Gym rat
The author symbolically uses the gym rat to represent Ginsburg's efforts to keep fit. After being diagnosed with colon cancer, Ginsburg decided to spend adequate at the gym to stay healthy. The author writes, "At the age of sixty-six, Ruth became a gym rat. She wanted to stay strong.”
Justices O’Connor and Ginsburg
O'Connor and Ginsburg represent the iconic efforts of women to fight for gender equality. O'Connor was the first woman to join the Supreme Court, and later Ginsburg comes in as the second female judge. Both O'Connor and Ginsburg were on the frontline in fighting for gender equality. Ginsburg also represents optimism because she always remained optimistic that the future would be bright for all women. The author writes, "Even when dissenting in a case, Justice Ginsburg maintained her optimism about the possibility of creating a positive change through the law, step by step.”
President Bush
President Bush's action to appoint a man judge to replace O'Connor represents the male's chauvinism that promotes gender inequality. President Bush already knows that there is a gender imbalance in the Supreme Court, and he proceeds to appoint a male judge instead of a woman. The author writes, "After Justice O’Connor retired in 2006 to take care of her ailing husband, Justice Ginsburg was the sole woman on the Supreme Court for three years. President George W. Bush nominated a man, Samuel Alito, to replace O’Connor.”
Lilly Ledbetter
Ledbetter is a symbolic character who represents the bias females encounter at workplaces. Ledbetter is the only female manager in the tire company, which men dominate. Surprisingly, Ledbetter is paid a lower salary compared to her male counterparts executing similar duties. The author writes, "Lilly Ledbetter, a manager at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, learned through an anonymous note that for years the company had been paying her, the sole female area manager, much less than it paid men.”
Barrack Obama
President Barack Obama emblematically embodies hope for women's efforts for equal treatment. After he was elected president, Obama signed the Fair Pay Act to end the discriminatory pay system against women at workplaces. In the year 2009, Obama appointed Sonia (a woman) to replace the retiring Justice Souter. In the following year, President Obama appointed another female judge called Elena to replace the outgoing male justice named Paul Stevens. The author writes, "When Barack Obama became the forty-fourth president of the United States in 2009, the first law he signed was Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. In the year 2009, President Obama had the opportunity to appoint a new justice to the Supreme Court when Justice David Souter retired. He chose Sonia Sotomayor. In 2010, President Obama selected Elena Kagan for the Court after Justice John Paul Stevens retired."
