John Cramerus Document Based Questions Why Was the Equal Rights Amendment Defeated?

In 1971 the Equal Rights Act (ERA) was brought before congress to be considered for the twentieth time. In under an hour The House of Representatives passed it with three hundred and fifty votes for and fifteen against. The following year, the senate, despite strong opposition from specific senators, passed the Act with a vote of eighty-four to eight. Passed by congress, all that needed was ratification from three fourths of the states, something that never came to pass. To this date, the proposed twenty seventh amendment has never become a part of the Constitution, which leads to an important question: despite an allocated ten years to the ratification, why wasnt the ERA passed? There are many factors that went into the failure of the ERA the first of which is always something that must be considered about any political movement: Its popularity and with which populations. Overall, the movement was never a minority during the ratification period from 1975 to 1981 the percent favoring was almost or more than double the opposing every year. Truly, the movement was never lacking in any sort of support, the majority was with them the whole time. But perhaps a closer examination might beg attention. Upon breaking down those numbers into groups, it can be seen that, in the year 1986, the most defining factors were not sex, education, or income, but Age, region, and religion (Document H). The movement was significantly more popular with the ages 1825 (coming in at 81%) than the older ages 46-55 and over 65 (59% and 63%, respectively). Concerning religion it was most popular with seculars (88%), then Jewish people (81%), Catholics (77%), Other Protestants (72%), and leastly with Protestant Fundamentalist (61%).With region, it was most popular among the coasts (79%), lesser so in the Midwest (72%), and least of all, and predictably so, in the South (65%). Those could easily figure into a biased turnout which might cause the eventual result to not be truly reflective of the population. As ages get higher, voter turnouts increase, and do similarly as well with stronger feelings concerning the issue. No doubt the Fundamentalists were far more strongly inclined to vote against than the seculars to vote for, judging by their general behaviors, and evidence shows that the anti-ERA movement was in general more passionate. Take for example an excerpt from a magazine entry by Thomas J. Reese, some pro-E.R.A. tactics were so obnoxious to large portions [of the population+ that they made it impossible for the E.R.A. to get the support it *needed.+ (Document E). Indeed, there were several political cartoons following which depicted the man and womans societal roles reversed (Document L, Document J, Document M), as well as messages and articles attempting to support their original roles and rile up those against the ERA. Phyllis Schlafly, leader of the Stop ERA movement, wrote in a magazine an excerpt that the Equal Rights Amendment only lead to less emphasis on family and religious values. Womens libbers are promoting free sex...Federal day-care centers for babies instead of homesabortions instead of families, (Document K). Ann Giordano, a middle aged female community worker from New York was featured in one Ms. Magazine in March of 1976. She claimed that, Like Schlafly, that the ERA was anti-

family values. She heavily implied that the movement was composed majorly of the divorced or unmarried, and dont understand the lives of the married. In defense of the validity of her statement, she pointed towards her husbands previous national culture, that it was against his manhood for him to take up some of the customary feminine responsibilities (Document I). And lastly, probably the biggest issue, the draft. In a picture in a news article printed on February 6, 1979, women are depicted wearing badges that state, All that is between me and the draft is *the+ ERA, (Document N). This most likely symbolized the most important issue in the entire contention of the amendment womens places in combat situations in the army. Public misconceptions only added fire to the flames of the anti-ERA movement, geared from the beginning to be more active in the individually defined ratifications by the states. With the Fundamentalists and the self-centered leading the charge, the Spartans managed to beat back the Persians this time, leading to the ERA never actually entering the Constitution of the United States. A little ignorance sprinkled on an already pretty inflamed group can lead a long way to stopping an amendment promoting equal rights between the sexes.