The United States has never had a law, statute or even court case that has granted women any rights. You cannot sue for gender discrimination and voting is a highly secretive ritual performed only by men.
If any of this were true, then maybe the Equal Rights Amendment would make sense. But even then, an amendment just for women is ridiculous when you can address all people.
According to the Los Angeles Times, lawmakers on the federal and state levels have started the processes needed for the ratification of this useless amendment.
The ERA has one basic, key line, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.”
On first reading this, I may sound like a horrible person, but the fight for the ratification of this amendment will be the biggest waste of people’s time and resources.
Proponents declare that this will encourage equality of the genders and protect women from discrimination. The 19th Amendment has already granted suffrage to women, so that right is covered. Moreover, with the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, not just women but every citizen of this nation is guaranteed an “equal protection of the laws.”
If you’re suing for discrimination, this is the one you use. In 1869, Wyoming confirmed voting rights for women and had them serve on juries ““ and, look, they did it without the ERA.
How then would the ERA add to what we already have? Why do we need an amendment that says “be nice to women” when we have one saying “be nice to everyone?”
If I were a judge (or really any human with a basic understanding of the Equal Protection Clause), I would be insulted at the passing of this amendment.
Even if you have some sort of ancient feud with the 14th Amendment, the Due Process Clause of the Fifth could also protect women in situations of unfair treatment by the law.
Stepping away from the Constitution, we still have Congress’ Equal Pay Act, which declares it illegal for employers to pay women less; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bans discrimination while hiring workers; and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act even protects pregnant women in the workplace. In addition to that, there are piles of state laws and statutes promoting women’s rights.
If we, as women, do not feel protected by this barrage of legislation, I fail to see how an extra line suggesting equality will amount to anything.
Yes, women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man, they are oftentimes discriminated against for promotions and treated unfairly in the workplace.
But maybe ““ just maybe ““ if this is happening despite our mountain of legislation, there lies a social problem in need of a change. Adding legislation is overkill. We need to work on changing mind-sets and altering subcultures. The ERA seems like a Get Equal Quick scheme for what is no longer a legal issue but a sociocultural one.
Think about this: We not only have an ugly history concerning slavery in the United States, but also Constitutional amendments and state laws prohibiting it, but bonded labor including sex slavery and sweatshop labor is very much alive in the 21st century.
Apart from slavery, how many laws do we have in this country against the unlawful imprisonment of citizens, and how many do we have that grant certain rights to prisoners? Even that tough bushel full of legislation could not stop the incidences at Guantanamo Bay.
Investing thousands of dollars and even more hours to pass another amendment saying, “Hey, slavery and unlawful imprisonment are wrong,” wouldn’t help these problems any more than the ERA would help women in need.
In the past, we’ve had women breaking out from their homes and spilling into the factories, schools and hospitals of the U.S., fighting a very real war on the home front.
When American GIs were in Europe during World War II, the women rolled up their sleeves and dove into hard manual labor on farms and factories to keep the country alive. Realizing their capacity and potential, the women of those times launched a fresh new feminist movement in America.
With that kind of history of feminism, you wonder what went wrong. Instead of targeting offensive images of women in the media or even reforming rape laws, we have women fighting for redundancy. Yay.
To join the fight for the Equaler and Equalest Rights Amendments, e-mail Joshi at rjoshi@media.ucla.edu.
Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.