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Running head: THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT 1

The Equal Rights Amendment: Why Controversy Ensured its Defeat?

Sigei Isaiah Kipngeno

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THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT 2

The Equal Rights Amendment: Why Controversy Ensured its Defeat?

Since time immemorial, controversies have played a fundamental role in shaping politics

of the world. Controversies led to either defeat or support of political agendas. Controversies

played an important part in the defeat of Amendment of Equal rights (Berkin et al, 2009). The

Equal rights amendment championed for equal rights for women. However, some groups felt

intimidated and sort to oppose the ratification of the Equal Rights. They came up with

controversies that worked to tarnish the amendment and hence later lead to its defeat (Baldez,

Epstein & Martin, 2006). Attributable to the above elucidations, this paper in writing seeks to

discuss why controversies resulted in the defeat of Amendment of Equal Rights.

On 1972, March 22nd, participants of the progressively voiced women’s movement

celebrated the enactment of the Equal Rights Amendment commonly denoted by the acronym

ERA. The amendment had had nearly close to seven years to be endorsed. The proposed

enactment called for “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the

United States or by any other state on account of sex.” Effectively and efficiently petitioning by

the organizations championing the rights of women led by enormous margins in the Congress

chambers in support of the petition to eliminate discrimination of gender. As the state hurriedly

initiated the process of ratification of the modification, several American women anticipated for

a future that embraced equality. However, these hopes were misplaced. In that, after ten years,

the ERA unsuccessful did not garner sufficient backing from states to add the amendment to the

American Constitution. Its failure is attributed to controversies created by the people who did not

support ERA (Brown, Emerson, Falk & Freedman, 1971).

THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT 3

Controversies managed to ensure the defeat of the ERA by counter arguing the benefits

that emanated from ERA. Controversies worked to make the ERA petition appear as if it comes

with detrimental effects. For instance, Phyllis Schlafly played a fundamental role in defaming the

ERA. In her arguments, she argued that the ERA would bring about undesirable effects to the

American Women. As a result of her controversial case, protective laws, as, for example, the

alimony and sexual assault would be removed from the amendment. Also, the rights given to a

mother to receive the custody of a child were withdrawn. Besides, the draft regarding all-male

was ruled as unconstitutional. Moreover, the other opposing groups came up with controversies

that the endorsement of ERA would cause a total unraveling of traditional American society

(Soule, & King, 2006).

Rationally, through controversies, the ERA works through the idea of gender equity in

the U.S. besides, through controversies like the one postulated by Phyliss Schlafly managed to

cause disunity amid other women. Therefore, regardless of the support that the movement of the

feminists had attracted, the controversies created against the ERA managed to bring down the

support and ratification of the Amendments of Women Rights (McCammon, Taylor, Reger &

Einwohner, 2017).

THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT 4

References

Baldez, L., Epstein, L., & Martin, A. D. (2006). Does the US Constitution Need an Equal Rights

Amendment?. The Journal of Legal Studies, 35(1), 243-283.

Berkin, Carol., Miller, Christopher., Cherny, Robert., & Gormly, James. (2009). Making

America: A History of the United States: from 1865. Wadsworth Pub Co.

Brown, B. A., Emerson, T. I., Falk, G., & Freedman, A. E. (1971). The equal rights amendment:

A constitutional basis for equal rights for women. The Yale Law Journal, 80(5), 871-985.

In McCammon, H. J., In Taylor, V. A., In Reger, J., & In Einwohner, R. L. (2017). The Oxford

handbook of U.S. women's social movement activism.

Soule, S. A., & King, B. G. (2006). The stages of the policy process and the equal rights

amendment, 1972–1982. American Journal of Sociology, 111(6), 1871-1909.

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