In the recent past if you would have asked me who my girl crush was I probably would have answered Jessie J or Megan Fox or, going back a few more years, Gena Gershon. (I obviously have a thing for brunettes.) There is something about these women that's a really cool combination of tough and sexy.
But I would kick every one of these women to the curb for my new girl crush - a woman who is tougher, sexier, and, without a doubt, smarter than any of them: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
How can you not love Ginsburg? She graduated first in her class from Cornell. From there she went to to Harvard Law School, where she was just one of a handful of women in a class of 500, before switching to Columbia Law School, where once again she (tied) first in her class.
In spite of her academic excellence, after graduation she had difficulty finding work due to gender discrimination. But she persevered. First she clerked for a judge, then went on to teach at two different colleges, becoming Columbia's first female tenured professor. After that, she headed the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. During her time there, she argued landmark equal-rights cases, winning five out of six.
By 1993, President Clinton appointed Ginsburg the second female Supreme Court justice ever.
So there's no doubt then that Ginsburg is tough and smart. What makes her so sexy to me, though, is that she did all of the above while still having a rich family life with her beloved husband, Marty, and their two kids, Jane and James.
Hearing her talk about Marty and their life together, how they each sacrificed for each other - he giving up his law practice and moving to DC; she helping him keep up with his studies at Harvard Law School while battling testicular cancer -- makes you realize that there is a real woman underneath that tiny robe of hers. She is the epitome of the chick from the Enjoli perfume ads of the early 80s: my lady Ruth was able to bring home the bacon, fry it up it in a pan, and never, ever let Marty forget he was a man.
Which brings me back to my girl crush. Sorry fellas, but I think most hetero women would agree with me that when we say "girl crush" it's not that we want to be with that girl, but instead want to be that girl. We want to embody those characteristics that we find so attractive in that person. In the case of RBG, I want to feel I am intelligent enough for Harvard, tough enough to face any type of obstacle, and still woman enough to be there for my husband and kids.
So my husband is out of luck again. Though I can't exactly promise what would happen if, before a State of the Union speech, Ruth and I were to have dinner and Justice Kennedy just happen to bring one of those bottles of very fine, California wine.
But I would kick every one of these women to the curb for my new girl crush - a woman who is tougher, sexier, and, without a doubt, smarter than any of them: Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
How can you not love Ginsburg? She graduated first in her class from Cornell. From there she went to to Harvard Law School, where she was just one of a handful of women in a class of 500, before switching to Columbia Law School, where once again she (tied) first in her class.
In spite of her academic excellence, after graduation she had difficulty finding work due to gender discrimination. But she persevered. First she clerked for a judge, then went on to teach at two different colleges, becoming Columbia's first female tenured professor. After that, she headed the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union. During her time there, she argued landmark equal-rights cases, winning five out of six.
By 1993, President Clinton appointed Ginsburg the second female Supreme Court justice ever.
So there's no doubt then that Ginsburg is tough and smart. What makes her so sexy to me, though, is that she did all of the above while still having a rich family life with her beloved husband, Marty, and their two kids, Jane and James.
Hearing her talk about Marty and their life together, how they each sacrificed for each other - he giving up his law practice and moving to DC; she helping him keep up with his studies at Harvard Law School while battling testicular cancer -- makes you realize that there is a real woman underneath that tiny robe of hers. She is the epitome of the chick from the Enjoli perfume ads of the early 80s: my lady Ruth was able to bring home the bacon, fry it up it in a pan, and never, ever let Marty forget he was a man.
Which brings me back to my girl crush. Sorry fellas, but I think most hetero women would agree with me that when we say "girl crush" it's not that we want to be with that girl, but instead want to be that girl. We want to embody those characteristics that we find so attractive in that person. In the case of RBG, I want to feel I am intelligent enough for Harvard, tough enough to face any type of obstacle, and still woman enough to be there for my husband and kids.
So my husband is out of luck again. Though I can't exactly promise what would happen if, before a State of the Union speech, Ruth and I were to have dinner and Justice Kennedy just happen to bring one of those bottles of very fine, California wine.
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