The Development of Feminism and the ERA (1920–1972)
What does it take for a President to support women's right? The trend seems to suggest the more dominant the office of the President becomes, the less will and focus he has to address those issues who might damage him either politically or publically. The women's movement for equal rights increased its chances to effectively have legislation drafted only when it finally had an opportunity to directly engage the executive office. Furthermore, the vast resources of the executive office also simplified the connection and collection of data about qualified women for public office. So, the replacement of local female organizations by a national network supervised from the top was the major shift that the second wave of feminists found in place by mid 60s.
While the first feminists focused mainly on voting and property rights, the second wave of feminism enlarged their demands. All inequalities, social and economic, plus a vast range of needs (sexuality, reproductive rights, access to professional careers) were on the "table." Moreover, women started defining their identity by questioning male traditional assumptions. For instance, women started redefining their relationships with the "male' world. Sport, the military, divorce laws, domestic violence, and on the issue of rape that men dismissed too lightly entered daily public awareness.
Then, how did all this came about? Obviously, this change did not happen overnight. It had been the steady and inspired work of leaders like Mott, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Charlotte Gilman who gave a voice to all future female generations. Women earning male respect in WWI and II provided an identity that could not be tarnished by male chauvinism. In this dimension women occupied the domestic sphere but she was deprived of her intellect and aspirations outside of the house. The cult of domesticity "ordained" women to live without an identity and revolve around male's needs. Instead, I want to bring the attention to two books which inspired women to rebel against the matrix of the suburb and of motherhood. The Second Sex is what the title suggests. Women are not equal to men. They are inferior. The detailed analysis of women's oppression helped women to honestly question the order of things. It also inspired a book written by Betty Friedan about a seemingly inexplicable phenomenon shared by many women. They felt something was missing, empty in their lives The Feminine Mystique provocatively named the symptom "the problem that has no name." This book stroke a chord with many women who recognized the limitations of being a housewife though they lived in material comfort and enjoyed a relatively happy family life. This is the springboard which catapulted scores of women towards the discovery of a new identity and careers outside of the house.
Unquestionably, by the end of Nixon's first term, Presidential rhetoric faced demands and expectations undreamt of at the time of Kennedy's establishment of the President's Commission on the Status of Women. One may argue that perhaps women could have been more successful if they had united with the civil rights movement. Exactly as 100 years before, it was social mores and political interests that did not allow the "marriage" between the two movements to be consumed. Both times, race relations had the green light over gender. Afraid to lose momentum, the Civil Rights movement made the conscious decision to move forward alone to avoid a socio–political backlash.
The Equal Right Amendment was initiated in 1922 by Alice Paul. It followed fifty years of unstable trajectory. Many reasons can be found to explain its failure to be adopted. Wars, economic depressions, and male attitude converged to keep women to the role of fulfilling the patriarchal domestic project. It is surprising, though, that woman themselves did not agree on the amendment. In fact, in 1972 the Equal Right Amendment ran out of time mainly due to lack of female support in the states. Why did the ERA fail?
For almost fifty years, women wanted to add an amendment to embed their equal rights into the Constitution. It is quite extraordinary that it failed, considering that women make up 51% of the population. By 1970, there was a kind of satisfaction among male and female social components. The main proponent of the Amendment, the National Organization for Women, did not have a historical perspective of the events to count on. Since Kennedy, every president and First Lady welcomed the Equal Right Amendment. It only looked like only a matter of time before the few states needed for ratification would join the bandwagon. In reality, the amendment failed because it threatened too many interests such as the Mormon Church and insurance companies. Many legislators would not have "anything to lose by voting against ERA because enough voters in their districts were against it" (15)
For once, ERA supporters were not organized on a state–by–state level. They did not consider regional splits (the South never forgave anti child labor laws of the past), different ideologies among women (some were afraid to destroy family integrity and women who already worked outside of the house were too busy to make ends meet). (16)
Southern voters were very receptive to that message and they added some on their own. For instance child labor laws never "washed" with Southerners and black women felt they were left out. The Women's Equal Rights Movement was traditionally white and educated. It historically never made any effort to include their African American Southerner counterpart. By 1960s National Organization for Women splintered out of internal disagreements and parties. This would prove fatal later to motivate enough state legislatures to vote for ERA. Great struggles end for complex reasons. Motifs can be understood only with historical perspective. The ERA tale ended a decade of exhaustive events such the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights, and the Watergate scandal. These cultural shocks progressively swallowed both ideological and popular enthusiasm for the success of the measure. Among the many contentions dividing pro and against the amendment two issues seemed to top the list: fear women could lose preferential treatment at work and in courts; and Schlafly.
The former suffered from sort of confusion in the minds of many women. 1964 Equal Pay Act, 1967 Title VII, 1972 right to abortion casted a sense of comfortable independence among many women. Though women felt an equal rights amendment would be the icing on the cake, many of them felt that changes would threaten rights women greatly wanted to keep. Schlafly skillfully played on those fears. She masterfully argued that, "ERA was the men's liberation amendment." She masterfully played on women's fears that the Amendment would mean sexual permissiveness, legalization of gays, change in children's custody law, losing flexible hours at work and military service.
She opposed modern feminism. She successfully used a moral rhetoric that inked the ERA with extreme feminism.
It is worthwhile to remember that there is always apprehension in changing old and established routines. At the end, many women accepted Schlafly's underlying assertion that women are housewives by choice. The old motif of family and home stability carried the day once again in a supreme act of irony.
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