Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

[Lady_Elainee]

The Equal Rights Amendment is a law proposed by the National Woman's Party (NWP) in 1923 in the United States. The law goes as follows:

1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

The ERA has been introduced into every session of Congress from 1923 to 1972, but was never successfully passed.

It was reintroduced in the 110th Congress (2007-200 cool but, again, failed.

I would like to know what you think of it. Please have reasonable, credible support for your view. Thank you!

_________________________________________________________

You may wish to gain a deeper understanding of the ERA before coming to a conclusion. The facts can be found here.  

[x-Genghis-x]

Going off the information you've given here, and from the website itself I think it is a great idea. Woman play just an important role in society as men.

Two things I find strange though; why has it not been passed? And secondly, why do people still want it passed? I can understand woman wanting it to be so in the 20's, but nowadays?

I don't know if it's the same in America, but in Australia we don't really have many issues with gender discrimination, I mean, females can do what ever males do here. You'll still find the old traditionalist stuck in the old ways for sure, but I don't really think it's such a problem here.

I suppose it may give piece of mind to some women. But, times are changing, the role of women in society has slowly changed and evolved, and they are no longer restricted to certain jobs. That is why I don't see a major need for it to be passed.  

[GeneralFishSama]

That makes me lawl considering the Speaker of The House is Nancy Peloski, the biggest liberal women's rights activist this end of the 20th century and not to mention the first woman to hold that position in the House of Representatives.

Only thing I can think of is most of the Congress believed it wasn't needed as much to be enforced by laws anymore since it's because it's become a social standard. Most companies and major corporations now have it as a policy.  

[x-Genghis-x]

fishsama999

That makes me lawl considering the Speaker of The House is Nancy Peloski, the biggest liberal women's rights activist this end of the 20th century and not to mention the first woman to hold that position in the House of Representatives.

Only thing I can think of is most of the Congress believed it wasn't needed as much to be enforced by laws anymore since it's because it's become a social standard. Most companies and major corporations now have it as a policy.

Exactly, that's what i was trying to get at.  

[Lady_Elainee]

One reason the ERA haven't been passed is that adding amendments to the constitution require a long dizzying process and many are reluctant to tamper with the Constitution further. Another reason it is being opposed is that anti-feminists have spread the fear that passing the ERA would allow the government to deny women security and child support a husband is now entitled to give after a married couple is divorced. Also, many women opposed it because they did not want to lose their traditional role as homemaker, which is entirely absurd because they are promoting stereotypes and conventional roles. Lastly, the ERA failed to pass is that it was introduced during a conservative era in United States history, which favored convention.

Feminists still want to pass it because the failure of the ERA will ultimately affect their ability to gain support on other women's rights issues, such as the ever present abortion restrictions. I'm not sure if sex discrimination is still a proplem in the US, but I'll look into it.  

[GeneralFishSama]

You sound highly biased on this issue... neutral

Keep in mind. Every boss I've ever had in the workplace was a woman.  

[Lady_Elainee]

fishsama999

You sound highly biased on this issue... neutral

Keep in mind. Every boss I've ever had in the workplace was a woman.

I am extremely biased on this issue; I never claimed otherwise. And just because your experience points toward the direction of sexual equality doesn't mean sexual discrimination and conventional gender roles no longer exist. The United States is a large country and very divided in many issues, especially since political parties are always taking every little chance to jump at each other.  

[SequoiaSeeds]

I don't really know if we need this amendment right now. Women are socially accepted as being equal to men in the United States. American culture practically glorifies feminine values and the female body itself.  

[Nasuko-San]

boleromo

I don't really know if we need this amendment right now. Women are socially accepted as being equal to men in the United States. American culture practically glorifies feminine values and the female body itself.

A-freakin'-men, brother. xD  

[Lady_Elainee]

boleromo

I don't really know if we need this amendment right now. Women are socially accepted as being equal to men in the United States. American culture practically glorifies feminine values and the female body itself.

"Glorifies feminine values and the female body itself," huh. And that is exactly what's wrong with the US. They are too obsessed with the female body and do not see women as individuals. They glorify the feminine values such as domestic chores and child-rearing, but that is just like promoting stereotypes and gender roles. May I ask, exactly how equal is that?  

[SequoiaSeeds]

Lady_Elainee

boleromo

I don't really know if we need this amendment right now. Women are socially accepted as being equal to men in the United States. American culture practically glorifies feminine values and the female body itself.

"Glorifies feminine values and the female body itself," huh. And that is exactly what's wrong with the US. They are too obsessed with the female body and do not see women as individuals. They glorify the feminine values such as domestic chores and child-rearing, but that is just like promoting stereotypes and gender roles. May I ask, exactly how equal is that?

That's not what I mean. Glorifying the female body isn't negative, I just mean we focus on aspects of feminine beauty. That doesn't mean we don't see them as individuals. The ancient Greeks glorified masculine beauty, but males were not put down in Greek society.
And I mean we promote feminine values through countless movies, books, and tv shows that show a wonderful wife with an uncaring husband. They always show it as the male who needs to change his ways for the female. Media is constantly on the woman's side with these things. American culture encourages women to stand up for their gender's rights, when they really don't need to anymore because they already have every right a man does. Women aren't always stay at home watching the kids people anymore, and the ones that still are usually just chose to be that way.  

[Lady_Elainee]

Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Even if it's not negative, you're still promoting stereotypes. Not every woman can be defined by "feminine beauty." And even if the media always portray men in the wrong, it's not fair for men. Also, if what you say about the media is true, that is still promoting gender roles: the convention of women having to be a wife. The Greeks may have glorified masculine beauty, but the ideals were never achieved. The Greeks have ideas for everyone.

Women may have every right men have, but they still do not have rights that should be entitled to them as women. Abortion is still not legal in a number of states, though women should not be forced to give birth to a child they do not want. Passing the ERA would mean making it possible for women to win on other woman's rights issues.  

[SequoiaSeeds]

Lady_Elainee

Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Even if it's not negative, you're still promoting stereotypes. Not every woman can be defined by "feminine beauty." And even if the media always portray men in the wrong, it's not fair for men. Also, if what you say about the media is true, that is still promoting gender roles: the convention of women having to be a wife. The Greeks may have glorified masculine beauty, but the ideals were never achieved. The Greeks have ideas for everyone.

Women may have every right men have, but they still do not have rights that should be entitled to them as women. Abortion is still not legal in a number of states, though women should not be forced to give birth to a child they do not want. Passing the ERA would mean making it possible for women to win on other woman's rights issues.

I don't mean every woman is beautiful, or that every woman is expected to conform to a specific type of beauty, I just mean to say that a women's beauty is given much more attention than a man's. The media isn't forcing women to become wives, it's reflecting that most women have chosen to marry. There almost is a gender role there but it's just a harmless tradition that a woman is not forced to comply with.
I don't see abortion completely as a women's rights issue. I think it also has to do with a developing human's right to live. I agree that an abortion should be permitted if the baby has a very low chance of surviving, poses a direct threat to its mother's health, or is the result of rape. But other than that why should a woman have the right to terminate a pregnancy? If she didn't want a child, she shouldn't have been going around copulating.  

[Lady_Elainee]

Traditional gender role are NOT harmless. Have you noticed that in the vast majority of divorce cases, the wife almost always end up with the children? That's the problem with "modern" American. It's an under-the-surface problem. Not even women can easily see it, so certainly, boys like you can't realize it either.

And equality between females and males are not socially accepted in America. People still say things like, "You run fast for a girl." Also, have you noticed that the vast majority of the cuss words these days refer to women?

At least passing the ERA would be a stepping stone towards equality between genders being socially accepted. It would mean that people see the truth and want to correct it.

And pregnancy isn't entirely a woman's fault. It takes two, you know.  

[aCapitalFellow]

Lady_Elainee

Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Even if it's not negative, you're still promoting stereotypes. Not every woman can be defined by "feminine beauty." And even if the media always portray men in the wrong, it's not fair for men. Also, if what you say about the media is true, that is still promoting gender roles: the convention of women having to be a wife. The Greeks may have glorified masculine beauty, but the ideals were never achieved. The Greeks have ideas for everyone.

Women may have every right men have, but they still do not have rights that should be entitled to them as women. Abortion is still not legal in a number of states, though women should not be forced to give birth to a child they do not want. Passing the ERA would mean making it possible for women to win on other woman's rights issues.

I think you need to get the hell off your high horse. Equal rights are not an issue anymore, I'm sorry. As far as steroetypes you'll have them everywhere. Do many people actually follow them? No.
Woman ARE generally wives! Its human nature, its not saying that all woman have to but most do.
And excuse me, but I love my body worshipped.
Abortion is not womans rights, its human rights. They're saying that that child has a right to live and if the woman did not want the baby she shouldn't have had unprotected intercourse. Rape? Thats a different ******** feminist c**t.