Women Demand Equality: NOW!

 

In 1966, the National Organization for Women established that a key goal of the feminist movement was the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed Constitutional amendment guaranteeing equal rights for women. It had been introduced in Congress in 1923, then passed in 1972 with the condition that 38 states had to ratify it for it to become part of the Constitution. Support was bipartisan and ratification seemed like a sure thing, needing only eight more states.

Then came a housewife and mother of six from St. Louis named Phyllis Schlafly. She believed that the amendment would damage the role of women and the American family and had to be stopped. She took her cause on the road to political rallies, TV talk shows and state assemblies, where she plied legislators with fresh bread and pie.

By 1977, she had built a coalition – rooted in evangelical Christians, Catholics and political conservatives – that eventually stopped the E.R.A. three states short of ratification.

That coalition also provided a base for Ronald Reagan’s presidential victory in 1980, and established Schlafly’s reputation among friends and foes as one of the most effective political organizers in modern American history.

Despite Schlafly’s victory against the ERA, many of the causes she railed against – abortion rights, same-sex marriage, women serving in the military – become realities of American life, protected by law. But Schlafly continued to plead her cause, right up until she died at age 92 in 2016.

The ERA has not passed, despite recent attempts to revive it.

1) What were the arguments for and against the Equal Rights Amendment?
2) What strategies were the most effective at defeating the E.R.A.?
3) How did the defeat of the E.R.A. relate to the rise of conservatism in the 1980s?
4) How was the concept of American womanhood being redefined throughout the 1970s?
5) The video makes it clear that not all American women held the same beliefs about the role of women within society during the 1970s. Why do you think women in the U.S. held different perspectives on the Equal Rights Amendment? What does this debate reveal to us today about the unique pressures women faced in the 1970s?