Thank You, RBG
So many of us stand on her shoulders
Ruth Bader Ginsburg was leading the ACLU Women’s Rights Project as a lawyer while I was an undergrad majoring in theater, with a minor in “What the heck should I do with my life?” I wish I had known about her then, as it was 1970, I was 17 and attending Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana.
As I bounded up the Student Union building stairs, a boy in a cowboy hat and boots wolf-whistled at me. I loudly whistled back. I had read Robin Morgan’s “Sisterhood is Powerful” when I was 14 and knew that I wasn’t OK with the whistle. I hadn’t planned what I would say beyond my ear-shattering whistle, so I walked over to him.
I sputtered, “That’s not cool.”
He laughed, “Why not? You’re good looking.”
“I don’t care. I’m not livestock you are judging… or calling. We used to whistle for our horses to come in for their dinner…” I retorted.
“You don’t have to be such a bitch.”
That’s where I froze. Why was I a bitch because HE had bad manners? I had managed to get through life without whistling at another person, ever.
Seizing the moment, he continued. “You’ll never get a husband with that kind of attitude.”
“I’m going to be a lawyer, so I won’t need a husband for his money!” I shot back.
