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Elena Hilton, RTV

Lately there has been a lot of talk regarding the Supreme Court and women - and on this day, we remember when the first female Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, was appointed in 1981.

President Reagan made the groundbreaking decision to nominate the first female SCOTUS justice, and like most political decisions, it was met with mixed levels of support.

While O’Connor was proud to be paving the way for future women on the SCOTUS, she lamented that  every move she made was scrutinized by the media and the public simply because she was a woman. She was determined to be a qualified judge who decided cases, not a woman who decided cases.

“The power I exert on the court depends on the power of my arguments, not on my gender,” O’Connor stated.

Over the years, O’Connor was both praised and criticized for her moderate political stance. She solidified her place in history by often being the deciding swing vote in many landmark cases, including Bush v. Gore and McConnell v. FEC.

Having a woman on the highest court in the United States was a monumental moment in American history and it paved the way for three more women justices since O’Connor’s appointment: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Bader Ginsburg has even become a Tumblr star in her own right, redefining the term #ladyboss.

Many would argue that gender equality isn’t yet where it needs to be, but July 7,1981 was at the very least a great step in the right direction.

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