be changed by the day to day ‘weather’. In this case weather is just a action that is new for that specific day. But the court will be changed by the climate of the era, meaning that the overall movement of the times, and the way things are changing is what will change the courts. It is emphasized in the movie because it is how they defeat their cases. It’s the reason why they are going to trials to get rights, because the climate of the era is changing.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the perfect husband for Ruth because he’s supportive of her in a time where that was unusual. Not to be supportive of your wife but supporting equal rights for women. He’s also a lawyer and as we saw can help her and work with her. This is what he did when she was preparing for her speech he wasn’t supposed to but he ended up coaching her anyways. He also argued the case with her in the end of the movie. But he’s a successful lawyer who clearly benefits from the current way of things and yet he’s willing to change it.
2. One sexist dismissal of Ruth was at the beginning when the teacher wouldn’t call on her to answer the question and instead called on all the male’s instead. The other time was when she graduated from Harvard and the man asked them why they took a spot at Harvard that could’ve belonged to a man. Although he was the one who began accepting women in the first place. And of course there was the period where she could not get a job because she was a woman and even the guy who she thought got her didn’t on the basis of her sex. He told her it would make the other wives jealous.
3. Yes, naturally a women is going to try to portray sexism in a way that will last longer with you and make you question yourself the next time you do something that can be perceived as sexist. As well as showing the hurdles women had to and still do jump through. I say this because it was women who went through these things not men. The people who are oppressed are always trying the show the injustice they went through more than the oppressors that’s the way the world works.
4. Jane and Ruth’s students show a bolder side of feminism that was happening during the 60’s and 70’s. There willing to publicly challenge sexist laws in the streets with things like protest whereas Ruth couldn’t have gotten away with that in her youth. Ruth’s feminism is slow but definite change while Jane’s is change now. And throughout the course of the movie Jane is able to change Ruth’s believe on how long they have to wait for change. It happens during the scene where there waiting for the taxi in the rain and men hit on Ruth. Ruth doesn’t say anything to them but Jane does and it’s in that scene that she opens Ruth’s eyes.
Marty is the perfect husband for RBG, because even though they have the same goals, he lifts her up so they can accomplish those goals together, instead of competing with her. He is constantly supporting her and helping her through everything. One example of this is constantly when they were working on there case he was told to just take it over. But, instead of doing that he let her have a chance because he believed in her. He also brought the case to her instead of taking it for himself. He really wanted her to succeed in proving her point about discrimination.
I think it does matter, but in a good way. I feel like if the movie had been done by a man the point of discrimination wouldn’t have been made across as easily. Having a woman direct gave the movie more perspective. Since women usually have more experience with discrimination one directing the movie gave more insight. I also feel like the message is more powerful when the movie closely relates to the director. If it was directed by a man there could have been a disconnect. So overall, having a woman direct this movie gave it more power and meaning.
Some things that could go wrong with betraying a living person is not portraying them right. The actress could make the character seem a way that the living person doesn’t want to be portrayed as. As an example the actress could have made the character seem rude and that could have upset the real RBG. Also she has a lot of pressure because RBG is still alive, if something wasn’t right in the way it was portrayed she could be told in person. Some parts might not have seemed as passionate as it really happened or as powerful. It is just very hard to act as a living person because you are under more pressure to get the role perfect.
“The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.” is very relevant throughout the movie. When they say the weather of the day we can see that, that refers to temporary and the climate refers to more long lasting. Many of the issues that come in the movie RBG sees right past. She can see past this because she understands that the times are changing and that these problems will go away, like the weather of the day. This quote really pushes the thought of how the times were changing and the issues that seemed huge would be resolved.
1. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband Martin Ginsburg was the perfect husband. At this time sexism was high, most men believed women were not capable of doing the same things as men. Although RBG’s husband was nothing but supportive. Martin always backed her up in any thing she did. He would help take care of their daughter while they both were in school, while most men would expect their wives to drop out to take care of their child. Not only did he help with household activities but also with her profession. He helped bounce ideas off of and prepare for. During the part of the movie where Ruth was entering the court case, Martin risked his job in order to help fight the case with her. He believed in her when most didn’t. Overall through the actions of Ruth’s husband Martin I believe, especially in this time, that he was the perfect husband.
2. In the movie On The Basis of Sex sexism was the most relevant topic throughout the movie. While Ruth was still a student at Harvard the dean was very sexist. In Ruth’s class there was a total of 9 women. At a dinner the deal held for the women in her class he stated, “say your name, where your from and why you decided to take your spot away from a man”. With this quote being towards the beginning of the movie, this really shocked me. I could not believe that people would ever speak to women like this. The dean especially was continuously sexist towards Ruth throughout the movie. Another instance occurred to Ruth while searching for a job. Most men would turn her down due to her being “not as smart”, “distracting”, or even claimed “would make their wives jealous”. Ruth was turned down from countless jobs almost leaving her without hope. She was able to persevere and in the end led her to entering her first court case. In this case she entered against the dean of Harvard, her previous school. While pleading her case to the circuit judges, they were especially hard on her through her first case. They questioned her every statement and in the end left her speechless. In the process of hearing the other side, the judges badly attempted to question the men while pleading their case. Although in the second round with the facts Ruth was able to get her point across and listened to, they judged Ruth on her gender and was hesitant to listen to her because she was a women. In these cases I would have responded to their judgments much differently. I would have been upset and retaliated and would have never been able to get my point across. Instead Ruth was patient and didn’t let people see her frustration while people would treat her poorly. I believe Ruth reacted to these situations in a much better was and in the end was heard and acknowledged due to her patience in most situations.
4. Ruth’s daughter Jane captures the spirit of the 1960s women’s empowerment movements through her actions. Jane throughout the movie was never scared to share her opinion, in any situation. She had skipped school and partook in movements for women’s rights and peace for the people movements. She also had many thoughts on her mom’s case regarding women’s rights. She helped her mom read files on people who talked about sexism and helped Ruth prepare for her court case. In the movie there was an instant where her and her mom were waiting for a cab and men started to whistle at them. Jane did not hesitate for a second before speaking out to them. She stood up for her and her mom, and Ruth was amazed by this. She taught her mom a lesson in that situation and to me captured the spirit of the 1960s in that scene. Overall through her actions taken and able to speak out against people belittling women she was able to capture the idea of the new 1960 women’s empowerment era.
Marty Ginsburg is the ideal husband and partner for Ruth Bader Ginsburg in many ways, mainly in how he respects her decisions and supports and upholds her push for equality and fairness, the way that his smarts and talents compliment hers, as he understands the more financial aspects of law and she represents the humane types, and how, despite being affected by his Cancer while attending law school at Harvard, he puts family first and makes sure that he is as close as he can be with Ruth and their daughter. A prime example of Marty supporting Ruth throughout the movie is when she is searching for a job after they have moved from Boston to New York and day after day Ruth is rejected and pushed away. These encounters leave Ruth ready to give up, but Marty encourages her to keep trying and that her job is just around the corner. Marty is also incredibly quick, which matches Ruth’s personality. For example, while Ruth and Marty are both attending Harvard, there is a scene in the film where the two are playing charades with their friends, and they play along together very well, he also compliments her style of argument when they are presenting their court case in the final scenes of the movie. Finally, Marty cares greatly for his family, as we see him on numerous occasions cooking, spending time away from work with the family, and arguing with his clients for the sake of Ruth.
3. It does not matter that the movie On the Basis of Sex was directed by a woman because what happened in the film and the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a part of American history, and cannot be rewritten. More importantly, RBG herself previewed the movie and said that the film was almost entirely accurate, besides a few minor details regarding court cases which were edited to add a more cinematic style to the story. Regardless of who directed the film, the story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is history, and that in itself gives its own truth
5. The potential pitfalls of heroically portraying a living person like in the film On the Basis of Sex is that the director might not provide everything about a person, for example they may make someone look really good, but in reality they may have done something sketchy or with malicious intent, which can screw with the perceptions that people may have of an important person. One must be careful to portray someone who is living because they might get something wrong or disrespect the, which would give the movie a poor response publicly and would probably not bode well for the movie.
6. The quote “The Court ought not to be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era” is epitomized by the film by showing a change in politics and life in America for a new progressive style of life. For example, through the events of the movie, Ruth is teaching a college class at Rutgers University, and the audience sees various students asking more questions and demanding more equality than ever before, as well as this, the primary case that takes place during the movie, Moritz v. Commissioners of the IRS, is centered around a man needing payment for taking care of his mother, something that during the time of the film would be completely gender reversed. It is a crazy idea that this would ever happen and so the central point is the changing of the times.
1.Marty was the ideal and best husband for Ruth Bader Ginsberg because they were a like in very similar many different aspects and they were able to help out each other in their times of need. They both start out as having the same career, this being lawyers. This meant that Marty was able to assist Ruth Bader Ginsberg in her preparations to becoming Supreme Court justice and win her cases. When Ruth Bader Ginsberg became Supreme Court Justice Marty was the one to stay home and do the house hold tasks and take care their child while Ruth was out making money for them, which at the time was very unorthodox most men then would be to prideful to stay at home and let their wives provide but Marty respected Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s desires to follow her dreams and stayed at home while supporting her the whole way. Marty over came the stereotypes that society forced upon him and over came them for Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
3. It does not matter that the movie was directed by a woman the only thing that should matter is the accuracy of the movie because it was document on a historical event, though it may be more accurately portrayed because it was directed by a woman because they would feel more passionate about its production. But at the same time it could also be inaccurate because the same passion could make them biased and want to make it look like Ruth Bader Ginsberg had a harder time to gain more political leverage over the viewers.
5. There are possible pitfalls and dangers in a heroic manor when the one portrayed is alive and not some over one hundred year old historical figure. Because there could be the possibility of misunderstanding their beliefs and reasons they do what they do. If you were to inaccurately show them in the movie you could get them offended and most likely be sued by them or even the worst possible out come being undoing what they lived to accomplish and how they changed the world. Or the movie could be taken out of context and used as a propaganda piece by the political polar extremes to focus hate or create more political unrest.
6. the movie optimizes the quote because when it says climate it doesn’t mean the literal climate but the political climate of the time. This climate being that there weren’t any women in politics and the sexist views of those in the court at the time.
2) On her first day at Harvard, the professor actively discriminated against Ruth by calling on a male student to answer his question instead of her because he thought she would automatically get it wrong due to her gender. When she was looking for jobs at law firms, at the last interview she went to, the man interviewing her stared at her chest and objectified her, then turned her down for the job by calling her a distraction and say that his wife might get jealous if she’s hired. The people she went up against in her case assumed that they could easily win because she was a woman, and they thought that her emotions would get in the way of her effectively fighting her case. Construction workers were even cat-calling Ruth and her daughter on the street while it was raining. If I were met with open acts of discrimination such as these, I feel that, like Ruth, it would inspire me to work even harder because I would want to be able to prove them wrong and it would set the precedent of women being able to accomplish anything for all women in the legal world.
3) Yes, I think it does matter that this movie was directed by a woman because I believe that it has a great effect on the director’s choices and how the movie turned out as a whole. With the director being a woman, it’s easy for her to relate to Ruth’s struggles on a personal level, and her ability to empathize with Ruth gives her the ability to really bring the story to life and do it justice on the big screen. Even though most of the events in the movie are true, some of the scenes are made up, and the director’s choice to include them and the way they were filmed really demonstrate how inspired the director was to showcase Ruth’s perseverance throughout the movie in the face of discrimination against women in the legal world.
4) In the movie, Jane Ginsburg does a really good job at capturing the raging spirit of youths during the 1960s and early 1970s. At this point in time, there was an overlap in liberation movements that took the nation by storm, movements that inspired various protests and public displays of discontent such as the Civil Rights Movement and gay liberation. Jane is vocal about her opinions and very politically active and aware for her age. She attends rallys and likes to stand up for what she thinks is right in a very expressive manner. This differs from Ruth’s style of feminism because it’s much social and demands active change in society, while Ruth’s is based on trying to make changes that will benefit future generations within the system of federal government.
6) This statement is portraying that in order to be able to make a long-term adjustment to a federal policy that will influence future generations, there has to be solid proof that it isn’t a problem that affects a singular case. There has to be reasoning to show that the law is outdated and that it negatively affects the atmosphere of the political word at that current moment in time. The movie uses this as its theme because throughout the movie, Ginsburg is trying to make a political change that will be beneficial in the name of gender equality for generations to come. And with the case being won in the end, it acts as a catalyst for many other laws that are unfair on the basis of sex to be reevaluated and shows how big of a change that Ruth Bader-Ginsburg made in her pursuit for equality.
1) Marty is an ideal husband to Ruth because he is the perfect balance of being capable enough to help her, sympathetic to her issues, and in no way tries to hold her back in order to satisfy his ego. Ruth’s love for Marty can be seen towards the beginning of the movie when Marty gets cancer and Ruth attends his classes for him while he is ill essentially doubling her course load. We also see Marty take on the traditionally feminine task of cooking for the family showing that he is in no way interested in asserting his masculinity. We can also see his shock when Ruth is forced to take a low prestige educational job rather than being given a high paying job with a corner office for her qualifications. Finally, when it comes to the main event of the movie he not only encourages Ruth to make a case against the discrimination of sex based on something he found in his field but also helps her in any way he can, risking his job in the process.
2) The first sexist slight is when all females accepted into Harvard were forced to explain themselves and why they had stolen a position that could have been given to a man instead. Ruth attempted to give an answer that she thought would please the accuse but came off as insincere because she was forced to be. Another and in my opinion the most major slight against Ruth is when she is not given a job at any major law firm despite being incredibly qualified simply for being a woman. She was forced to take a mundane job rather than changing the world with her incredible talent. The last slight I will mention and the only one where we get an alternate reaction. When Ruth simply attempts to get a ride on a taxi in the rain she is badgered by two construction workers but opts to remain quiet while her daughter confronts and yells at them. If I were in Ruth’s position I would also likely try to ignore these slights but in general would most likely be much less capable of holding my composure when it comes to larger slights like being denied jobs at multiple locations.
3) No, I don’t think that it matters whether the film was directed by a man or a woman as their job is mostly to create the visualization of the screenplay. Therefore as long as the screenplay is written by a woman or at the very least consults on to make sure the scenarios are relatable and not just a man’s idea of a woman’s issues there is no problem. In this case, Ruth herself along with her family was consulted to make sure that any changes made to the true story were reasonable. This is why I don’t think it matters whether or not the person turning the script into a visual format is female and the person chosen should simply be the one who is the most capable.
4) Jane along with Ruth’s students capture an era of counterculture and change to the status quo. Ruth, however, capable tends to not get into arguments with people who slight her and will simply try to push her agenda in more subtle ways. For example, when insulted by a couple of construction workers for seemingly no reason she understands that there is nothing to gain by yelling at a couple of uneducated construction works and simply ignores them. Jane and the rest of her class, on the other hand, seem to encompass the idea that one can not achieve equality without first achieving someone’s respect. When insulted by the construction workers she without hesitation fights back either not knowing or not caring that she gains nothing from this confrontation. This demand for respect manifests in massive protests which give people like Ruth the support and publicity they need to change the system.
1. Marty Ginsburg is an ideal husband for Ruth because in the time that Ruth was at Harvard Law School many men there did not appreciate that girls were going to the school. Marty was different he was very supportive of Ruth and other girls at Harvard and wasn’t a sexist male like many at the school. Mary wanted to see Ruth succeed many times throughout the movie, he never thought she wasn’t capable of doing something like some other men in the movie. Marty let Ruth take the lead on the court case in the movie even after many people told him he should take the lead because he was a man and knew more. Overall Marty encouraged Ruth to do anything she wanted and never thought she couldn’t do something just because she was a woman like some other men in the movie.
3. I think it mattered that the movie was directed by the movie because the director understood better what women had to do to get ahead in the world better than a man. I think a woman director knew better what Ruth had to go through to become successful in America during this time period rather than a man. I think a man director wouldn’t have been able to show accurately the struggles Ruth had to overcome to get to the point she did. If a man directed the movie he wouldn’t have understood the struggles women had in the 1950s and 1960s and couldn’t have done as good of a job accurately showing Ruth’s struggles
4. Ruth’s daughter, Jane, captured the spirit of the 1960s and 70’s and the new type of feminist by becoming more confident and powerful than here Mom did. Jane knew that she could do the same that a man could and in the 1960s and 70’s women began to have more opportunities and Jane was one of those people that fought for Women’s rights even as a teenager. Jane was more outspoken and confident on feminist issues than her Mom. In the movie when a construction worker was catcalling Ruth and Jane, Ruth just kept quiet and walked away while Jane yelled back at the catcaller and stuck up for herself and her mother. Ruth was still very outspoken on feminist issues but did it in a different manner than her daughter Jane.
6. The quote “The Court ought not to be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era.” was Epitomized by this movie by showing that a courts decision will be influenced by American citizens protests and opinions on an issue. It showed that protesting and having an opinion can change a court’s decision on an issue. It showed the court takes into account what society thinks during the time period of the court case. The movie epitomized the quote by showing that you should always fight for what’s right and that your opinion matters and it can affect decisions made in the US.
1. Martin Ginsburg was the perfect husband for Ruth Bader Ginsburg for many reasons. One of these reason was how much he supported her during time where sexism was very prominent. He supported her when she went to Harvard at the very beginning of accepting women into it and when she was angry about when she was ask why she should have taken the place of a man by the dean of the school, Martin was supportive of her and agreed with her about why she was angry. He also supported her in her fight to make discrimination on the basis of sex illegal.
2. One slight made towards RBG was made by the dean of Harvard when he ask why she should take a place of a man’s in the law school. I would have handled this by arguing with the dean that it didn’t matter whether I was a man or woman. A dismissal to RBG was when she was looking for jobs as a lawyer, even though she had a harvard law degree and being at the top of her class, she could not find a job that would accept her. When she interviewed for a job that she was way overqualified for they would not accept her. If I was in this situation I would have handled it the same way that she did. One of the last situations in the movie was when the judges reviewing the case dismissed RBG when she went to argue and they didn’t care what she had to say. I would have handled this by making sure I had their attention and respect so that way they would actually listen to me.
3. It matters that this movie was directed by a woman especially because of who the woman was. It matters especially because the director is Mimi Leder who was the first female accepted into the AFI, or american film school, struggled in the beginning of her career and has fought to be successful in a male dominated industry. She considers herself to be an avid protester for the feminist movement and tries to bring many female directors as she can and first did so in at time where many women were not being hired. Through all of this her experience will definitely change the way the story of RBG is portrayed.
4. RBG’s daughter, Jane, and students portray the wave of feminism in the 60’s and early 70’s differently than RBG’s generation through the way that they were more open about their protests. One example is when RBG and Jane are trying to get a cab and construction workers catcall at them, Jane yells at them, this is different the RBG because she did not want to yell at them for it and thought that Jane was very brave for doing this. Another example is when Jane skips school to protest and her mom is mad at her for doing so but Jane saw it as righteous as it was promoting women’s rights.
1. For most of her life Ruth Bader Ginsburg was married to Martin Ginsburg, Martin was the perfect husband for a multitude of reasons. Martin shared Ruth’s interest in the law, he was especially skilled in tax, these skills would prove crucial to winning the case Moritz v. Commissioner of the IRS. When Martin was sick with cancer Ruth attended all his classes for him, something most husbands at the time would have been opposed to. While Ruth was away at class and later at work, Martin took care of their children and cooked dinner, an act which was very uncommon at the time but was extremely helpful. Along with all this he also supported his wife throughout the court case and up until his death.
2. Cases of discrimination on the bias of sex are very prevalent throughout the movie, hence the name On the Bias of Sex. One such incident Mrs. Ginsburg encountered was on her first day of Harvard, in the introduction of one of her class the professor asked the class if they can describe a case. RBG was among the first to raise their hands but the professor chose a man in the back who could not answer the question so he asked again. This time he chose RGB to state the name of the case but denied her the chance to explain it. When the next man failed to explain the whole thing RBG interrupted and explained it properly. Another such incident occurred when RBG and her daughter were walking down the street and were verbally harassed by a group of construction workers. Although RBG graduated at the top of her class she was still denied a job at every law firm she applied to, all because she was a women. If I was RBG I would have stood up for myself and tried to change that person’s’ views.
3. I believe it does matter that the movie was directed by a women. A women is more likely to be able to relate to and portray the obstacles faced by RBG. The director, who I believe is 66 years old, is able to accurately portray these obstacles because she most likely lived through them and perhaps faced them herself at some point in her life.
4. In the movie RBG has a teenage daughter named Jane who represents a very different kind of feminism. Unlike her mother’s generation, Jane’s generation took a more active approach through marches and demonstrations. For example when RBG and her daughter were being harassed by construction workers Jane confronted them and told them off while her mother did nothing but look away.
1. Marty Ginsburg is the ideal husband for Ruth Ginsburg because he shares the same positive attitude and interest about law as she does. He supports Ruth in all the work she accomplishes and sticks up for her rights when other men think poorly of her. They were perfect for each other because they were able to work well together and take cases and not argue about things all the time. He was very loving and compassionate towards Ruth in her times of trouble and helped her through the hardships a woman had to deal with in that time period. He understood the points Ruth was trying to make by taking the case and understood her feelings for wanting to fix the law.
2. One sexist remark was at the beginning of the movie when the dean of Harvard asked why all the women were enrolled at Harvard in place of a man. Ruth respond with a smart ass remark saying that she enrolled to be a more understanding wife. Another time was when Ruth had to take over Marty’s role in attending his second year law classes. The professor who we later see as a main person in the last court case is asking a question and confidently, Ruth raises her hand. Instead of calling on her, he waits for a man to raise his hand to answer the question. Even though the man’s answer was somewhat wrong, the professor doesn’t call on Ruth to fix the answer even though she so clearly does. Another time is when she is applying for a job in the New York area and they would not take her not only because she is Jewish, but because they don’t think she can do a man’s work as well as one of them can do it.
4. Ruth and Marty’s daughter, Jane Ginsburg, shows a drastic change in the way Ruth and her answers to the sexist speech thrown at them. Ruth tends to let it by and go about it the professional way and try to change it through the law instead of many of the younger girls in time period who would protest. Jane Ginsburg view on Feminism is that she should “stick it to the man,” and she should protest and go to rallies like the rest of her generation against this feminist movement. One good example is when they are walking back from meeting with Dorothy Kenyon, some construction workers hit on Jane and she fires back with a threat against the workers instead of just letting it slide. Ruth is shocked by this and wonders when Jane grew up to be such a strong independent woman.
6. The quote, “The Court ought not be affected by the weather of the day, but will be by the climate of the era,” is a perfect way to reflect upon this movie because in the final case, whether or not the judges were nice or not it was the law of the time and the outlook on the law was restricting it from being changed. If the case was held today, she probably would have won it a lot easier because there is more respect for women not only in politics but in the workforce.
1) Marty Ginsburg was the perfect husband for an independent and smart woman like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Because he was so opened minded and supportive, especially for a man during that time period, he often pushed RBG to advocate for herself and speak out. For example, when she was working as a teacher and feeling the need to make something more of herself and make a difference for women’s rights, Marty was the one who gave her the case. Without his help, RBG wouldn’t have been who she is today. The other key way he helped her was by putting his own reputation on the line by partnering with her on the case. He risked upsetting his entire life to support his wife and help move women’s rights forward.
3) I think that the fact that the movie was directed by a woman is really important. I don’t think RBG’s story could be told by anyone else. I think the perspective of this story needs to be from a womans standpoint, because men can’t truly understand their plight.
4)Jane and RBG’s other students truly represent the new ideals of feminism in that era. Ruth was quieter, and focused almost entirely on the legal aspect of womens rights. These new, younger feminists were loud, held protests, and fought more vigorously for their rights. They fought to for their rights on a social level, not political.
5) I think the issue with portraying someone living in such a heroic light is that it can sometimes dehumanize the person. When the subject is dead, you know that their going to be portrayed in a better light. But when the person is alive, it needs to be more accurate to life in order to do the person justice.
Martin Ginsburg is the perfect/ ideal husband to Ruth. This is because they are a strong couple and go extremely well together. When Martin had cancer Ruth could have just left but instead, she stuck by his side. She even went to his classes at Harvard to make sure he passed and was up to speed on everything that was going on in his classes. On top of that, she was handling her school workload while her husband was suffering. Another example is when Ruth was doing the court simulation and her husband was watching. When the “judges” were shooting question after question at her and she got flustered her husband was giving her tip on how to keep her cool. One of the “judges” noticed he was good at speaking under pressure and told him he should do the opening questions portion but he refused. He did this because it was his wife’s case and he didn’t want it to just be taken out of her hands.
Throughout the movie, there are many situations where Ruth is put down because of her gender. When she enters her new class and her professor silently refuses to acknowledge her. He does this when she raises her hand to summarize the case being looked at and he waits for another hand to raise because she was the only one who had it raised. As soon as a man rose his hand, the professor called on him, leaving Ruth unacknowledged.Another situation is the dean wondering how it’s possible for a woman to do a “mans job”. SHe is strong and stern later in the movie too as her daughter grows up. I could never handle this as well as Ruth did, she was persistent even though men and women both, dragged her down constantly. But with the help of her husband, she got through it.
The movie being written by a woman is very important because it gives a more realistic feel on emotions that Ruth was feeling and it portrayed how the women were back in the 1960s because it was a struggle to be one. Though a woman wrote the movie I feel as if the movie would have the same empowering effect if a man wrote it but it may not be as strong because there wouldn’t be as many details added about the daily struggles women had to face.
Jane Ginsburg, Ruth’s daughter, and her female law students show the spirit of the late 60s and early 70s through their types of feminism. For example, when Ruth found out Jane skipped school to go to a march Ruth was upset but Jane didn’t think it was wrong. Another example was when Ruth was trying to catch a cab but she was being very held back and gentle, Jane just put herself out there a got a cab. I feel like Jane really helped Ruth become more outspoken because of Jane being so forward and outgoing, it really empowered Ruth to be bigger and bolder.
1.Marty Ginsburg was a very good husband because he was supportive of Ruth regardless of her opinions, and same with Ruth, she supported him whenever she could. When he found out he had cancer, she attended his classes and took notes for him. He also treated her equal and wanted to help her as much as he could. He was perfect for her because he was also experienced in the law and was able to help her perfect her court case that had a lot of opposition to it. Also, while in court if he wasn’t there to present the first half, she wouldn’t have been able to say anything at all.
2.Throughout the movie men were doubting RBG and her capability as a lawyer. The first time we saw this in the movie, was at a dinner at the dean’s house. The dean invited all the women of the class to dinner. When they introduced themselves, he asked each of them the same question. “Why do you deserve to be here more than a man?”. This question implies that he believes a woman must be better to earn her way in, ultimately setting men and women as unequal. The second instance of sexism was during Ruth’s first few days at Harvard. She was in a lecture, and the professor asked a question. Ruth was very intelligent and obviously knew the answer right away.. The professor deliberately looks at her but waits until a male student can answer the question. Even after she’s able to speak up, the professor throws away her answer and finds all the flaws in it. Another time she was overlooked was when she was looking for a job as a lawyer in New York. Despite her amazing credentials (a law degree from both Harvard and Columbia), almost 20 law firms turned her down because of her gender
.5.Portraying such a heroic person that is still alive could cause problems, especially if they portray the person wrong by showing the motives of the person wrong or acting them out uncharacteristically. In this movie however, they showed Ruth as a strong positive person of change in a good light and showed her achievements well. Making a movie out of it could also hold the director back from showing all the important details with time constraints on the movie but I think that all the important details were shown in an amazing way which made the viewer able to connect with the movie.
6.The movie uses that quote to represent that social norms change over time and that the climate of the era was changing in terms of gender equality. The court shouldn’t be affected by things that happen on a day to day basis, they should be affected by the changing times and make correct judgements based on such changes. Basing judgements based of the needs of women a long time ago isn’t helping since they changed. There was a need for change in the court of law and Ruth Ginsburg gave evidence that the climate was changing and that the court of law needed to keep up with it.