Why the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was not passed

by Sam Ackels

 

The Equal Rights Amendment was established in 1923. This era also marked a shift from a conservative to a more liberal ideology. Women were becoming more prominent in the society of this era and were now able to go to college and have jobs. Women could also now vote thanks to the 19th amendment. This new age of liberalism inspired women to push even farther for equality with men. This caused a Women's suffrage leader and founder of the National Woman's Party named Alice Paul to write the ERA to ensure that all members of society would remain equal. In 1923, it was introduced to Congress who passed the ERA and sent it to all of the States in order for the ERA to be ratified. It took an extremely long time for the States to ratify the ERA, however, to this day it still has not been passed. Because it took all the way the 1970s, Congress did not consider the ERA to be relevant and brushed it aside because no states were really moving to instate it and there was already a lot of other more pressing matters going on in the country that needed Congress's immediate attention[1]. The act was also kind of redundant because most states already had made great strides to recognize equal rights for men and women and was even in some states constitutions and statues. The conservative government during this time also sought to prevent the ERA from ever passing because they still wanted a patriarchal society and did not want to lose their power to liberals. The conservative government even spread rumors that the ERA would force women to serve in the military and would force both genders to have separate bathrooms. Conservatives were also extremely concerned that the ERA would repeal many protective laws that were already instated such as laws dealing with sexual assault and alimony. For example, they thought that mothers would be unable to receive child custody in a divorce case[2]. Feminists who were strong proponents of the ERA were not happy with the conservative backlashes regarding the act. They saw this as an attack on gender equality. However from the 1970s onwards, the conservative ideology became more popular for people during this era, and did not allow the ERA to make any progress on passing the act. To this day, activists are still trying to get the ERA to pass.

 

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[1] "ERA: Home." ERA:. http://equalrightsamendment.org/ (accessed April 30, 2014).

[2] Independence Hall Association. "The Equal Rights Amendment." ushistory.org. http://www.ushistory.org/us/57c.asp (accessed April 30, 2014).