On September 18, 2020, a news story broke foreign social media, and US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bud Ginsburg passed away.
As soon as the news was reported, it caused a sensation in the United States. The whole country fell into endless grief, supporters spontaneously kept vigil for her, and the White House lowered her flag to half-mast.
Even Hillary Clinton posted condolences and resignation, saying, "There will never be anyone like Ginsburg again..."
As a U.S. Supreme Court justice, she is the second female justice on the Supreme Court after Sandra Day O'Connor.
She is an unprecedented legendary woman, more popular than any star artist, is the unique top stream in the hearts of Young Americans, a national idol. She has her own support group, and there are trends around. Someone even carved her head on her body to help her.
Star Lopez took a picture with her holding Ginsburg's aid around, and Justin Thelox was proud to take a picture with her.
Even Obama is a fan of hers.
Ginsburg, which should have turned the law that should be serious and orthodox into a cultural trend, was paid more attention to by young people. And young fans gave her a cool nickname, "Infamous RGB."
Ginsburg came from the humble patriarchal society of women, devoted his life to running for women's equal rights, and once single-handedly fought against secular prejudices and rewritten the fate of American women. In the political and legal arena, when Trump ran for president, Ginsburg openly angrily scolded him as a liar.
Some say that there is nothing more annoying than an old lady who is nearly 90 years old, but we want to hear every word she says, and the young man keeps the news and expects her to speak the fairest on behalf of the people, regardless of any partisanship in the United States.
As an American cultural internet celebrity, Ginsburg has written justice with his life.
01
Ginsburg was born on March 15, 1933, in Brooklyn to a poor Jewish family. Her mother was very intelligent and excellent, but because of the dogmatic ideas of the time, she was forced to interrupt her studies and gave up the opportunity to go to college to her younger brother.
In that patriarchal era, this seemed normal, but her mother saw it as a lifelong regret.
Ginsburg inherited her mother's superior wisdom and extraordinary beauty, and her mother did not want the tragedy of the first half of her life to continue because of conceptual problems, and she hoped that Ginsburg could do what she wanted to do and fight for her ideals.
Although she was not rich, her mother taught her by example and gave her the best education from an early age. Send her to study, learn the piano, and wear elaborate dresses. Her mother often taught her to be a lady and to live independently.
Being a lady means not taking over the mind with negative emotions such as anger.
Staying independent means that you want to meet Prince Charming for the rest of your life, which is good, but you have to learn to be independent.
Her mother died of cancer that year in high school, and it is gratifying that Ginsburg did not live up to her mother's expectations.
At the age of 14, he gave a sermon.
He entered Cornell University at the age of 17 and later attended Harvard Law School.
At the age of 20, he received his law degree with first class honors and worked as an editor for the journal Harvard Law Review.
Becoming an editor of a journal means ranking at least in the top 25 out of Harvard's 540 academic students in law. It was hard, but she did.
But even though she was better than many men, Ginsburg still couldn't get respect and fairness in an age of prejudice and discrimination.
Because they are women, they are blocked by security guards when they enter the school library;
Because she is a woman, she was admitted to college by her ability, but was asked by the professor what she felt about occupying a male quota;
Because she was a woman, even with a letter of recommendation from the dean of Harvard Law School, no law firm in New York was willing to hire her.
It was the darkest moment for American women, the law lacked fairness, the feelings of home and country, but everyone who came from women was regarded as out of the ordinary and crossed the line.
Ginsburg's ambition and full of experience until the appearance of a person became full of meaning, he gave her the greatest support and courage, and even witnessed her such an extraordinary life.
02
At the age of 17, Ginsburg met 18-year-old Martin Ginsburg and quickly fell in love. He is the son of a mall executive and a school hero.
Two people, one as calm and gentle as the lake, one as hot as the sun, seemingly different temperaments, but unswerving, holding hands, they loved for 56 years.
As Audrey Hepburn said, "A woman's charm is not in appearance, true beauty is reflected in the depths of a woman's soul." ”
Martin knows the meaning of this.
Martin was unlike any male Ginsburg had ever come into contact with at school, and he treated her so specially. He was the first male student to pay attention to Ginsburg academics. He admired the unyielding heat in the girl's eyes, and her ambition for the future.
In the era of male supremacy, all women hide their intelligence, restrain their sharp edges, and humblely win the favor of men.
But Martin loved the light she couldn't hide.
Martin supported her decision, respected her dreams, and was proud of her accomplishments.
Writer Liao Yimei wrote in "Soft": "Everyone is lonely. In our lifetime, it is not uncommon to encounter sex and encounter love, it is rare to encounter understanding. ”
How lucky to meet Martin. Martin knew her so well and loved her the way she wanted, and in front of Martin, Ginsburg could completely abandon the shackles that society gave to women and be free to be herself.
Ginsburg and Martin fell in love at college, got married, went to Harvard Law School for a master's degree together, and had a lovely daughter.
The life that was originally happy and satisfied was suddenly broken by the impermanent fate. Bad news struck, and Martin was replaced with testicular cancer.
Despite her misfortune, Ginsburg did not put herself in despair, and she accepted her fate like a lady, just like her mother had taught her, but calmly refused to accept her fate.
During that time, Ginsburg went to class, raised her daughter, and cared for her sick husband, until the child slept, she did not have time to open the textbook to read and study, and when she was busy, she only slept 2 hours a day. Even so, the results are still among the best.
Later, the husband miraculously recovered under Ginsburg's careful care, and they had another young son. For the sake of her husband and family, Ginsburg gave up her dream Harvard degree and followed her husband to Columbia University in New York for further study. Her sacrifice made her husband, and Martin became the best tax lawyer in the United States.
03
The beginning of Ginsburg's career was not so lucky. Women, mothers, Jews, multiple identities were all "taboos" in the workplace at that time, and she was forced to go to the academic road when she did not meet her talent.
Fortunately, with excellent knowledge, Ginsburg became a tenured female professor at Columbia University and founded the Feminist Law Journal to interpret women's rights and interests from a legal perspective.
In addition, the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was pushed to the protection of women's rights and interests, and she wanted to build the concept of women's equal rights step by step through independent cases.
"Men are the masters of the family"
"It's the man who decides whether a woman can have an abortion"
"Only men can enjoy housing allowance"
"Only men can engage in a certain profession"
The case she took on and the groundbreaking struggle, Ginsburg justifiably fought to break down the barriers of American law. She won the fair status of women, the right of women to have independent abortions, and the first female trainee to win the first female student on the first day of school at the University of Virginia.
She said: "I don't ask for any additional benefits for women, all I ask for is for men to take their feet off our necks. ”
Because he dared to tell the truth, Ginsburg caused quite a stir in the United States, and every time he published an article, he could burst the Internet and gain the support of thousands of online names.
At the age of 47, he was nominated by then-President Carter to judge the District of Columbia Circuit
At the age of 60, he was nominated by Clinton as a candidate for justice.
During the Senate voting stage, Martin tried his best to travel to all the women in the political, academic, and legal circles that Ginsburg had helped, and canvassed for Ginsburg. Ginsburg ultimately lived up to expectations, overwhelmingly winning 96 votes to 3 and being elected one of nine U.S. justices.
In Martin's eyes, Ginsburg was the love of his life, the incomparable treasure. His wife was so good that he thought it would be a loss to the nation if Ginsburg could not serve as justice.
At the time of his election, Martin touched Ginsburg's head dotingly
Martin loves Ginsburg deeply, and he is willing to make her and protect her, just as Ginsburg gave up Harvard to achieve himself.
He retreated into the family, took care of the children, showed off his wife to everyone, and pampered her as much as he could.
Even though Ginsburg has a busy career, no matter how late it is, Martin will make a hot meal waiting for her.
Tell her every day to sleep more.
Stay with her in her office and pick her up.
On any occasion, he stared at her, unable to hide his love and pride.
Like glue, like a shadow, holding hands for more than half a century, on the day of the 50th wedding anniversary, Martin bound the love letters he had written into a booklet and gave it to her.
As if to say, "Look, love you all my life, I've never reneged on my word." ”
Ginsburg and Martin have painted us the best picture of love with their lives. It is not a sacrifice, not a compromise to seek perfection, but a two-way journey, mutual achievement. It's what you want, and I'm willing to go to the soup and be willing to do it.
04
After loving each other for half a lifetime, no difficulty has ever separated them half a step, and there is no choice but to live and die.
In 2010 Martin fell ill with cancer again, and this time fate did not favor him anymore, mercilessly taking him away from Ginsburg.
Countless people lamented that this old couple who had suffered all their lives eventually had to be separated from each other.
When Martin chatted with his best friend before he died, he said: "The greatest achievement of my life is to support Ruth so that she can become what she is now." And wrote a final love letter to Ginsburg, saying: "From the time we met 56 years ago to the present, I have never stopped loving you..."
It's just a pity that he can't continue to guard her in the rest of his life.
Another secret that has been sealed in Martin's heart for many years has also been revealed, and all the seemingly unintentional encounters between the two have been Planned by Martin for a long time. He had fallen in love with Ginsburg long before they met, and had created all the opportunities to fall in love, just to be able to come to her side.
This pair of gods and immortals in the political and legal circles has made many young people believe in love again.
After Martin left, Ginsburg was strong and didn't falter. Although Ginsburg suffered from colon and pancreatic cancers when Martin fell ill, she ate well, worked hard, and continued to contribute to the legal cause she loved.
For the rest of his life, he lived up to every day, taking time out for chemotherapy and surgery, and never missing a trial.
This woman with an iron will determined the direction of the law, changed the entire American regime, and protected women's rights from oppression.
Her legendary deeds were also remade into the movie "On the Basis of Sex" ("Based on Gender"), with a Douban score of 7.6 points. Many Chinese film fans have become idols in life.
Ginsburg's departure, some people are sad and regretful, some people lament that this year's US election will affect the US presidential election, and some people say that this is a good thing, Ginsburg should have rested a long time ago.
Maybe Martin took her hand, and their story continued in another world...
Ginsburg spent his life on a horse and walked through thorns, like Don Quixote in Cervantes's spear, "Covering with a shield is an old world, and her spear is piercing a new world waiting for change..."
Greetings, may this great woman be all the best in heaven.
Resources:
1. Documentary "Female Justice Ginsburg RBG (2018)"
2. Triad Life Weekly, Where Judge Ginsburg Dies: "There Will Never Be Anyone Like Her Again"
3. Gentle Justice: How U.S. Supreme Court Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg Changed the World