Christine Knauer Equal Rights Amendment

Does the U.S. Constitution Need an Equal Rights Amendment? Over the course of the year we have touched on many different topics of gender studies and politics. The topic that appealed to me the most was the Equal Rights Amendment. The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is an amendment that was invented to obtain equal rights for both males and females in society.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution designed to guarantee equal rights for women. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman. In 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time. The ERA has always been highly controversial regarding the meaning of equality for women. Middle-class women generally were supportive.

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

Women’s rights and the way they live has changed greatly over the course of time. Back in the day, women did not have equal rights to men and they had to face many challenges in order to receive the jobs they wanted. Nowadays, women can get the same jobs as men and their power is much more appreciated. The 1930’s affected women in a positive way over time as they tried to work their way up in government positions, obtain more profitable jobs, and help provide for their families; but they still had a long ways to go getting equal rights to men.

The early women’s rights organization was developed based upon the standards and experiences of different endeavors to promote social justice and to enhance the human condition. These efforts are known as change. Among these were the Abolition and Temperance movements. The personal and historical connections that united, and on occasion divided the movement for women’s rights existed before 1843, have advanced over the subsequent century and a half. The 1877 Woman’s Suffrage amendment had been initially brought into U.S. Congress.

The 1970s were a rough year for African-Americans, still fighting for social and political rights in the United States. Consequently, women still did not receive equal rights. However, in 1972, “Congress approved the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the Constitution, which reads: ‘Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex’ (History.com Staff).” Out of the thirty-eight necessary states only twenty-two ratified it right away, it was relieving for the moment because the feminist advocates had been trying to be ratified since 1923. The First African-American woman elected into Congress was Shirley Chisholm.

The 19th amendment is when the U.S Constitution granted American women the right to vote. This amendment is also known as women’s suffrage. Since the U.S founded women were considered second class citizens the movement for women’s equality lasted more than 70 years.

In her speech, “For the Equal Rights Amendment” Shirley Chisholm addresses her views on securing women’s equality to ensure women have better opportunities. She is an American politician, educator and author that became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. Chisholm supports her claims about equal rights for women by using examples of statistics to prove a point. Her purpose is to persuade her audience that women in America are neglected by equal rights and excluded from things that men are not. Throughout her deliverance she expressed an inspiring and informative tone to uplift her audience so that Congress can make a change for women.

Many lower class citizens such as women, African American, and immigrants demanded their god-given rights of suffrage and freedom, and being accepted in society as an equal citizen. The Women’s Rights Movement assembled due to the unfair distribution of rights in men and women. According to Document I, women demanded their right to “be free as man is free, to be represented in the gov’t… [and]…we now demand our right to vote according to the declaration of the gov’t under which we live.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton protests of being inferior to men, being governed without their consent, yet still being taxed by the “democratic” gov’t to which they mean nothing.

The 19th Amendment was passed on August 18th, 1920; women had been in a 70 year protest to finally gain women suffrage. Even after women gained equal voting rights as men, they struggled to get past the state laws that still held them unequal in numerous ways violating their natural rights. It wasn’t until 1974, almost 54 years after the amendment was passed, that the Supreme Court finally considered an Equal Pay Act, due to an employer paying women less than men for the same work (Corning Glass Works v. Brennan). Only a year before that, in 1973, did the supreme court revise and clarify that employers could not publish sex-segregated “Male/Female Help Wanted” ads. Although it may be protected under the constitutional right of freedom of speech and of the press, but instead was considered illegal because of sex-biased preference in hiring (Pittsburgh Press v. Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations).

America gained its independence in 1776 with the expectation that every American should have liberty and equality. However, American women did not have the right to vote until 1920, which was almost more than 140 years after the United States was established. Women could do little to protect themselves and promote their careers due to being treated unequally and inferior to men. During the 19th and the early 20th century, women were working hard and fighting for gender equality, so that more and more women could live a better life with basic civil rights in their hometowns. In reality, women’s equality was challenged by traditional conventions in the fields of biological difference in sexes, religion and gender roles, and different perspectives towards these conventions of different people made women’s civil rights controversial.

In 1866 Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded the American Equal Rights Association (AERA). “According to its Constitution, it 's purpose was to secure equal rights to all American citizens, especially the rights of suffrage, irrespective race, color, and sex.” (Wikipedia.org) The two women who

The case that sparked my interest on equal protection was Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan. This case allowed Joe Hogan, a registered nurse enrollment in two state supported coeducational nursing programs, but denied him enrollment in the Mississippi University for Women’s School of Nursing’s baccalaureate program, on the grounds that he was a male. The significance of the case is that parties seeking to uphold a statute that classifies individual’s gender must carry the burden of showing an "exceedingly persuasive justification" for the classification. Also, single-sex admissions policy of MUW 's School of Nursing cannot be justified on the ground that it compensates for discrimination against women.

as they did not gain or keep the access to the professionals nor did they come close to earning equal pay for the same type of work if they continued to hold their jobs after the men returned. Because of the frustrations held by these women, it the led to the start of feminist movements.