Joshua Dominguez

5/3/15
Red Group
Feminism Essay
Women should not be afforded the legal protection of a minority
group in todays society, even though in the past it would have made
sense. In 1923 when the equal rights amendment was written it made
sense that women should have had the same legal protection that is
given to minorities. When Alice Paul who was a suffragist leader and
founder of the National Womans Party (ERA: A Brief Introduction)
developed ERA, women were considered as second-class citizens when
it came to important issues such as voting. ERA was first introduced
into Congress in 1923, and was finally dismissed in 1972. During the
70s one of harshest critics of the ERA was a political activist named
Phyllis Schlafly. When asked about what would have happened if the
ERA had passed she said, It would have given vast new powers to the
federal courts because the Equal Rights Amendment did not define the
operative words, which were sex and equality (Andrea Sachs:
Time.com). Schlafly felt as if this amendment was passed, it would not
only grant rights to women, but other groups that were considered
minorities since the wording in the amendment itself was not specific

to women. Back then it would have made sense for women to be seen
as minorities so they could be protected by this amendment.
In the 60s and 70s, the debate over whether pornography was
considered hate speech was one of the most important issues when it
came to the fight for women to obtain more rights. Many feminist that
are against pornography argue that, that pornography is not simply a
form of expression with potentially bad effects, it is also a practice...not
only 'words' but 'actions' involving treatment of real woman in real
situations. And, in the sex industry, this treatment is essentially
abusive. Furthermore, pornographic materials, in the hands of
consumers, are a form of two-dimensional sex. Men (mostly) act on the
woman in the pictures. The abuse is doubled (Robert Cavalier:
Cmu.edu). Pornography should not be seen in this way because people
are responsible enough to make there own decisions, and not act
differently because of something that they see. It would be unfair to
make the generalization that everyone who views it will be abusive
towards women.
Since the year 1972, in which women were still fighting for equal
rights, women have achieved much greater equality in contemporary
America. Women have the right to birth control and abortions, which
were some of the main issues that supporters of ERA were fighting for.
Overall, rights for women have greatly advanced since 1972 and it is
no longer necessary for them to be viewed as a minority, and them

having the legal protection of a minority group would be useless, and

would not have as large of an effect as others may think.