Anna Olsson May 26, 2013 Red Group.

Feminism Essay Women must be permitted the legal protection of a minority group in order to preserve the relatively recently attained rights granted to them in the 19th amendment after centuries of diplomacy and persistence. Those who share the feministic views of Susan Brownmiller believe that in order to uphold the integrity of women, small indiscretions against females must be brought to prominence and addressed accordingly. Leading the opposition to take measures for equal rights, Phyllis Schafly was on the frontier of the prevention of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) campaign, claiming the ERA might actually deplete the amount of rights women had. Sexism is still relevant in this patriarchal society, targeting women, who as a minority group did not always have the right to influence the countries social or political process. In lieu of risking the return of an unbalanced and unjust system, women ought to be sanctioned the legal protection given to minority groups. After years of inequality, women have attained an ample amount of rights in efforts to reduce the prejudiced state of our country. The female gender has profusely overcome barriers that once seemed impossible to overcome, the right to vote, the right to participate in sports, the right to work at the same jobs as men, the right to receive equal pay, and the right to serve in the armed forces, to name a few. Prior to the 19th amendment, women were not permitted a vote, ultimately leaving them powerless and without a say in the countries composition. Another triumph came with the passing of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational institutions, women were not ensured protection against discriminatory decisions made by universities based on sex. The progress women have made is overwhelming,

unfortunately the journey, tedious and insipid, is long from over. Until full discrimination based on ones sex is terminated, the fight for equality will persist. Phyllis Schafly rose to public awareness during her campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment. Schafly justified her position, saying the ERA would actually have taken away some of women's rights; requiring women to be drafted into military combat any time men were conscripted, abolishing the presumption that the husband should support his wife and take away Social Security benefits for wives and widows, and above all giving federal courts and the federal government enormous new powers to reinterpret every law that makes a distinction based on gender, such as those related to marriage, divorce and alimony (Equal Rights). Indiscretions such as cultural sexism, Brownmiller surmises, are a conscious form of female degradation designed to boost the male ego by offering proof of his native superiority (and of female inferiority), not only inexplicably demolishing a womans perspective on change, but highly raising patriarchal stereotypes (Against Our Will). Additionally, Schafly acknowledged that women were a minority, being the inferior gender however still argued that the ERA held no relevant solutions to gender inequity, as the problems addressed in the imposed amendment had already been resolved. Susan Brownmiller is a eminent womens rights advocate who argues that even the slightest follies of sexism could prolong the uncompromising battle for equality. As Brownmiller voiced her opinion on gender discrimination in her publication, Against Our Will, the issues of inequity are highly overt, and must be continued to be met with unfading efforts to prevent these issues a future. Passionate stands for womens rights have yielded heavily beneficial and equitable

progressions for women. In order to preserve and perpetuate the rights women have tirelessly advocated for, the legal protection given to minority groups should also be condoned to the women. Susan Brownmiller and other feminists believe the solution to the sexist controversy is to diffuse problems of the utmost relevance and lobby for their demise. Holding adversarial views, Phyllis Schafly undertook the prevention of the ERA, justifying her cause by suggestion that such an amendment would derive women of rights, rather than assuring them. In order to rid the nation of gender inequality, women must be afforded the legal protections of a minority group.

Works Cited Brownmiller, Susan. Against Our Will. N.p.: n.p., 1975. Print. Schafly, Phyllis. "'Equal rights' for women: wrong then, wrong now." Los Angeles Times. N.p., 8 Apr. 2007. Web. 26 May 2013. <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/laop-schafly8apr08,0,915647.story>.