Introduction
"For both men and women, the first step in getting power is to become visible to others, and then to put on an impressive show…As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we will all be better for it." --First woman on the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
In this curriculum unit, students will learn firsthand about The Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.), first passed by Congress in 1972. It was submitted for ratification to the states, but to this day, has still not been ratified. The E.R.A. would have been the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It won the requisite two-thirds vote from the House of Representatives in October 1971. In March of 1972, the U.S. Senate approved it, and the E.R.A. was sent to the states. Article V of the Constitution allows for Amendments approved by two-thirds of the U.S. House and Senate and ratified by three-fourths of the 50 states.1
Due to a backlash against the E.R.A., it failed to achieve ratification by the states' requisite thirty-eight, or three-fourths. In January of 2020, almost 50 years later, Virginia became the 38th state to ratify the E.R.A. Due to the ratification deadline and other concerns, this Amendment is still pending to become part of the Constitution. The leaders of the women's movement continue to fight for the E.R.A. and gender equality, but they have never again reached the political influence they had in the early 1970s.2
For a document that carries so much political weight and history, the Equal Rights Amendment is surprisingly short. As passed by Congress in 1972, the Amendment states:
SECTION 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
SECTION 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
SECTION 3. This Amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
Working women in the 1940s and 1950s focused on gaining workplace protections for women and children. They were worried that an E.R.A. would jeopardize laws that made factories safer and limited the number of hours women could work. Many decades would pass before the E.R.A. would gain momentum. By that point, both men and women had won protections in the workplace through the Courts. During the second-wave feminist movement, women who fought for civil rights in the 1960s and 1970s pushed for equality in their jobs, universities, and homes. The women's movement was more determined than ever to stay mobilized in the states when the E.R.A. did not pass federal legislation.3 In the late 20th century, the federal government and all states have passed significant legislation protecting women's legal rights.
The E.R.A. is still pending as of August 2021 and will need a new ratification date to secure the passing of the Amendment. The E.R.A. stands as a century-long dream for many women, suffragettes, feminists, and activists. The E.R.A. would ban discrimination based on sex and guarantee equality for women under the Constitution. Lawmakers and advocacy organizations have put the E.R.A. amendment back on the Nation's agenda to ensure women's full constitutional rights once and for all. The Democratic-controlled House has passed a resolution to rescind the deadline for ratification of the E.R.A. Though it is unlikely now that they will take up the measure as voting rights. Infrastructure bills are taking precedence.
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