Most Americans know Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a feminist icon whose likeness can still be found (more than two years after her passing) on T-shirts, mugs, and stickers. Images of the “Notorious RBG” usually show her in Supreme Court robes with the kind of stylish white collar the justice favored, and fans can now buy or get knitting patterns for the collar online. This cult following really grew in the new millennium, when Ginsburg developed a reputation for fiery opinions that thrilled progressives and liberals frustrated with conservatives on the Court and in Congress.
But political scientist and legal expert Philippa Strum boldly argues that Ginsburg made her real impact on the law years before her 1993 nomination. On Account of Sex: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Making of Gender Equality Law focuses on Ginsburg's work in the 1970s for the American Civil Liberty Union's (ACLU) Women's Rights Project. This...
