Essay On Does The Constitution Need An Equal Rights Amendment

Her leadership and ERA draft would become a key part of the battle for women’s rights as her work would be revised and modified many times during the women’s rights and suffrage movement of the 1960s to better address the social norms and gain more support. On the opposing end of the battle, Phyllis Schlafly was a conservative activist who founded the STOP ERA organization to fight against the ratification of the ERA. “Under Schlafly’s guidance, conservative era opponents seized a moral high ground by claiming that while ERA backers wanted to topple traditional values, they—the amendment opponents—were the true supporters of the American family” (Dewolf, pg. 228, 2021). Schlafly believed the ratification of the ERA would remove traditional gender roles which would harm the American family structure and the entire movement was “opposing Mother Nature herself”(Schlafy, 1981). This opinion was led by the belief that under the ERA, women would pursue careers of their own which would increase divorce rates, leave children home alone, and disrupt traditional family life.

Thousands of women have screamed at the top of their lungs, clawed at the patriarchy, and tirelessly fought for their rights as citizens of the United States of America. From the beginning of mankind, women have been labeled as inferior to men not only physically, but mentally and intellectually as well. Only in 1920 did women gain the right to voice their opinions in government elections while wealthy white men received the expected right since the creation of the United States. A pioneer in women’s suffrage, Susan B. Anthony publicly spoke out against this hypocrisy in a time when women were only seen as child bearers and household keepers. Using the United State’s very own Constitution and Declaration as ammunition, Anthony wrote countless

It stated that “the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (The library of Congress) It emphasizes that we shall not be denied the voting rights of women by judging based on the gender. I believe that gender equality is not a women’s issue, it’s a human issue that affect all of us, human

Assessments of STOP ERA are mixed, with scholars acknowledging that the organization effectively utilized regional and state based sentiment to shift national public opinion against the once strongly supported Constitutional Amendment. To this end, there is broad agreement that without Schlafly and the STOP ERA campaign the Equal Rights Amendment would likely have been ratified in the 1970s. Schlafly 's campaign is also credited with shifting the Republican Party 's platform on the ERA and women in 1980, which led to a majority of that demographic supporting the Democratic Party by 1992. In addition, the STOP ERA campaign solidified Phyllis Schlafly 's position as an effective opponent of liberal policies, and one of the most significant women in modern American politics.

“To supporters of mothers' pensions and laws limiting women's hours of labor, which the ERA would sweep away, the proposal represented a giant step backward”.(Foner, 766) However in the end the amendment failed. “The ERA campaign failed, and only six states ratified

The amendment does not contain clarity regarding the rights of women, it does not express the claim that women seek to make. Society views women as people who stay home, cook, clean and care for the children. The male in the family is solely the provider and if the ERA is passed women will not be able to do what society entitles them to

These women also thought that they had plenty of a say because of this. The ERA fought for the 27th Amendment. Equality of rights can not be denied by the account of sex and is to be enforced by congress. The proposed Amendment is shown in Document 1.

Women finally got the freedom to have a choice as well as options on things in their lives. “The best-remembered antebellum reforms was a women’s rights movement, its arrival signaled by a stirring “Declaration of Sentiments” issued in 1848 by a convention in Seneca

In 1923, the ERA written by Alice, was introduced into Congress. The Amendment declared “equal rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex” (“Woman Suffrage”, 2014, para 1). The Amendment was introduced into every Congress through 1972, where it finally passed but failed ratification in 1982. Only 35 states ratified the Amendment by the 1982 deadline. After the failure, the Amendment was again presented to Congress every year, but still fails to get passed.

Fortunately, due to the tireless work of decades of activist’s, laws have changed, amendments added to the constitution, and rights granted to those who were previously unjustly denied. One of these victories for women’s rights occurred when women were granted the right

Prejudice and fear are weak barriers against passions, which inherent in our nature and demanding only judicious training to form the ornament, and supply the best joys of our existence, are maddened into violence, varied with as pernicious indulgence.” (Doc #2) The efforts made by the feminist movement of the Antebellum-era set forth a precedent for the expansion of women’s rights in the decades following and up until present day. The patriarchal society that had controlled the nation since its birth was finally met with opposition from those who had been oppressed for so long. Through the dismissal of restrictive gender roles and expectations, the voices of women were finally allowed to influence decision making, and ultimately create changes that would promote equal opportunity for all

In today’s world, it seems to be that women have the same rights as men, but it wasn't always this way. The speech “Women’s Rights to Suffrage” by Susan B Anthony is the most compelling of all. Susan B Anthony persuades the audience that all women should have the same rights as men. It’s shown through the speech that the federal constitution says “we the people”, the government has no right to take away rights from just one gender, and that women are considered people as well. The fact that the constitution says “we the people” is a primary point in this speech.

Wendy Williams questions the difference between men and women and explains the crisis we face when dealing with equality. Williams explains that past cases have made it easy for feminist, so much so, that now they are trying to cope with the issues that have come from these laws and how that attributes to the equality crisis. Williams illustrates the way the Supreme Court defines equality in regards to the separate spheres ideology. Separate spheres became the basis for governing women. In regards to marriage women would be seen as civilly dead in the eyes of the law, as her rights were merged with her husband.

Susan B. Anthony, a woman who was arrested for illegally voting in the president election of 1872, in her “On Women's Right to Vote” speech, argues that women deserve to be treated as citizens of America and be able to vote and have all the rights that white males in America have. She begins by introducing her purpose, then provides evidence of how women are citizens of America, not just males by using the preamble of the Constitution, then goes on about the how this problem has became a big problem and occurs in every home in the nation, and finally states that women deserve rights because the discrimination against them is not valid because the laws and constitutions give rights to every CITIZEN in America. Anthony purpose is to make the woman of America realize that the treatment and limitations that hold them back are not correct because they are citizens and they deserve to be treated like one. She adopts a expressive and confident tone to encourage and light the hearts of American woman. To make her speech effective, she incorporates ethos in her speech to support her claims and reasons.

We all know that women didn 't have as many rights as men, and they still don 't. Women can now do more than they used to, but they still aren 't equal with men. They have had to fight for so many things like the right to vote and to be equal to men. The 19th amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote, brought us a big step closer. The Equal Rights Movement also gave us the chance to have as many rights as men. Women have always stayed home, cleaned the house, and didn 't even get an education.