Equal Rights Amendment

In the course of the next couple of classes, we'll begin to learn a bit about the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment. The long and failed campaign for an ERA is an interesting story, and it encapsulates many of the dilemmas that we'll be dealing with over the course of the semester. Certainly, feminists themselves were divided over what sex equality ought to look like. There were also major conflicts over the strategy for achieving these rights. Many argued that a constitutional amendment was not the ideal avenue, instead arguing for a piecemeal approach. This type of approach, in the view of many, would rely heavily on the Supreme Court and a reinterpretation of the Equal Protection Clause. This might also be seen as a relatively risky strategy in light of the Supreme Court's history on Equal Protection issues. Indeed, the story of the ERA's failure might also be seen as a story of the Supreme Court stealing the ERA's thunder. As the Supreme Court began to chip away at the most egregious examples of sex discrimination, it also undermined some of the most persuasive arguments in favor of the ERA. Consider this as you watch the video below.