On the Basis of Sex
Let’s start with a movie that’s all about gender discrimination. A very good place to start. Not only is this film based heavily on the true events of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s incredible life and the beginning of her career fighting against gender discrimination, but this woman deserves to be number one on the list of women we honour this month.
RBG was an incredible woman. Not living in the US personally, and being one of those people who pretends to read much more than I actually do, especially when it comes to non-fiction, I didn’t know a lot about the specifics of RBG’s life. I knew she was a lawyer who spent her life fighting against gender discrimination, and I knew she was an amazing woman, an incredible member of the Supreme Court, and also championed intersectional feminism later on in her life. I’d heard some quotes of hers. That was the extent of my knowledge on her.
I was devastated when she passed away, partly because I knew her legacy was incredible and her shoes would be hard to fill. Partly because it’s sad to see heroes’ lives ending just like the rest of us. But partly also because I felt like I’d missed my chance to be involved in her legacy while it was happening. She is, of course, survived by many wonderful, strong, intelligent, determined women who won’t let her legacy die, and I look forward to being involved in their stories, however periphery.
This movie is a blip. It shows just a tiny snippet of RBG’s life and work. We see only her early years, how she started, the case that began it all. And it’s a beautiful part of the story, but one of the things I found most uplifting about this movie is the way the story ends. She walks down the courthouse steps, not yet knowing the verdict but knowing that she has changed. And knowing that she can’t stop fighting now. As those who are following behind, we have the privilege of knowing how her story ends and all she accomplished, that this was merely the beginning of an amazing life.
This movie was made and released before RBG’s death. She appears in the final moments of the film, as Felicity Jones walks up the courthouse steps as though approaching for a new case. We hear recordings of RBG’s voice from over the years, and as she reaches the courthouse doors, it is now the real Ruth Bader Ginsburg, determined, continuing the work till the day she died. And that is what is so beautiful about this movie and this story. And why it’s the perfect place to start.
This isn’t the only movie based on historical events that I plan to discuss this month, but I felt like it was the perfect starting point, because RBG’s life was dedicated to raising women up and fighting for our rights. And we benefit from everything she has done. This movie was such a beautiful way to learn about a little bit of what that looked like.
“Sarah Grimke said, ‘I ask no favour for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.’” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
There is a particular scene in the middle of the film where RBG is doing a mock trial of her case with friends, and one of the mock judges asks if she thinks ‘half of our fire fighters should be women’. Her response is why not? It is honest and gets at the root of the issue, and I found myself exclaiming, ‘yes!’ and whooping in agreement. But she is cut off at the knees. ‘You’re making the wrong case,’ another mock judge says. It hurts, to watch her be torn down, even by the people who are supposed to be on her side. In response, she delivers one of the best speeches in the movie in my opinion, based on words the real-life RBG said.
“These are laws written by men who think we are privileged to be excused from men’s obligations, but it is not a privilege, it is a cage, and these laws are the bars!”
It’s sections like this, showing her passion and dedication to the subject of gender discrimination in law that makes this movie so beautiful and is probably also the reason I cried through the entire thing. It is beautiful to be able to watch a movie like this and know that these things really happened, that there was a woman who cared this much and worked this hard for everything that I have now.
In Australia, the movie is currently available to stream on Netflix. In the US, it’s available to stream on Showtime. In the UK, (I think) it’s available to stream on Amazon Prime. It should be available to rent or buy everywhere on YouTube, Amazon Prime, Google Play and Apple TV. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it, especially in deference to the amazing woman that is RBG that we lost this past year.
