For a long time, women have been discriminated for many opportunities to become successful in live. Ever since America was free from the control of the UK, women have not been given any opportunity to thrive. Women have been treated as people who have been underestimated and treated as an outcast in the field of work outside of home. Over time women have been given few opportunities to work, but those opportunities were only given when the men had to go to war. Women rights started to become a concern only after a few years after World War 1. As soon as women had the right to vote, thanks to the Fourteenth Amendment, women started to get together and try to make an amendment to give equal rights to all sex. Ever since then, Women have …show more content…
Another reason why the ERA needs to happen is because women have been treated unfairly in most courts. A good example of a women unable to get good help and could not win a court case was the Hoyt v Florida case. This court case shows how unfair the court system is. Hoyt is a victim of being a suspect classification. The jury of the court were all male. Hoyt believes that having an all male jury, violated the fourteenth amendment. This court case shows how unfair that the court system is towards women. The unfair court system towards women will most likely lean towards the side that is going against women. The next court case shows how unfair the court system is and how unfair women’s pay is. The Ledbetter v Goodyear tire is another court case on how much discrimination there is. Since the ERA is not an amendment and most laws and acts are not enforced, the Ledbetter and Goodyear is a good example of how laws and acts are not being enforced. This case was made because Ledbetter has been working for Goodyear for a long time, however, Ledbetter, for her entire time working at Goodyear, has been getting lower pay than all the men working at Goodyear. Ledbetter tried to sue Goodyear for the discrimination of not being paid enough. However, the court did not seem to think that the laws were not broken. This made Ledbetter lose the court. All the laws and acts that are made to prevent sex discrimination shows that the there is no enforcement. With no enforcement, women are still getting unfair wages from discrimination. It also shows how unfair the court system is towards women. Even though there are a majority people who need the ERA but there are people who thinks that we should repeal the amendment. These people believe that the ERA will make any protective legislation invalid. Even though that protective legislation was the only concern, everyone
Before Sandra stepped up, women that presented their case would often be discriminated against, because an all male panel would not be able to understand a woman’s problem. Sandra Day O’Connor stepping up helped women be heard in court because she knew how they felt. Sandra Day O’Connor shined a light on gender discrimination by ruling on discrimination cases and channeling how other people would
On January 29th, 2009 President Obama signed his first bill, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Recognition to pass the bill began when Lilly Ledbetter received an anonymous letter stating the male managers and their surprisingly larger salaries. Ledbetter decided to take Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to court, however, the judge ruled in favor of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., which then lead to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The act states that as long as workers file their charges within 180 days (or 300 days in some jurisdictions) from the time they received any discriminatory paycheck, they are able to file a claim (Committee On Education & The Workforce Democrats). Although the act is better than the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which only allowed 180 days from the first discriminatory paycheck to file a claim, there are still problems with the act.
She believes that the ERA would take away from some of the women’s important rights and benefits by providing an example of the military draft. She states that, “I have listened to the lawyers and state legislature hearing, and they all said, ‘Yes, they do want women drafted and they do want them in combat.’” Women were originally exempt from the draft, but ratifying the ERA would take away their exemption and would subjectively draft them with men. Taking away their exemption would only leave them dissatisfied and drawback. Moreover, when they debate over women’s role in the marriage, she uses the evidence of the Maryland law which introduced the equal rights amendment: “This takes out the word ‘husband’ and puts in the word ‘spouse’(…)
Review of Why ERA Failed: Politics, Women’s Rights, and the Amending Process of the Constitution By Mary Frances Berry The struggle for women’s rights has been a long, hard fought battle in American history. The fight for even the most basic of rights, such as the right to vote or control property, often takes decades for a victory to be had. One such initiative that sought a widening of women’s rights was the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) of the 1970s. The ERA sought to put women on equal legal footing as men, and to no ones surprise the movement failed.
Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act History The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 was signed into law by President Barack Obama, January 29, 2009. The purpose and goal of the Lilly Ledbetter Act is to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This Ledbetter Act states that the 180-day statue of limitations for filing an equal-pay lawsuit regarding pay discrimination resets with each new paycheck affected by that discriminatory action. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair__Pay_Act_of_2009)
On July 9th, 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in order to secure the previously infringed on rights of formerly enslaved African Americans. This racially charged amendment was intended to guarantee the protection for these former slaves, yet this amendment was distorted in order to justify and deny rights for women, gay couples, men, and various other minority groups. Through examining specific cases such as, Muller v. Oregon and Bradwell v. Illinois, it becomes evident that this amendment has been used both positively and negatively to effect women’s rights and protection under the law. Especially in regarding the 19th century, the Fourteenth Amendment was used to rationalize sexist actions by employers, states, and other officials.
Bader Ginsburg was in tune with the evolving world and started a class in 1970 called “Women and the Law” which focused on sex discrimination (Creager 21). This was the first of its kind, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg used her experiences and the experiences of others to try and change the system that was causing the discrimination in the first place. The case that set her on the path to becoming a Supreme Court Justice came about because a single, unmarried man was trying to write off a caregiver for his dying mother. The claim was denied because “men weren’t care givers”. Justice Ginsburg saw this as her opportunity to make real change in discrimination.
For generations now, powerful and brave women in the United States have cajoled citizens, members of Congress and government officials to ratify a Constitutional amendment that 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.” In 1923, during the 75th anniversary of the 1848 Women’s Rights convention in Seneca Falls, women’s rights activist Alice Paul created the “Lucretia Mott Amendment” which would grant men and women equal rights throughout the United States. On March 22, 1972, the amendment now titled the “Equal Rights Amendment” passed the U.S Senate and House of Representatives and was to be sent to the states for approval. However, once the seven-year deadline on the ratification process came to an end in 1979, the amendment’s proponents lacked the ratification by 38 states and thus the proposed 27th amendment for equal rights was terminated. The ERA advocates continue to work together and utilize each other's resources in hope to finally pass the bill.
The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution stating that civil rights may not be denied on the basis of one’s sex. All throughout history people have argued whether it is best to have human distinctions or gender equality. Ultimately, “The ERA would make women’s equality with men law of the land” (lecture notes). This federal amendment would make it impossible for legislators to pass laws that discriminate against women’s rights. In 1977, 35 out of 38 states ratified the ERA however, despite the widespread public support for the amendment, the extension ran out in 1982.
The women’s movement of the 1970s had made much needed gains promoting gender equality with the United States Congress passing numerous women’s rights bills, such as Title IX, banning gender discrimination in federally funded educational programs, while the Supreme Court made landmark decisions protecting women’s right to privacy dealing concerning reproductive rights. Even conservative presidents such as President Nixon supported feminist goals such as federal childcare programs. America had finally made progress since the days of the 1950s cult of domesticity. INSERT TIMELINE The culmination of these changes was to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which mandated gender equality.
Throughout history discrimination has had a negative impact on people and has cause certain groups of people to suffer. Discrimination can be against people of different race, religion, gender and sexuality and in the late 1800’s women were one of the groups that were discriminated. Women had to fight hard to obtain the rights they now have in the 21st century and many of the women who fought for equal rights didn’t get to experience those rights since laws in their favor weren’t passed until years and years of fighting. In the late 1800’s American women were discriminated because they were not granted the same rights as men in the workforce, women had to be obedient to their husbands in their marriage and society had certain norms that women
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.
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.
According to (Schmalleger & Smykia, 2015, p. 377), “One early state case, Barefield v. Leach (1974), demonstrated that the opportunities and programs for female inmates were clearly inferior to those for male inmates.” Women knew that going directly to courts would allow them to get the rights that they deserve. “On the heels of the civil rights movement, women wanted guarantees of equal opportunities in school and career, as well as equal pay for equal work. But opponents thought the amendment was unnecessary- and even dangerous” (Davey, 2012). Since I’ve been around, I have been able to apply for jobs that I was interested in, so I could only imagine living in a time where I couldn’t.
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.