Feminism During the 1970s and 80s, some women fought for equality in a world that they viewed

as being ruled by men. These women were nown as feminists, and they advo!ated for women to have the same rights as those of the men they saw ruling so!iety. Feminists attem"ted to do this using several tools, one of whi!h was an amendment they "ro"osed to the #.$. %onstitution, !alled the &'( )&qual 'ights (mendment.* This "ro"osed amendment read as follows+ ,Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex., The goal of the amendment was to alleviate any dis!rimination against women in every environment, from a "ay ga" to un!he! ed se-ual harassment by their male !o.wor ers. This amendment "assed both the #.$. /ouse of 'e"resentatives and the $enate, but with the o""osition, led by 0hyllis $!hlafly, fighting against it, it was defeated after the requisite 18 states did not ratify it within the allotted seven years required for ratifi!ation. 2omen should be afforded minority rights as a se-, due to !ultural se-ism, and be!ause of the fa!t that there is no blan et legal "rote!tion for them in e-isten!e at this time, due to the defeat of the &'(. 0hyllis $!hlafly was a suburban stay at home mother of si-, and a "oliti!al a!tivist for !onservative !auses. $he !reated a grassroots !am"aign to defeat the &'( after 10 #.$. states had ratified it in only one year. For the ne-t si- years she wor ed and su!!essfully sto""ed any more states from ratifying it, and a!tually !aused some to res!ind their su""ort. (fter her defeat of the &'(, she went on to !am"aign for other !onservative ideals, su!h as the fight against gay marriage, and "ro.life3anti.!hoi!e !auses. 0hyllis $!hlafly o""osed the &'( on several grounds, the largest of whi!h was the fa!t that she viewed a woman4s "la!e

to be in the home and saw the &'( as a threat to that be!ause it would en!ourage women to wor instead of staying home. $he saw women as being disadvantaged by this amendment as well, saying that, if anything, ,the &'( would a!tually have ta en away some of women4s rights.5 6$!hlafly7 (s $!hlafly saw it, the rights that would disa""ear were the right not to be drafted into the #$ military, and it would ,require women to be drafted into military !ombat any time men were !ons!ri"ted85 would ta e away ,$o!ial $e!urity benefits for wives and widows8, and would allow the federal government to reinter"ret every law through the lens of feminism. 9rownmiller, author of (gainst :ur 2ill, most li ely thought the o""osite way, seeing the &'( as giving women more rights. $he did not view these things as detriments to her rights, but as in!reases to them. $he saw how ;women "oli!e offi!ers are <ust as effe!tive as men5 69rownmiller, 1887. =f we draw an inferen!e from this this idea of women being equal to men in enfor!ing laws, then it would follow that she would "robably view being drafted as a rational "oli!y, be!ause the draft would give women a !han!e to show how they !an be <ust as effe!tive as men in !ombat )as they are on the "oli!e for!e a!!ording to her*. $he would view the la! of so!ial se!urity benefits for wives and widows as a boon, be!ause is showed that, li e men, women did not need to rely on so!ial se!urity be!ause they were equally !om"etent, and did not need assistan!e. (s for reinter"reting laws through a feminist lens, 9rownmiller would say that it is a good thing, be!ause it would eliminate gender bias in laws that were written before the advent of feminism, affording gender equality. 'egarding !lassifying women as a minority grou" for legal "ur"oses, $!hlafly would most li ely have been o""osed to this. 9ased on from her "revious statements about how the &'( would !ause women to ,lose rights,, one !an infer that she would believe that when women

are given minority rights, it is a in to saying that women are minorities in the same way that (fri!an (meri!ans, or /is"ani!s are, and that is a bad thing. $he would say it will result in women having affirmative a!tion "oli!ies dire!ted at them, and that be!ause women are not a disadvantaged grou" )from her "ers"e!tive* this would be unfair to men. 9rownmiller, !onversely, would most li ely su""ort the labeling of women as a minority. $he would "oint out that, li e other minorities, women were dis!riminated against in most areas until re!ently, and therefore should be given the same "rote!tions as these minorities, or "otentially greater ones, due to the fa!t that they are still attem"ting to attain legal equality. $he also would most li ely a""rove of women being integrated into wor "la!es using affirmative a!tion to s"eed along the "ro!ess, as has been done with many minorities. $he wrote that ;women "oli!e offi!ers are <ust as effe!tive as men5 6Brownmiller, 3887. This belief in women being regarded as the equals of men would !ause her to believe in them being afforded minority "rote!tion to s"eed along the "ro!ess of integrating "rofessions and to sto" dis!rimination. 2omen in the #nited $tates have yet to a!hieve equality due to tradition, stereoty"ing, and se-ism. Traditionally, women stayed at home, too !are of !hildren, and "erformed housewor while men brought home in!ome. This "ut the women at the mer!y of men, due to her la! of inde"enden!e e!onomi!ally. During and after 2orld 2ar >, it be!ame more a!!e"table for women to have <obs. /owever, the "ay ga" between men and women in !om"arable "ositions, and the relatively few women in "ositions of "ower showed that equality had not yet been a!hieved. The ty"es of <obs women !an obtain have in!reased and im"roved over the years, as the "ay ga" de!reased, but now, with only four "er!ent of Fortune ?00 !om"anies with female %&:s, and women ma ing 77 !ents for every dollar a male ma es,

women are still not the e!onomi! equals of males, and therefore inde"enden!e, while fully a!hievable, is still more diffi!ult for females then for males. 2omen should be afforded minority "rote!tion due to their history of being dis!riminated against, along with the "resent reality of !ontinued dis!rimination, and la! of blan et legal "rote!tions. This would allow them to a!!elerate the "ro!ess of attaining equality with men, and eliminate the issue of the ne!essity of the &'( entirely.

Assignment/Activity TitleFeminism essay Skill Critical awareness Media/comm nications

Year Freshman Portfolio Category-

In my feminism essay, I wrote about how women should be conferred minority rights. In writing it, I decided that becoming informed of the other side of the issue would be prudent, and might even sway my view. So, remembering the PBS documentary we were shown in class, I embarked on a search for Phyllis Schally. Remembering how, in class, she was shown as a political activist with moderate views who represented middle America, I assumed she would be a political moderate with moderately politically correct views. I didn t know how wrong I was. !he PBS documentary showed her as a slightly right political activist with views not too far from the mainstream at the time. !he reality I found was much grimmer. Phyllis Schally is far from moderate, mainstream, or even politically correct. !his is a woman who thinks that our national success "including our fiscal success, our national security success, and our limited government success is all based on the institution of the nuclear family." She thinks that feminists "are a very effective and destructive pressure group working against the family, against marriage, and against independents and people making their own way." She not only believes that non#nuclear families should not e$ist, but also that " the government sho ld ! estion M slim immigrants and find o t if they are a M slim first or an American first"# $owever% she has also said that #certain nationalities sho ld &e actively ke't o t of this co ntry"# This is a woman who is not only an anti-feminist(a view that is against convention already) & t also an na'ologetic anti-M slim and racist" This 'ro*ect ta ght me not to take what so rces say at face val e% and to corro&orate them" +f + hadn,t% who knows- + might &e going aro nd even now saying + was on the same side as this woman"

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