Are we really equal?

 

The State Senator called me a "cute little girl" that "shouldn't worry my pretty little head" about the Equal Rights Amendment. My husband could take care of me. I was thirty, a single mom on my lunch break and using my time to fight for the ERA. I didn't hit him, although I wanted to.

This is the wording: 

• "Section 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.
• "Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
• "Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.

This past week Biden said.  "It is long past time to recognize the will of the American people...In keeping with my oath and duty to Constitution and country, I affirm what I believe and what three-fourths of the states have ratified: The 28th Amendment is the law of the land, guaranteeing all Americans equal rights and protections under the law regardless of their sex."

Maybe yes.

Maybe no.

Alice Paul proposed the amendment over 100 years ago. I guess some things can't be rushed.

When brought up again by 1972 thirty states had ratified it well within the seven-year deadline attached.

The idea that half the population should be equal should be normal, not radical. Yet it was fought by people like far right Phyllis Schlafly with fears of having to use a bathroom with a man. I wasn't afraid having used a bathroom with my brother, father, husband and visiting males. Seems the same argument is being reborn for transgender females.

Different opinions flourish on if the ERA was ratified after 38 states approved it. That was the 3/4s necessary.

But wait a minute. Five states rescinded it. What did that do?

What was the real deadline?

Were the deadlines set by Congress? The Brennan Center for Justice said yes. Ooops seven years.

The American Bar Association said: "no time limit was included in the text of the Equal Rights Amendment." They also said the Constitution framers didn't give states the right to change their minds.

Some say the amendment was ratified in 2020 when Virginia ratified the ERA. Colleen Shogan, U.S. Activist, is supposed to publish the amendment.

Now in my eighties, I'm tired of fighting for what should be normal for a civilized country. I remember the bad old days:

• Being turned down for a car loan from the family bank because divorcing women were "unstable" although my ex received one. 
• A friend with excellent credit lost her credit card when she married a man with terrible credit. Her credit limit was lower anyway because she was a woman, but at least she had had a card. 
• Another friend, a small woman, who won the right to be a truck driver, was gang-raped by other truck drivers to teach her to go back where she belonged.
• Women, when they were promoted out of a secretarial roll to a "man's job,",were paid less. 
• A loved high school teacher with a Ph.D. was not given the head of department post in favor of a less qualified male. 

All wrong!

It is better now. Women now are doctors, lawyers and other professionals, but pay inequity still exists. One place I worked five of the seven top roles were held by women. The CEO was a man who admitted he liked to hire women because they worked harder for less money. Did it matter that they were earning more than before?

What will happen next? 

Will the courts rule in favor? It is hard to have any confidence in the current judicial system. 

I may be too tired to fight, but hopefully the next generations will have the energy to carry on.