Now in their eighties, the journalist and the litigator sat down with The New York Times’s Philip Galanes to reflect on their “parallel careers and experiences as women.” This of course meant reflecting on setbacks: many law firms were closed to Ginsburg because she was Jewish and a woman; magazines wanted women like Steinem to be researchers, while men did the writing.
To this, Galanes—a man—has a Pollyannaish response: “You remind me of my grandmother’s line: Rejection is the best thing that can happen.”
Steinem quickly corrects him: “But there might not be a need for a woman’s magazine,” she tells him, “and there might be a court that actually looks like the country. There’s no virtue in injustice.”
It’s also worth noting that the Times decided to run this conversation in their Styles section. Try to remember the last time you saw the heavyweight pairing of a Supreme Court justice and a trailblazing writer and activist relegated to the section that covers fashion and trends.