Phyllis Schlafly is an anti-feminist, she convinced congress to not pass the Equal Rights Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was written by Alice Paul and she introduced the amendment to congress in 1923. The ERA was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for all sexes. Phyllis Schlafly, a right-wing leader of the Eagle Forum/STOP ERA, played an important role in arguing against the amendment. Phyllis Schlafly is against modern feminist movements because modern feminists believe that the differences between men and women are just a social construct, colleges and women's studies courses guide women to a career path that has no space for men, marriage or children, and treating women …show more content…
Before the ERA, Schlafly did not take much interest in feminism. She turned to antifeminism which reflected a turn in grassroots conservativism to social issues, which would not be linked to communism or defense. Schlafly fought with Betty Friedan, a feminist, about the traditional family. Friedan believed that the American women were only taught to “accept traditional, middle class gender roles of homemakers and housewives.” (217) With women playing the same gender roles it could keep them from pursing their dreams and using their skills in the workplace. Social pressures have a big toll on a women for being the “perfect” mother. Even though Friedan had a point about women being labeled as an “improper mother” if they did not fit the ideal social norms, Schlafly argued that “women benefited from the ‘Christian tradition of chivalry,’ which obligated men to support and protect their wives and children.” (218) She believed women where the recipients of technology advances of the late 1800s and 1900s. Schlafly even wrote “the real liberation of women from backbreaking drudgery to prior centuries is ‘the American free enterprise system which stimulated inventive geniuses’ to provide women with laborsaving devices.” (218) Schlafly continued to argue how the ERA “was a direct threat to the protection of mothers and working women enjoyed in American society.” (218) Most women want to be a wife, mother, and homemaker which …show more content…
Gender equality also means gay and lesbian rights. One of the issue that divided the pro-ERA groups with the anti-ERA was the perception of overlap between the issue of gay rights and abortion. Homosexual marriages in the 1970s and 1980s was still a big issue. Religious and conservative activist where not too excited about the gender equality because it meant that gays and lesbians would have more rights and would likely be led to homosexual marriages. Americas in the ‘70s and ‘80s were not ready to accept homosexual marriages. Anita Bryant, who led the Political Movement to repeal Miami’s anti-discriminatory ordinance, fostered links to fight against the ERA movement. She said “for many social conservatives, the two causes (of the ERA, and gay rights) were related, especially since Phyllis Schlafly insisted that the ERA would lead to the legalization of same-sex marriages.” (83) Bryant’s efforts paid off: Miami’s gay rights ordinance was repealed. Social conservatives also blamed the gay rights activist for putting the traditional American Family “under attack.” The ERA might threaten the traditional American Family. The ERA would also put abortion funding a new constitution right. Since abortion is a medical producer only operated on women, therefore it is a “sex discrimination.” Even though the ERA was proposed to outlaw gender-based discrimination at the time, the amendment was too liberal for the average
This investigation addresses the following question: How important was Phyllis Schlafly’s role in the defeat of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment? In order to evaluate her importance, this investigation will address several factors that contributed to the defeat of the ERA, such as the negative portrayal of women by the press, the decriminalization of abortion, the split between feminists who wanted the ERA to pass and those who believed that its passage would lead to the deterioration of women’s protective laws, and the role of the Phyllis Schlafly and her Stop ERA campaign. One source used in this investigation, “Stop ERA,” is evaluated for its insight into Phyllis Schlafly’s plan on how to campaign against the ERA, as she was the author of this document. The second source, an excerpt from the article “The Equal Rights Amendment: A Constitutional Basis for Equal Rights of Women,” will be analyzed for its professional, relatively unbiased opinions; this article was written for the Yale Law Journal in 1971, meaning that it consists of a concrete legal analysis of the amendment from the time period in which it was being ratified.
Insurance is more expensive for women. Women must serve more time for crimes than men. According to this document there are about 1,795 laws that are against women’s rights as people. Equal rights amendment will bring all sorts of rights for women. According to this document It will help stop discrimination about sex, allow women to have their own credit and benefits, become a legal person under law, and stop law from discriminating against women. This document is important because it shows how far women's rights have come since the 1970s. Women now have the right to get a credit card in their own name. Women have the right to hold public office. Women can now serve in the military and they can also do so much more.The equal rights amendment was the stepping stool for women to achieve rights and freedoms. Throughout American history we see different groups longing to have the stake at American Freedom. Women have had a hard journey to make all the progress they have. This document is not only important because we can see
The Equal Rights Amendment began its earliest discussions in 1920. These discussions took place immediately after two-thirds of the states approved women's suffrage. The nineteenth century was intertwined with several feminist movements such as abortion, temperance, birth control and equality. Many lobbyists and political education groups formed in these times. One such organization is the Eagle Forum, who claims to lead the pro-family movement. On the opposite side of the coin is The National Organization for Women, or NOW, which takes action to better the position of women in society. Feminism is the most powerful force for change in our time. The Equal Rights Amendment has been a powerfully debated subject for decades. Having passed the Senate with a vote of 84-8, it failed to get the requisite thirty-eight states to ratify it. Many discussions and arguments arise over the continued push for the Equal Rights Amendment. The need for change must be a consensus and achieved both nationally and at the state level. The attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment continues, but with few supports left, it appears to have lost its momentum.
Friedan points out that, "They [men] have an unprecedented freedom to choose the kind of work they will do; they also have an unprecedented amount of time apart from the hours and days that must actually be spent in making a living. And suddenly one realizes the significance of today's identity crisis." (790). Friedan also explains the difference in the times of the pioneer days, when women were more respected and did more, to her present time. When women were no longer needed to be doing hard work and were simply tasked with staying in their homes to raise their children. "These women were respected and self-respecting members of society whose pioneering purpose centered in the home. Strength and independence, responsibility and self-confidence, self-discipline and courage, freedom and equality were part of the American character for both men and women, in all the first generations."(791). The way Friedan conveys the past standards helped her pave the way to her main argument of women having identity crisis's. Because the order of the text was old standards of the American woman, it made sense when Friedan started explaining how things were for her in that time. After explaining the societal standards, Friedan went on to explain why women deserve to do more than only becoming a
It gave women a powerful legal tool to end sexual discrimination and helped erase cultural stereotypes about females. The modern women's rights movement began in the 1960s and gained momentum with the development of the scholarly field of Feminist Jurisprudence in the 1970s. The quest for women's rights has led to legal challenges in the areas of employment, domestic relations, reproductive rights, education, and Criminal Law. Although the women's rights movement failed to secure ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment(ERA), the courts have generally been receptive to claims
When the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced, in 1923, it was just a few years after the 19th amendment had been passed. It continued to be reintroduced every year for the next 48 years without any success. The ERA had no major union backing it until the 1970’s, it lacked the support of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, and even the National Organization for Women did not endorse the ERA at its founding. In The fact that the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced every year for decades shows how persistent women’s rights activists throughout the 20th century in their pursuit of legal equality
The “Feminine Mystique” is a highly influential book in the early second wave feminism movement. It is said that it helped shaped the demands of the second wave by insisting for the right to work outside the home, and to be paid equally; the right for reproductive freedom; the demand that women should not be expected to have children and be mothers if they do not want to. Betty Friedan addresses “the problem that has no name” which is the women who are highly educated, suburban housewives that are bored and want something “more” in their life. This is the point where women knew we needed a second wave. Women’s role had gone backwards and they were beginning to realize that they were all experiencing the same “problem that has no name”. “The
These documents touch on important topics that a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding. Both The Civil Rights movement and Feminist Movement connect to mainstream liberalism, share parallel goals or differences, progressed in the 1970s, and still have an influence on American’s views to this day. Equal rights among all, is still something America is struggling with after about 50 years. There is no denying though, that the movements during the 60’s and 70’s molded the lives of future generations in the way that American’s view each other as human beings.
...ousness-raising" groups, which rapidly expanded in number. These women met to discuss the injustice of "sexism," an equivalent to racism; they began to start many feminist projects, such as health collectives, day care centers, rape crisis centers, abortion counseling services and women’s study programs. In the 1970’s they focused on three issues: equality in education/employment, access to legal abortions and the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Congress also approved Title IX of the Higher Education Act. This Act prohibited bias on the basis of sex in any educational program that received federal resources. So, many universities and military academies that was once all-male were forced to accept women students. While great strides were made in women’s equality, the wage discrepancy between men and women for the same jobs remains prevalent today.
Before the 1890s, females had no other options but to live with their parents before marriage and with their husband after marriage. They couldn’t work and if they did their wage was way lower than men. Today many women chose their own lifestyle and have more freedom. They can chose if they want to get married and have kids or not. Coontz said “what 's new is not that women make half their families living but that for the first time they have substantial control over their own income, along with the social freedom to remain single or to leave an unsatisfactory marriage” (98). When women couldn’t work, they had no options but to stay with their husband for financial support. Working is a new way of freedom because they can choose to stay or leave their husband and make their own decisions. It’s not like women couldn’t work before, they could but they didn’t have too much social freedom like to get divorce or not have children. Their voice wasn’t as important as men. Most of the time men had to decide everything in the family and had control over the family. Coontz believe that today women have more control over their own life and they can choose however they want to live their life. Kuttner also agree that “most Americans, after all, believe women should not be consigned to the nursery and the kitchen” (122). Women used to be the mother who
Ever since the currently Proposed Equal Rights Amendment was created, there has been conflict about weather or not it should be approved. For almost a century, the side that supports the amendment have fought to get it officially put in place. One person writes, “Since 1923, activists have been trying to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, which states, ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex’” (Document B). This provides an example of how the ERA would establish a basic idea with a very simple set of rules and end up making a big difference when
When comparing the works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Betty Friedan, and Bell Hooks, I assert that both Gilman and Friedan stress that college educated, white upper- and middle-class women should have the incentive to fight against and alter the rigid boundaries of marriage; however, Hooks in her piece From Margin to Center argues that Friedan and other feminist writers during the second wave had written or spoke shortsightedly, failing to regard women of other races and classes who face the most sexist oppression.
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.
This was the major victory for the movement, which also included reforms in higher education, in the workplace and professions, and in health care. Laws protecting sexual assault and alimony would be gotten rid of, and women were now allowed custody of their children in divorce cases. The military draft that was all male was now unconstitutional. Before the law was passed, there were groups that were protesting against it. The leader of the “Stop ERA Campaign” was a business woman named Phyllis Schlafly. Even though she had a law degree, she saw past her privileges feminist had gained for her and glorified the traditional roles of American women. She would open her speeches with, “I’d like to thank my husband for letting me be here tonight”, just to taunt the feminists that were listening. She argued that the ERA would bring changes to women in America that nobody wanted. Despite her protests, feminist leaders addressed the legislature and argued in support of the ERA, and was approved by The House in 1970 then in 1972 by the Senate also. The amendment was ratified by thirty of the thirty-eight states by 1973 (Ushistory.org
In 1920 the 19th amendment was passed which allowed women the right to vote; this was a significant achievement for the women’s suffrage movement. Since that time women have gained substantial freedom and equality, but some today still argue that gender inequality is a relevant cultural topic that needs to be addressed. Conversely, some people believe that feminism is irrelevant in modern society, or they believe the myth that feminism is only poorly disguised misandry. Despite the opposition, many women and men continue to be advocates for feminism.