Essay On The Equal Rights Amendment

1064 Words3 Pages

Women have struggled for many decades to receive the same rights as men. The feminist movement in the 1970’s was accelerated by women who were tired of being second rate citizens. Women took many strides during the 1970’s including the push for the approval of the equal rights amendment, protests, and workplace strikes just to name a few. Despite the failure of the equal rights amendment’s passing, women were not deterred and continued their struggle to receive the same rights as men. The persistent fight for equality has brought equality for women which is evident today. This essay will examine how women continued to fight for equality after the equal rights amendment failed and because of their persistence, the equal rights amendment
Soule (2006, p.1875) attributes the failure of the equal rights amendment to politics. Soule explains that the states that were likely to support the equal rights amendment were those that were wealthier, innovative, urban states with more competitive party systems. Those that did not support the equal rights amendment were those with conservative beliefs. Those who argue that an equal rights amendment is not necessary cite several reasons. One such reason is that the US Courts have already made decisions that have largely fulfilled the amendment’s chief objectives (Baldez, et al., 2006, p.245). Consequently, the objectives that have not been filled are irrelevant based on the latitude courts are given when interpreting legal standards. Based on the fact that many states have adopted language that mirrors the equal rights amendment and the fact that many cases were decided by the US Supreme Court favoring women’s rights, what really would the equal rights amendment do for women’s rights at this point in time? This writer believes that the equal rights amendment would not have any effect on women’s rights today. Women have become just as powerful as men in most cases. For example, we have a female running for President of the United States. What more could one ask for regarding the rights of women when one is allowed to run for the most powerful position in the World? It can be argued that the rights of women are
Women have every right to do what their male counterparts do regardless of sex and the changes that we have seen today reflect the willingness of the American people to accept that women are capable of performing the same functions in society as men. Contributing to establishing equal rights for women according to D’Arelli (2014) is the gradual blurring of traditional gender roles and improved attitudes of women’s success in the workplace. Again, there are many areas where gender discrimination still occurs and sexual harassment of women in the workplace is one of those areas. There are safeguards in place prohibiting sexual harassment or other forms of harassment in the workplace that protect women. These safeguards have cost companies millions of dollars in law suits and cost many men their careers. These protections show women that they are equal to men and that such actions will not be tolerated at any level. Even if the equal rights amendment would have passed, harassment and discrimination in the workplace would not have been eliminated. People have beliefs which laws cannot change. What we can do as a society is enforce policies and procedures and provide training to employees regarding the importance of equal rights for men and women. It will be the

Show More
Related

  • How important was Phyllis Schlafly’s role in the defeat of the U.S. Equal Rights Amendment?

    2097 Words  | 5 Pages

    Scott, Wilbur J. “The Equal Rights Amendment as Status Politics.” Social Forces 64, no. 2 (1985): 499-506, accessed February 12, 2012. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2578653.

    Read More

  • The Movements of the New Left by Van Gosse

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1974 - Gender and Sexual Discrimination

    2159 Words  | 5 Pages

    Despite legislation for equal opportunities, sexism is still evident in the workplace. Women have made great advancements in the workforce and have become an integral part of the labor market. They have greater access to higher education and as a result, greater access to traditionally male dominated professions such as law. While statistics show that women are equal to men in terms of their numbers in the law profession, it is clear however, that they have not yet achieved equality in all other areas of their employment. Discrimination in the form of gender, sex and sexual harassment continues to be a problem in today’s society.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Brochure On The Equal Rights Amendment

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Social Value of 19th Amendment

    917 Words  | 2 Pages

    During America's early history, women were denied some of the rights to well-being by men. For example, married women couldn't own property and had no legal claim to any money that they might earn, and women hadn't the right to vote. They were expected to focus on housework and motherhood, and didn't have to join politics. On the contrary, they didn't have to be interested in them. Then, in order to ratify this amendment they were prompted to a long and hard fight; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the 19th century, some generations of women's suffrage supporters lobbied to achieve what a lot of Americans needed: a radical change of the Constitution. The movement for women's rights began to organize after 1848 at the national level. In July of that year, reformers Elizabeth Cady Stanton(1815-1902) and Lucretia Mott (1793-1880), along with Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) and other activists organized the first convention for women's rights at Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 people, mostly women but also some men, attended it. Then, they raised public awar...

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis: A Day Without Feminism

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    It amazes me how a few decades ago can seem like a whole different world. A course of time can impact our lives more than we know it. In the article, A Day Without Feminism by Jennifer Boumgoidnei and Amy Richntds, both of these authors created this piece to inform their audience that although women have gained more rights over time, there was still more progress to be made. These authors gave many examples of how life for women had been, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the laws women had to break for equality.

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of the Equal Rights Amendment

    1284 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Equal Rights Speech On Women's Rights

    387 Words  | 1 Pages

    Within Hon. Shirley Chisholm’s well known speech, Equal Rights for Women, which she presented on May 21, 1969, she discusses in detail the ideology of woman’s rights before the United States House of Representatives. She touches base on her own experience with discrimination, how society has prejudice against women, and introduces the Equal rights act, in which she states “that has been before every Congress for the last 40 years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of the land.” With her speech, Hon. Shirley Chisholm makes a substantial argument about women’s rights. With her use of anecdotes, counter arguments, and statistics, her speech obtains great value.

    Read More

  • The Galvanizer of the Women’s Liberation Movement: Gloria Steinem

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    Whether it is the Ancient Greece, Han China, the Enlightened Europe, or today, women have unceasingly been oppressed and regarded as the second sex. Provided that they have interminably been denied the power that men have had, very few prominent female figures like Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen, or Jeanne d'Arc, the French heroine, have made it to history books. Veritably, it was not until 1792 when Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women addressed the issues of gender equality, that some started hearkening the seemingly endless mistreatment of women. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote in 1892. The United States did not endorse this until 1920 when the 19th Amendment was ratified, which states “The right of citizens of the United States votes shall not be denied or abridged… on account of sex.” This, however, was not the end to women’s plight. For the majority of the 20th century, America’s idea of a good woman was a good mother and a good wife. In the 1960s and 1970s, a movement that would later bring fundamental changes to the American society was spreading rapidly throughout the country: The Women’s Liberation Movement. With the increasing number of educated women, gender inequality received more attention than ever before. Hundreds of women came together to fight domestic violence, lack of political and economic development, and reproductive restrictions. One of these women was an ordinary girl from Ohio named Gloria Steinem who would later become a feminist icon in the United States. Steinem contributed to the Women’s Liberation Movement by writing about feminism and issues concerning women, co-founding Ms. magazine, giving influential speeches— leading he movement along with...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Destructive Male By Elizabeth Cady Stanton

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    The fight for women’s rights began long before the Civil War, but the most prominent issue began after the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments joined the Constitution. The rights to all “citizens” of the United States identified all true “citizens” as men and therefore incited a revolution in civil rights for women (“The Fight for Women’s Suffrage”). The National Women’s Suffrage Convention of 1868

    Read More

  • Sexism in The Work Place

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sex Discrimination in the American Workplace: Still a Fact of Life. (2000, July 01). Retrieved from National Women's Law Center : www.nwlc.org

    Read More

  • 1848 Women's Rights Convention

    1332 Words  | 3 Pages

    The need for women’s rights began back in colonial America where women were referred to as “inferior beings”. This era, though it is not particularly noted for it’s feminist movements, did hold such people as Margaret Brent, who was a wealthy holder of land in Maryland and was a strong, but unsuccessful voice in securing a place for women in the legislature of the colony. It was also a period where Quakers, and many other individuals, such as famous American patriot, Thomas Paine supported the rights of women, but at the time it was not enough to make a significant difference and it wasn’t until the 19th century that women would get the real chance to make a difference.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Of The Equal Rights Amendment

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The History Of The Women's Rights Movement

    1394 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The history of the past is but one long struggle upward to equality,” this was stated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a very crucial women’s suffragist. Over time, women’s history has evolved due to the fact that women were pushing for equal rights. Women were treated as less than men. They had little to no rights. The Women’s Rights Movement in the 1800’s lead up to the change in women’s rights today. This movement began in 1848 with the Seneca Falls Convention. For the next 72 years, women continually fought for equal rights. In 1920, they gained the right to vote which ended the movement and opened the opportunity for more change in women’s lives. Because of the Women’s Rights Movement, women today are able to vote, receive

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Equal Rights Amendment

    1474 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about Essay On The Equal Rights Amendment

Open Document