On the basis of sex – the film tells the story of Supreme Court Justice Ruth

Bader Ginsburg and the start of her career as a lawyer which follows her journey as a
new mother as well as lawyer.

In her law school years at Columbia, Ginsburg was patronized at Harvard Law
School by male professors; women students were humiliated especially their Dean.
Ginsburg transferred to Columbia Law School due to family constraints and conflict
with the Dean of Harvard Law School

Fast forward to the time she was a practicing lawyer. Where at that time seems to
be impossible job given that was a woman and a mother (and a Jewish).
[Un]fortunately, she handled a key case of Charles M. Mortiz v. Commission on
Internal Revenue – a case of where a wronged man looking after his ageing mother but
refused the right to deduct the cost of hiring a nurse against tax because he was a man
and unmarried. In the said case, Ginsburg cracks open the edifice of male privilege and
sex discrimination.

The movie focuses on Ginsburg trying to make the case that the law discriminates
on the basis of sex– the case follows her through the struggles and obstacles she has to
go through as a woman, in what everybody perceived as a man’s profession, also the
balance between motherhood and her career.

The core of the story is about Ginsburg as a person. The film, which is filled with
beautiful performances and an important message. Indeed, the “notorious RBG’s
story has made history.”

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By: #26 Vanguardia, Cedric F. – Civil Law Review II – SSC-R, Manila