RBG — Tiny, Forceful, Elder, Woman Icon
Obviously, accolades are coming from all over the United States and from different parts of the world. But, since I am a tiny, sometimes forceful elder woman, let me bring my own.
Let me start with tiny. Whatever we think of politics, of the present situation in this country or the world, when we look around we see that most of the world is not only dominated by men but by big men. Look at both our candidates. Joe Biden is six (6) feet tall and Donald Trump is six (6) foot (3). Barack Obama is six (6) feet one (1), George Bush is six (6) feet and Bill Clinton is six (6) two (2). The average male height in the US is five (five) eight (8). Xi Jinping is five (5) eleven (11), while the average height in China for men in five (5) six (6) There are debates about that but Xi Jinping, who has lasted so long, is taller than his predecessors. Recep Erdogan is five (5) eleven (11) while the average height in Turkey for men is five (5) eight (8).
Now we have shorter leaders, including one woman who has led for years, Angela Merkel, but notice, she is five (5) five but of a certain girth, though it is interesting to note that she is taller than the average German woman who is five (5) four (4). Even more interesting is Putin who is only five (5) seven (7), whereas the average height in Russia for men is five (5) ten (10), but makes the enormous effort of projecting a picture of someone who is the strongest, Olympics style leader in the world.
Ruth Rader Ginsburg was a great 5(five) one (1) while the average height for women in the US is 5 (five) four (4). She may have been taller earlier on but that is the image she conveyed as a Supreme Court Judge. And, of course, neither was she a heavyweight in any sense. She was tiny and she made it. One up for all of us who are tiny, who have to look up rather than down upon our fellow human beings.
Forceful, she was clear, concise in what she said and did and kept at it. Clear, patient repetition is so much more powerful than bursts of any kind. This goes too with her exercise regimen. She may not have lived until she was one hundred but, in spite of battling various cancers, she did live and work until she was over eighty seven (87), that is twenty two (22)years over the average life expectancy of women born in the same year as she — 1933. It should be recalled that she was the oldest ever working Supreme Court Justice.
Think of it, she learned when she was degraded during her first pregnancy to hide her second pregnancy, not only so that she could continue working, but because somewhere in her mind she knew she wanted to do something so that employers would not be entitled to fire women because they were pregnant. Remember, she went on to make sure that law was changed.
You do not whine but work hard to do something so that the reason for the whining ceases to exist, not only for yourself but for others.
Forceful, you also listen to those who may differ with you on those very issues on which you have specific ideas and goals. Forceful, you open your eyes and ears to areas where you and those you differ may have common appreciations, ideas and/or goals. This is how RBG became friends with Antonin Scalia. Their one great common love was opera. Build on commonalities so that you can understand your differences and you will see that in spite of your differences, you can be great friends.
And, finally, elder. Think about it, Ruth Bader Ginsburg came to the court when she was already sixty years old. She became RBG, an icon to the young generation, in her eighties, when seeing that the court was turning in a direction with which she did not agree, she started writing her even more clearly about the reasons for her dissents, basing herself on knowledge, experience and, obviously, our Constitution. Her intellect, her sharpness did not decline.
We have men who are vying for leadership in their seventies, but it is a woman in her eighties who is pointing the way to a brighter future, one where years combined with intelligence and compassion for fellow humans can help us overcome the challenges we face.
