Written by Edie Christian

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In the 1960s United States, the women’s movement for equal rights was growing in strength with the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution, set out to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sex. However, somewhat surprisingly, this proposed amendment was strongly opposed by housewife-turned-activist, Phyllis Schlafly. Schlafly spearheaded the ‘STOP ERA’ campaign, drawing on conservative family values in order to ultimately prevent its ratification. She focused on the perceived dangers of the feminist movement for the rights of women, and her version of paleoconservatism is still evident in the United States today. 

The ERA was originally introduced in 1923 but gained little traction until the 1960s when the women’s movement began to gain momentum amidst the prevailing counterculture of the time. It was reintroduced into the House of Representatives in 1971 and was submitted for ratification by the state legislatures on 22 March 1972. In Article V, the Constitution denotes that once an amendment passes both houses of Congress, it needs to be ratified by two-thirds of the state legislatures (38 out of 50 states); over 11,000 amendments have been proposed to the United States Constitution, and only 27 have been ratified since 1789. Although this is often an unattainable goal, the ERA seemed destined for ratification due to its widespread support from Democrat and Republican leaders alike, quickly achieving 35 out of 38 state ratifications. However, the mobilisation of primarily conservative housewives by Schlafly led to a fierce opposition campaign and served to cement them as a vital base for success in American politics. Ultimately, this opposition led five states to rescind their ratifications, and time ran out before the 22 March 1979 ratification deadline. 

Instead of arguing explicitly against the proposed enumerated rights for women, Schlafly argued that the ERA would threaten liberties currently enjoyed by women (hence the backronym, ‘Stop Taking Our Privileges’) such as preference in the custody courts and the exemption from the military draft; this fear was especially prevalent amidst the continuing Vietnam War. Schlafly appealed to the traditional views of conservative housewives and tightly mobilised them whilst feminists were becoming increasingly divided on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. Joan Williams argues that the ERA was dead in the water as soon as Schlafly “turned it into a war among women over gender roles.” Indeed, Schlafly dismissed supporters of the ERA as “a bunch of bitter women seeking a constitutional cure for their personal problems.” Although Schlafly apparently listed her occupation as ‘mother’, she was a lawyer, had run for the United States Congress three times, authored nine books, and was a regular political activist. In this way, she was not a typical conservative housewife, and was a hypocritical figurehead for the STOP ERA movement — she failed to recognise that it was the initial feminist movements that gave her the freedom to campaign for her beliefs in the public sphere. 

Despite the significant advances made in gender equality since the failure of the ERA, these rights would have been far better protected if the amendment had been ratified. It would strengthen the legal basis for fighting against pay inequality, maternity leave, and restricted access to abortion. If gender equality was to have been enumerated within a constitutional amendment, it remains to be seen whether certain revoking of women’s rights – such as access to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation (2022) – would have been deemed constitutional. Whilst the legacy of the failure of the ERA is still felt throughout societal issues surrounding women’s rights, it also has a short-term political legacy. Following Schlafly’s campaign, there was sizable feminist disaffection with the Republican Party; because of this, Bill Clinton gained a significant boost with women, going on to win the presidential elections in both 1992 and 1996.  

Overall, the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment had far-reaching implications for the rights of women. Whilst the 38 required states have now ratified the ERA—with the 38th being Virginia in 2020—it represents a missed opportunity for the prohibition of discrimination based on sex. The demolition of the proposed amendment by Phyllis Schlafly and her movement of 20,000 campaigners demonstrates the power of political mobilisation, and especially the strength of the voter base of the middle-class American housewife. Whilst many conservative commentators have claimed that gender equality is found in the constitution, its implicit nature means women’s rights in the United States go continually unprotected; they can be, and have been, reversed. 

Bibliography 

Johnson, Arbora. “Phyllis Schlafly.” National Women’s History Museum, 2022. 

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/phyllis-schlafly.

Law, Tara. “The U.S. Constitution Doesn’t Guarantee Equal Rights for Women. Here’s Why.” Time.  

Time, August 23, 2019. https://time.com/5657997/equal-rights-amendment-history/. 

National Archives. “Constitutional Amendment Process.” National Archives, 2016.  

https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/constitution.

web.archive.org. “Nation: Anti-ERA Evangelist Wins Again – TIME,” July 3, 1978.  

https://web.archive.org/web/20110121004145/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C

9171%2C945990%2C00.html. 

Williams, Joan. Unbending Gender: Why Family and Work Conflict and What to Do about It. Google  

Books. Oxford University Press, 2001. 

Featured Image Credit: [Activist Phyllis Schlafly Wearing a “Stop ERA” Badge, Demonstrating with Other Women against the Equal Rights Amendment in Front of the White House, Washington, D.C.], February 4, 1977, 1 negative : film., February 4, 1977, Library of Congress, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Activist_Phyllis_Schafly_wearing_a_%22Stop_ERA%22_badge,_demonstrating_with_other_women_against_the_Equal_Rights_Amendment_in_front_of_the_White_House,_Washington,_D.C._(42219314092).jpg.