The Skim Milk Kind of Marriage

JUSTICE GINSBURG: They're not -- they're not a question of additional benefits. I mean, they touch every aspect of life. Your partner is sick. Social Security. I mean, it's pervasive. It's not as though, well, there's this little Federal sphere and it's only a tax question.

It's -- it's -- as Justice Kennedy said, 1100 statutes, and it affects every area of life. And so he was really diminishing what the State has said is marriage. You're saying, no, State said two kinds of marriage; the full marriage, and then this sort of skim milk marriage.

Justice Ginsburg, as he starts his argument he guides us through the benefits of opposite sex marriages. These couples are given many benefits, like visiting their spouses in the hospital, or simply being recognized as a married couple in every state. However, while opposite sex marriages are given these benefits, same sex couples are not. Justice Ginsburg is able to effectively show how full marriage is allowed the benefits, while States recognize same sex marriage as more like "skim milk" or in other words, incomplete. Many different arguments about same sex couples were made, however Ginsburg ties it altogether by employing pathos, superior diction and allowing himself to be seen on personal level by almost including himself into the marriage issue. 

Justice Ginsburg effectively captures the attention of every individual in the court by saying “they touch every aspect of life.” As Ginsburg, one of the liberal justices in the court questioned the constitutionality of DOMA, through the metaphor about same sex marriage and skim milk, he gives off the impression that it is greater than just the constitutionality of DOMA; rather it is whether same sex individuals actually have equal protection under the limits of federal law. Ginsburg compares DOMA to “skim milk” basically saying even though it is meant to be good it is in fact inadequate and loathsome for same sex couples.

Marriage seems to more of a box of benefits, rather than an institutionalized union. Ginsburg diction, through using short sentences to get her point across creates a very effective way to sway the courts emotions. One of most important section in her argument is when she starts talking about the federal benefits that are given to the “full marriage,” by saying “your partner is sick,” and I believe it worked in her favor. Simple and to the point allows Ginsburg to reach the emotions of the court. Also, the repetition of marriage affecting “every aspect/area of life” pushes the emotions even deeper and provokes many thoughts within the listeners. Very effectively Ginsburg was able to sway the emotions and finally ends her argument with a metaphor using skim milk.